Africa’s commit ment to democracy
The African Union’s (AU)
adoption of the African Charter
on Democracy, Elections and
Governance in 2007 is an historic
commitment to democracy. “[This]
is a big step in the right direction;
a watershed in the democratic
development of Africa,” according to
Abdalla Hamdok, Director at the UN
Economic Commission for Africa.
His view was echoed by Emile Ognimba,
AU Political Affairs Director who added,
“This will expedite the AU efforts to
democratize the continent.”
Throughout the 2000s International
IDEA has had an ongoing relationship
with the AU which resulted in 2007
with the signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding on working together.
Assisting with the drafting of the
Charter formed the basis of
this partnership.
The high priority assigned by the AU to translate
the Charter into action led the AU to approach
IDEA again, specifically to bring its broad
knowledge of issues around elections and political
reform into the process. This resulted in the
launch of the Joint Activity Plan (JAP) in 2008,
committing the AU and IDEA to an initial fiveyear
programme of activities designed to support
democracy in Africa.
As IDEA Secretary-General Vidar Helgesen
noted, “The Joint Activity Plan is designed to
respond to the challenges facing democracy across
the continent: making democracy work better
for development, peace and security through
strengthening political institutions and processes.”
The JAP has two main strands: capacity building
for the AU Secretariat (including the Political
Affairs Department which is responsible for the
Charter), and implementing projects under the
Charter such as BRIDGE courses (see page 18)
throughout Africa and other activities falling under
IDEA’s mandate.
A key aim of the JAP is to bring the knowledge
resources of the global South to Africa. Sharing the
experiences of Latin America and Asia with Africa
– made available via International IDEA’s networks
and knowledge resources – is contributing towards
strengthening countries abilities to drive their
own democratic processes and reforms forward by
adapting what has been done successfully elsewhere.
Since late 2008, action to begin implementation
of the JAP has included a workshop in Benin on
constitution building, an ongoing programme of
BRIDGE courses for election administrators; a
seminar to ascertain how to reduce the spiralling
violence during elections witnessed in some recent
election campaigns such as in Kenya and Zimbabwe;
assistance in preparing the theme document on
the 2011 AU Summit on Shared Values and the
secondment of four staff to capacitate the Political
Affairs Department. An IDEA Liaison Office to the
AU is presently being established in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia as an integral part of strengthening the roll
out of the Joint Activity Plan.
