NDI E-news: Colombia, Haiti, Ukraine, Bahrain

NDI E-news: Colombia, Haiti, Ukraine, Bahrain | Feb. 2010 [1]

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February 2010

Chocó Women Win 2009 Madeleine K. Albright Grant [3]

Choco Women of Colombia

The Departmental Network of Chocó Women of Colombia (Red Departmental de Mujeres Chocoanas) has been chosen by NDI to receive the 2009 Madeleine K. Albright Grant for its work to create greater roles for women in the region's civil and political life.

The network is an umbrella group of 52 civic organizations from 18 towns in the primarily Afro-Colombian department of Chocó in the western part of the country. It will receive $25,000 for a political training school and to create a network of women political leaders in Chocó. Both will further the organization’s mission: to help Chocoan women achieve greater equality between the sexes and encourage women’s political participation. Read more» [3]

NDI established the Madeleine K. Albright Grant [4] in 2005 to support organizations that create greater roles for women in political and civic life. Winners are selected from a competitive pool of applicants seeking to promote women's political participation. Past recipients include the Women’s League of Burma [5], the Indonesian Women’s Political Caucus (KPPI) [6], the Mostar Women’s Citizen Initiative of Bosnia-Herzegovina [7] and the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone [8].

The Madeleine K. Albright Grant is made possible through the generosity of the Melvin and Bren Simon Foundation.

Initiative Committees Working to Distribute Aid and Information in Haiti [9]

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12 brought suffering and destruction to a country that was already facing major development challenges. The situation on the ground changes daily as Haitian and international relief efforts try to help the millions of citizens who now lack food, water, medical care and shelter.

In response, members of a Haitian network of community organizing groups, or Initiative Committees (ICs), are mobilizing to support national and international relief efforts. Developed over more than a decade with NDI support, the ICs are present in 179 municipalities across the country and involve 35,000 Haitians and 3,500 civic organizations, including 400 women's groups.

African Experts Lay Out Recommendations for Credible Elections [10]

Ghana Colloquium Election experts and practitioners from 25 African nations meeting in Ghana last November called for the ratification of the African Union's charter on elections and enforcement of its standards to achieve more peaceful and credible elections on the continent.

The gathering, organized by NDI and nine other organizations, issued a communiqué [11] with recommendations for standards that could mitigate conflict and improve election processes.

Ghana was chosen as the site for the colloquium because of its successful 2008 elections, which were considered credible, despite heated political tensions and a razor-thin margin between the presidential candidates.

NDI Launches Website That Adds Transparency to Afghanistan Election Data [12]

NDI has launched an innovative online mapping tool [13] for analyzing election data from Afghanistan's flawed Aug. 20 presidential and provincial council elections. Designed to make the data more accessible and transparent, the site uses demographic, ethnographic, topographic and security information. The tool also identifies areas that had significant electoral irregularities.

Using a data browser that provides tools to manage a series of maps, filters and overlays, the site provides numerous ways to segment and visualize raw vote count data. Visitors can run customized queries with the results displayed as lists, charts and maps. The website uses all open source software and makes the data easily available for download in CSV format.

NDI Partner Groups Commend Ukrainian Elections, Offer Recommendations for Sunday's Runoff [14]

After the Jan. 17 Ukrainian presidential election, two NDI partner groups that had observed the election issued statements hailing the vote as an improvement over the 2004 presidential poll but also citing shortcomings that they said should be addressed before the runoff on Feb. 7.

Both Opora and ENEMO highlighted procedural and organizational problems with the vote, including updates made to the voter lists on election day and uneven enforcement of provisions regarding mobile voting (voting from home). Both groups directed their recommendations to the Central Election Commission, which has jurisdiction over the issues.

Youth Leaders Declaration from Belgrade Summit Seeks Regional Cooperation and Peace [15]

With the goals of increasing communication and fostering a network of politically active youth across Europe, NDI co-sponsored a three-day summit in Belgrade that brought together young people from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to address issues of war crimes, rule of law, discrimination and xenophobia.

On the final day of the summit, the group released "The Belgrade Declaration [16]," which pledged to strengthen their ties with their governments, promote new political values and use new technologies to improve communication and understanding.

Bahrain Women’s Union Calls for Action on Domestic Violence Law [17]

The Bahrain Women's Union (BWU) launched an advocacy campaign last month calling for a law against domestic violence. The campaign kicked off with a march to demonstrate public support for addressing the issue, followed by a roundtable for MPs to discuss the cultural roots of domestic violence and ways to legislate against it. The Kingdom currently has no laws or government policies to address domestic violence, despite the fact that it has seen a sharp increase in domestic violence reports over the last four years.

Before the launch of the campaign, NDI worked with the activists to refine their advocacy plan and strategy for reaching key decision makers and allies.