How can parties adapt to changing environments? - Conference, Addis Ababa 

The Africa Programme and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) are hosting the Conference on Political Parties in a Fast Changing, Technology Driven Environment, in Addis Ababa from 10-12 December. The conference provides an opportunity to political parties, assistance providers and scholars from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Senegal and Kenya among others, to critically reflect on what is changing in the political parties’ environment, how those changes are impacting the parties themselves and how parties are responding to, or can best respond to those changes in order to remain relevant.

Of special interest in this conference are the innovations taking place in the information technology and social media fields. In the process, this event will be the basis to undertake a critical introspection of the approaches and methods of party assistance providers to make these amenable to the changing context as well as the changing nature and traditional functions of parties themselves.

The conference will be designed in such a way that it offers participants a maximum opportunity to share their own experiences while at the same time benefiting from the input of a limited number of specialized experts.