During the annual European Development Days in Stockholm (23 October 2009), International IDEA officially handed over its report Democracy in Development - Global consultations on the EU's role in democracy building to Ms Gunilla Carlsson, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation.
Democracy in Development - global consultations on the EU’s role in democracy building
The report is the result of global/regional consultations with the EU's partner organizations in Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Arab world, led by International IDEA and sponsored by Sweden, aimed at producing a deeper understanding of how the EU can best assist democracy building efforts worldwide.
The four key messages for EU policy development emerging from International IDEA’s consultations are:
- Tap the EU’s own experience to inform the long term vision, strategy and external action for democracy.
- Apply a broad understanding of democracy; it is not just about elections, it is how political systems support citizen needs.
- Stand by the EU’s long term commitments, especially when the going gets tough.
- Move towards genuine partnership and dialogue with regional partners for the benefit of all.
Copies of the book can be requested free of charge by emailing: ideaeuproject@idea.int.
At the same time, a website has now gone live, containing the report together with a large number of additional background chapters. The chapters are structured in a database searchable by topic or region. More chapters will be added to this database progressively until March 2010, resulting in around 80 articles when completed. All material is available to down-load free of charge. The website is available at www.idea.int/eu
A series of launch activities are organized to present the findings. In November 2009, launches were held in Pretoria, Addis Ababa, Brussels, Berlin, New York, Washington DC and Beirut. The coming weeks the new report will be launched and presented in Jakarta, Manila, Dehli, Kathmandu and Singapore. Additional events, for example in Cairo and Brussels, are planned for early 2010.
The project formally ends on 30 June 2010. However, International IDEA is committed to continuing the processes sparked by this initiative, especially the inter-regional dialogue on democracy support. International IDEA will also continue to support the EU’s internal processes for strengthening its democracy building agenda.
