Ten years after its founding, IDEA asks: "Can democracy deliver?"
What are the links between democracy and development? How can democracy be promoted as the best conflict management method in the long run when the path to democracy includes social violence? These are just a few of the questions that were raised during a seminar on “Democracy-building: past lessons and future trends” that IDEA held for some 60 participants at its Stockholm headquarters to mark its 10th anniversary on 28 February. Read more
Contributing to "Beijing and Beyond" in New York
More than 6,000 people attended “Beijing and Beyond” – the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 28 February-11 March in New York – including IDEA’s Julie Ballington. As part of its work on gender issues, IDEA co-organized and participated in four events focusing on women and political decision-making, which attracted some 300 people – including cyberspace participants from around the world. Read more
Building a community of democracies
As part of the preparations for the Ministerial meeting of the Community of Democracies (CoD), Ambassador Andrés Rozental, vice chairperson of IDEA’s Board of Directors, spoke about “The State of Democracy in the Western World” at 10 March seminar in New York organized by the Chilean government and the United Nations Development Programme. Staff members Ozias Tungwarara and Kristen Sample represented IDEA at the final meeting on the CoD nongovernmental process held 3-4 March in Santiago, Chile. Read more
Reform process in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan examined
Some 60 political authorities, academics and actors debated the reform process in the three South Caucasus countries and their prospects for European integration at a conference 18-19 March in Tblisi, Georgia. Sponsored by IDEA and the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, the conference also focused on Georgian political and constitutional reform. Read more
National dialogues focus on political parties in West Africa
In cooperation with regional and national research partners, IDEA is working with West African political parties to stimulate dialogue and reform on the regulation and management of political parties. Research has been conducted in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal, and national dialogue workshops were held in Burkina Faso in November 2004 and Senegal and Ghana in January and February 2005, respectively. Other meetings are to follow in Mali and Nigeria, and a regional West Africa workshop will take place in Burkina Faso in June 2005. Read more
Encouraging peace and dialogue for reform in Central America
Continuing its work on facilitating dialogue between political stakeholders in post-conflict situations, IDEA recently participated in two initiatives aimed at strengthening dialogue and policy reform in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Rafael Roncagliolo, director of IDEA’s Political Reform Project in the Andes, represented IDEA in both of these exercises, called “reflection processes”. Read more
IDEA attends International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security in Madrid
How can terrorism be dealt with without undermining the very foundations of a democracy? This was the focus of the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security on 8-11 March in Madrid, Spain. Organized by the Club of Madrid to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Madrid terrorist bombings, the conference sought to build a common agenda on how the community of democratic nations can most effectively confront terrorism. Former President of Mauritius and IDEA Board Member Cassam Uteem, together with Secretary-General Karen Fogg and Director of Operations Massimo Tommasoli, represented the Institute at the event.
Save the date! “Building democracy across borders” seminar in Stockholm, 10 June
In honour of its 10th anniversary, IDEA will hold an afternoon seminar on 10 June in Stockholm on the theme “Building democracy across borders” with European Commission Vice President Margot Wallström as one of the keynote speakers. That evening, the City of Stockholm is hosting a reception at City Hall for IDEA and its guests. For more information, e-mail anniversary@idea.int with your name and contact information.
Did you know?
- The Agora Democratica website is up and running! Click on to www.agorademocratica.org.pe and sign up for the bimonthly newsletter (boletin informativo) to stay current on IDEA’s latest activities in the Andean Region. Created in March 2004, Agora seeks to strengthen political party systems in the five Andean nations through development and discussion of political reform proposals, providing opportunities for consensus-building, technical cooperation and training.
- Hot off the press: Los partidos politicos en la Region Andina: Entre la crisis y el cambio, which provides a regional overview and in-depth analysis of the political party systems in the Andean countries. With support from the Andean Community of Nations, the Department for International Development, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the book was published by IDEA and the Asociacion Civil Transparencia within the framework of their Programa Agora Democratica. The book is being distributed and discussed in the Andes, including the following presentations: Lima, Peru, 26 January; Quito, Ecuador with FLACSO, 17 March; La Paz, Bolivia with the Corte Nacional Electoral, Fundacion Boliviana para la Democracia Multipartidaria and UNDP, 29 March; Bogota, Colombia with the National Democratic Institute, UNDP, and Consejo Nacional Electoral, 4 April; and Caracas, Venezuela with Ojo Electoral and the National Democratic Insititute, 14 April.For more information, contact postmast@agorademocratica.org.pe.
- How does a newly democratized nation address the past to move from a divided history to a shared future? IDEA’s Handbook on Reconciliation after Violent Conflict, published in 2003 and now available in French, presents a range of tools that have been employed in the design and implementation of reconciliation processes. Rather than a single approach, the Handbook presents options and methods, with their strengths and weaknesses evaluated, so that practitioners and policy-makers can adapt them as necessary. Among the first to receive the French version was human rights activist and Nobel laureate of South Africa.
- Seven years ago, the ACE Project (Administration and Cost of Elections) went live with a massive collection of information for election administrators. Today, seven organizations – IDEA, Elections Canada, EISA, IFE-Mexico, IFES, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and United Nations Development Programme – are overhauling ACE through an effort called ACE 2. Each group is updating one or more of the 12 topic areas, including voter education, parties and candidates, and media and elections. The University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, sponsored a meeting 21-24 February for the lead writers (see photos) to set goals and timelines. The ACE 2 site, which will feature interactivity, communities of practice, and a capacity-development dimension, is scheduled to debut February 2006.
- Visits to Strömsborg: In the first three months of 2005, IDEA welcomed representatives from Romania’s Permanent Electoral Authority, Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi Party, India’s Election Commission, Mongolia’s Parliamentary Working Group, and Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume. On 21 March the International Crisis Group joined with IDEA in a public seminar on “Nepal-Responding to the Royal Coup”, drawing on ICG’s findings and the results of IDEA’s work on constitutional dialogues in Nepal.
- In the news: Media outlets highlighting IDEA’s knowledge in elections, political parties, women’s representation and conflict management recently included Radio Free Europe, The Namibian, New Delhi Television, The Hindu (India), The Guardian (Tanzania), Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), Business Standard magazine, The Washington Times, American Prospect magazine, The Jakarta Post, La Nación (Costa Rica), and the Vanguard (Nigeria). Featured IDEA staffers included Abdalla Hamdok (head of Africa programme) and elections experts Therese Pearce Laanela, Antonio Spinelli and Virginia Beramendi-Heine.
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In memoriam
International IDEA mourns the loss of Free State government official Noby Ngombane, who served as IDEA’s first programme officer for Africa between 1996 and 1998, and who was assassinated 22 March in South Africa. Mr Ngombane dedicated his life to the struggle for democracy and freedom in South Africa and will be sorely missed.
;)
