March 2011

Emerging Democracies Learn from Transition Experiences of Other Countries

Sergio Bitar, who helped found the Party for Democracy during Chile's democratic transition, recently returned from Cairo.

Democratic transitions take time and patience. Each country is different, seeking to adapt the principles common to all democracies to its unique character and circumstances.

But there are also lessons to be learned from the experiences of other nations that have made the shift from autocracy to democracy — a process that has just begun in Tunisia and Egypt, where citizens are deciding on new constitutions, leaders, political parties and other elements of their new societies.

In Tunisia, NDI recently brought experts from Bulgaria, Hungary and Portugal to meet with Tunisian political party leaders to share experiences from their countries' democratic transitions. Similarly, in Egypt, transition leaders and experts from Chile, Indonesia, Poland, Romania and Serbia are meeting with civil society and party leaders. They were able to discuss a range of issues including relations with the military, reconciliation processes, coalition building, and electoral and constitutional reform.

Krastyo Petkov, involved in the democratic transition in Bulgaria, with NDI Senior Program Officer Gabriella Borovsky in Tunis.

Against this backdrop, 50 experts from Europe and North America met in Brussels this month as part of an ongoing transatlantic dialogue on democracy support, co-chaired by by Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament; Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. secretary of state and chairman of NDI; Javier Solana, former EU high representative for the common foreign and security policy; and Vin Weber, former U.S. representative and board member of the National Endowment for Democracy. In a statement, the participants expressed their support for democratic reform movements and called on the transatlantic community to emphasize democracy assistance within the transatlantic relationship.

NDI also hosted a roundtable for rising democratic powers, including representatives from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa, on democracy support. These countries have valuable experience in democratic and economic development, but they are often not present in discussions on democracy support because they tend to be neither major donors nor recipients of development assistance.

As part of the two-day roundtable, Indonesia's ambassador to the U.S., Dino Patti Djalal, spoke about his country's transition to democracy and compared it to events unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa. "My advice to many of the countries undergoing democratic transitions is, don't let fear drive you," he said in a talk at NDI.

Youth Academy Empowers Tomorrow's Political Leaders in Rwanda

People under the age of 25 comprise two-thirds of Rwanda's population, but they are largely excluded from political life. NDI's recently expanded Youth Political Leadership Academy helps young leaders acquire practical political skills needed to have a say in their country's future. Read more»

Film Urges Nigerians to "Activate the Power of their Thumb"

As Nigeria prepares for presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections, a new short film, "My Vote Fit Change Naija," urges Nigerians to vote as a peaceful means to achieve change in their country. Produced by Youngstar Foundation and NDI, the film links voting to potential improvements in jobs, roads, electricity and health care, and stars a number of famous actors from the Nigerian film industry. Read more»

Election Monitors Note Minor Problems as Niger Peacefully Elects New President

Peaceful elections in Niger this month received praise from nonpartisan citizen election observers, despite a number of administrative problems surrounding the voting. NDI's partner, the Nigerien Association for the Defense of Human Rights, trained 2,025 observers who were stationed in all of Niger's eight regions on election day. Read more»

West African Election Observers Promote Credible Elections

In West Africa, some elections have led to successful transfers of power, while others have been marked by widespread fraud. Citizen election observation groups from 11 countries have formed the West Africa Election Observers Network (WAEON) to help ensure accountability, increase honesty and accuracy, and improve the credibility of elections in the region. Read more»

NDI Reports: Spring 2011

The new issue of NDI's newsletter, NDI Reports, explores how the mapping of election data can identify trends or anomalies in election results, examines recent advances and setbacks in women's political participation, and reports on a new global network for citizen election monitors.

Read the newsletter or browse the archives»

First Parhamovich Fellow Bringing More Young Women into Politics

Two years after her visit to the U.S., Ferdos Majeed, the Institute's first Parhamovich fellow, helped to launch the Young Women's Leadership School in Iraq. Read more»

Tijuana Civic Groups Use Opinion Research to Strengthen Police Reform Proposal

A recent study conducted by NDI's partner, the Citizen Coalition for Public Security, shows that while residents of Tijuana believe security improvements have been made, the perception of municipal police is still largely negative. The coalition is using the data to work with local elected officials on making improvements in public security. Read more»

Policymakers Share Strategies to Help Roma Minorities

A summit meeting held recently in Romania brought together officials from eight countries in Central and Eastern Europe who are responsible for policies to assist Roma minorities. Though there are an estimated 10 million Roma in Europe, they remain largely excluded from the political system due to discrimination, segregation and poverty. Read more»

NDI Celebrates 100th Annual International Women's Day

Hon. Nora Shimming-Chase (right) speaks with a participant at NDI's International Women's Day event in South Africa.

The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, an annual observance of the achievements of women around the world, was celebrated this year with a recognition of past triumphs and calls to action for promoting women's equality. NDI marked the occasion with events in Colombia, Kosovo, South Africa and Washington, D.C.

At any given time, nearly 75 percent of NDI country programs have a dedicated component addressing women's political participation, a recognition of the words of NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright that "the political participation of women results in tangible gains for democracy, including greater responsiveness to citizen needs, increased cooperation across party and ethnic lines, and more sustainable peace."

February 2011

Now the Hard Work Begins...

Egyptians celebrate in Tahrir Square. Photo by RamyRaoof.

Following weeks of protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain, thousands in Libya are now advocating for political freedoms long denied by the country's regime. The government has responded with beatings, shootings and arrests. NDI condemned this government-backed violence and joined calls for the immediate cessation of attacks against Libyans who are exercising their right to peaceful assembly, and for a democratic transition.

As democracy advocates raise their voices throughout the Middle East, analysts and commentators have turned to NDI seeking insights into the implications of the ongoing changes for the future of democracy in the region. In The New York Times,

The Washington Post, on CNN and elsewhere, NDI leaders and staff have offered commentary and interpretation as the historic changes have unfolded.

The Institute has a long history in the region. Its first office, for the West Bank and Gaza, opened in 1994. Since then, NDI staff have also been based in Egypt,

Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon,

Mauritania, Morocco and Yemen. Institute programming also encompasses Algeria, Bahrain,

Kuwait,

Qatar, Saudi Arabia

and Tunisia.

In all of these countries, NDI has established partnerships with political parties, civic groups, parliamentarians and others seeking to promote peaceful reform and have a voice in how they are governed. The Institute works to share organizational skills, comparative experiences and tools to connect democratic activists within and between countries.

In response to the developments in Egypt, for example, NDI is putting Egyptian activists in touch with political leaders from Chile, Poland and elsewhere so they can take advantage of lessons learned during other democratic transitions. It's similar to work the Institute has done in many other places and times, such as when it brought opposing Northern Ireland factions together in South Africa in 1997 to learn from Nelson Mandela and others how to negotiate peace and reconciliation.

African Election Roundup: Nigeria, Sudan, Niger

In Nigeria, NDI is conducting an international observation mission to analyze the electoral process before, during and after presidential, legislative and local elections scheduled for April. Regular updates can be found in Nigeria Election Watch, which is based on reports from NDI's long-term observers, who began assessing election activities throughout the country from January and will continue through May. Subscribe»

In Sudan, NDI's civil society partners, the southern-based Sudanese Network for Democratic Elections (SuNDE) and the northern-based Sudanese Group for Democracy and Elections (SuGDE), observed

all stages of the recent referendum

in which Southern Sudan voted to secede from the north. The groups concluded

that "the Southern Sudan referendum allowed the free expression of the will of the people for self-determination."

Read more»

Before presidential and legislative elections in Niger, 36 political parties and two independent candidates signed a code of conduct that encouraged parties and their supporters to campaign honestly and respect the outcome of the Jan. 31 vote and the runoff election set for March 12. Read more»

Women in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Ukraine Overcoming Obstacles to Elected Office

Among the 249 members of Afghanistan's lower house of parliament are Farida Hamidi and Frishta Amini, two women who make up the entire delegation from Nimroz province. Despite the risks faced by female candidates, both women ran strong campaigns and garnered more votes than their male opponents. Read more»

In Guatemala, where indigenous women are 20 percent of the population and hold only one of the nation's 333 mayoralties, Isabel Francisco discusses her campaign for mayor of Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango. "This is my third time as a candidate," she said. "The first time I finished in fifth place. The second time I finished in third place. This time I'm hopeful I'll win!" Read more»

Zinayida Galchynska promised herself that if she survived breast cancer she would run for local office and make a real difference in her community. She kept that promise and is now a councilor in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine — thanks in part to the skills she learned at an NDI campaign school and a campaign based on going door-to-door to meet voters. Read more»

NDI President Urges International Support for Belarusian People

NDI President Kenneth Wollack outlined ways the international community can provide moral support and practical assistance to political and civic leaders, media and ordinary citizens in Belarus, where government forces engaged in a brutal crackdown following failed elections Dec. 19. Wollack was speaking at a Jan. 27 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs. Read more»

Colombian Municipal Councilors Hone Good Governance Skills

In Colombia, newly-elected municipal councilors generally are expected to learn on the job. To help them gather the skills they need, an NDI program focused on how to identify the needs of their constituents, develop policies to address those needs, and engage with citizens and the media. Read more»

NDI Adds 2010 Afghanistan Elections Data to Mapping Website

Complete data from Afghanistan's 2010 parliamentary elections have been added to

afghanistanelectiondata.org, the Institute's innovative mapping website

. The site now includes data from Afghan elections beginning in 2004, as well as demographic, ethnographic, topographic, security and other information. Visitors can create visual analyses of voting patterns and other assessments, or segment and envisage data and maps in a variety of ways.

Read more»

New NDI Publications

NDI, one of the world's largest publishers of Arabic-language resources and references on democracy support, has just released its latest catalogue. It includes a listing of publications and information on how to order them. Read it in Arabic | English»

Drawing on its 25 years of experience in the women's political participation field, NDI has published a new guide for democracy practitioners to help them develop and carry out effective programs to bring more women into government and politics. Democracy and the Challenge of Change: A Guide to Increasing Women’s Political Participation, helps the user develop, carry out, monitor and evaluate women’s political participation programs. The guide provides a rationale for focusing on increasing women’s participation and includes examples of best practices, case studies and practical strategies.

The new guide, Political-Process Monitoring: Activist Tools and Techniques, explores the work that the Institute and its partner groups have done for legislative, budget-related and campaign-related monitoring, shadow reporting and monitoring government follow-through.