As Africa navigates this super year of elections, election and information integrity and voting rights will come under pressure due to the zero-sum nature of Africa's politics.
Search
Region
Country
Type
Female politicians and young women aspiring to join politics from 47 counties have received a five-day training from the 5th Women in Political Participation (WPP) Academy on how to enhance their political leadership skills, promote inclusivity in political participation and inspire young women to join politics.
The informal and formal barriers to women’s political decision-making still exist, six years before the expiration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Amongst the informal factors we still witness, culture, tradition and religion are being used to water down women’s agency in meaningful participation in political decision-making. This Women’s Day should be a time to reflect on how women influenced some milestone political decisions.
The recently concluded fifth Women Political Participation (WPP) Academy by the Forum for Africa Women Educationalists (FAWE) was a residential five-day training. It targeted women who hold political positions in Kenya’s government, women who vied in the 2022 Kenyan general election, young women aspiring to join politics whose age bracket is between 18 to 35 years, and student leaders. The participants were drawn from the 47 counties within Kenya.
The Gambia Press Union (GPU) leadership is in Nairobi this week on a learning visit to the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) and affiliates and allied media organisations.
The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), one of the seven partners within the Women In Political Participation (WPP) Project, recently convened a strategic 2-day gender-responsive training for select Kenyan journalists, editors and social media influencers drawn from various Kenya television, print media and radio stations.
Following the Second Summit for Democracy on 29-30 March 2023, International IDEA produced the report: Democratic Engagement after Two Summits for Democracy: Reviewing the Impact and Providing some Reflections for the Future, which looked into the impact of the Year of Action and the Second Summit.
The European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) covers six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The Covid-19 pandemic put a strain on fledgling democracies in the EaP region, aggravating pre-existing concerns, such as the weak rule of law, insufficient accountability of executive branches vis-à-vis legislatures and fragile media freedoms (see International IDEA 2022).
International IDEA, with the support from the European Commission, has been contributing to increasing effective evidence-based and coordinated support for democracy across the world through the Supporting Team Europe Democracy (STED) project. Within this project, the Summit for Democracy (S4D) emerged as a unique opportunity to place democracy at the center of the global agenda.
Here are five events and trends from the last year that capture the most important developments in democracy and human rights across the continent.
Kenya is set to bring to an end 60 years of male dominance in politics following the nomination of a female candidate to become the country's first ever deputy president in this year's election.
Martha Karua was named as the preferred running mate of Kenya's opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is running for the presidency. If she wins, she is set to become the first woman to occupy the office of deputy president in this year's presidential elections.
Enhancing Women's Political Participation in Africa (Women in Political Participation (WPP)) is a Pan-African gender project on the different facets of Women and Politics in Africa. Funded by Sida and implemented by International IDEA, it aims to advance gender equality in politics and governance, in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, various associated sub-regional protocols and standards, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In cooperation with the State Electoral Office of Estonia, International IDEA convened a group of European electoral management bodies on 15 December 2021, to discuss the cybersecurity aspects of elections, five years after the initial wave of cybersecurity concerns emerged. The EMBs participated from Austria, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.
As part of a series entitled Conversations on Innovative Constitutional Design Options, International IDEA’s Constitution Building Programme hosted an expert panel to discuss “Constitutionalizing Institutions for a Safer Environment” on 16 September 2021. The webinar deliberated on the role of constitutions in responding to the climate crisis, the most profound challenge to humanity, particu
The Secretary-General of International IDEA, Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, took part in the “Constitutionalizing Institutions for a Safer Environment webinar organized by the Institute’s Constitution-Building Programme on 16 September 2021. The event was part of the programme’s new webinar series on Conversations on Innovative Constitutional Design Options.
In Moldova’s recent parliamentary elections, social media formed a prominent environment for election campaigning. To promote transparency and ultimately the integrity of the electoral process, International IDEA supported a Moldovan democracy watchdog MediaPoint and its partner, a Slovenian non-profit media monitoring agency MEMO98 in monitoring social media during the early parliamentary elections in July 2021.
The core value of election observation lies in the recommendations offered in observer reports, which serve as the basis for post-election reforms and long-term strengthening of democracy. Observers also contribute by building confidence in democratic practices and in deterring irregularities, particularly in transition and post-conflict contexts.
Protecting the integrity of electoral campaign financing
With parliamentary elections in Moldova less than three months away, debate on the funding of election campaigns is heating up. On 6 December 2018, International IDEA organized Moldova’s first roundtable dialogue on Third-Party Contributions in Political and Campaign Funding, together with the Center for Continuous Electoral Trainings (CICDE).
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this commentary are those of the staff member. This commentary is independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.