NDI - Croatia

Women in the Balkans Work Together to Challenge Norms and Push through Barriers

rrunyan — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:54:11 +0000

In Europe’s Balkan region, where citizens are trying to overcome ethnic conflict, political polarization and struggling economies in hopes of joining the European Union, women are seizing a larger role in democratization efforts. Increasingly, they are working together across ethnic and partisan lines to inject new life into stalled politics.

Women from various liberal political parties discuss ways for women to advance in politics with Susan Markham, NDI's director for women's political participation.

It’s a new undertaking for women who have traditionally been excluded from the political process. To help in this new-found mission, NDI brought together women politicians from liberal parties throughout Central and Eastern Europe to talk about how to bring down barriers to women’s political participation and advance policies that address issues such as unemployment and poverty, which are among their priorities.

One example was a discussion about how political parties need to champion education policies that will help women become entrepreneurs. “Women in the region want to start up their own businesses, but they don’t have the confidence to do it and feel they need support along that path,” said Edita Stefanic, a professor at the University of Osijek in Croatia, who participated in the dialogue. “We can be there for each other in the region, learn together and exchange the best practices.”

“It became clear to us during the event that our sister parties should set up, develop and maintain a network within the region that would strengthen and support women,” said Sabina Mujezinovic, vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDS) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “As liberal parties – which support individual responsibility and initiative – we should be recognized as promoters of women’s entrepreneurship and become leaders in the creation of policies at all levels supporting this goal.”

Following the conference, the women’s wing of the Croatian Social Liberal Party launched a women’s entrepreneurship Internet portal to provide information and assistance related to starting and managing a business.

Participants also explored how to elect more women, take more prominent positions within a party and build leadership skills. As liberal women, participants tended to favor competitive efforts to win seats beyond policies, such as quotas or women’s wings, that provide for structural guarantees for women in politics. Still, participants concluded that special measures are often necessary to overcome barriers to gender equality.

At the conference, Susan Markham, NDI’s director for women’s political participation, talked about the Institute’s experience with different tactics in promoting women in public life around the world. She discussed the contribution of women in building more representative and responsive governments that are more accountable to citizens.

The gathering was part of NDI’s regional political party development initiative in Central and Eastern Europe, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy. NDI works with liberal, social democratic and conservative parties to bring “sister” parties from other parts of Europe to join in the conversations. Among other objectives, the initiative helps connect women across borders. Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Stiftung and the Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy supported the conference as co-sponsors.

Related:

Published September 27, 2011

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

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:20:53 +0000

February 2010

Chocó Women Win 2009 Madeleine K. Albright Grant

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»

NDI established the Madeleine K. Albright Grant 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, the Indonesian Women’s Political Caucus (KPPI), the Mostar Women’s Citizen Initiative of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone.

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

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

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 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

NDI has launched an innovative online mapping tool 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

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

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," 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

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.

The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide by promoting citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

NDI E-news: African Elections, Serbia, Cambodia | June 2010

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:11:19 +0000

June 2010

Delegations Praise, Suggest Improvements for African Elections

Keith Jennings, NDI's Southern and East Africa regional director, and Ambassador Nora Schimming-Chase of Namibia present the delegation's findings in Tanzania.

Elections do not begin and end on election day. Successful polls require months of pre-election preparations by candidates, civil society, election commissions and domestic and international observer groups. Successful elections also require transparent counting procedures, a timely and fair adjudication of electoral complaints and a peaceful transfer of power.

In the pre-election periods in Tanzania and Guinea, NDI fielded delegations that assessed conditions and made recommendations to improve transparency, participation and fairness in upcoming elections.

In Tanzania, elections slated for October 2010 will be a milestone in the country's democratic development. The NDI delegation released a statement praising Tanzania's electoral process for its innovation and reform, but pointing out several aspects of the process that need to be strengthened. The delegation focused especially on a July 31 referendum that could enable Zanzibar to form a government of national unity. It also focused on the Election Expenses Act, which could exacerbate the resource imbalance between the government and opposition parties, and the voter registration process, which it said still requires significant improvements. Read more»

In Guinea, where the military junta is preparing to hand over power to a civilian government after the country's June 27 presidential election, members of the NDI delegation were optimistic that the election would be conducted peacefully. Their optimism was merited when the voting proceeded in what was initially seen as a largely peaceful and fair election. In a communiqué released prior to the vote, the delegation said, "The electoral campaign is being held without clashes and major incidents." Areas cited as needing improvement were the election commission's communications with the public as well as Guinea's security forces' role in the electoral process. Read more»

These two elections, in addition to upcoming polls in Rwanda, Kenya and Niger, underscore the value of the guidelines, recommendations and a sample of best practices included in a new report from last year's Ghana colloquium on African elections. The gathering was attended by more than 100 participants from 25 African nations. The report is available in both English and French.

Citizen Hotline Launched Ahead of Ugandan Elections

In an effort to curb electoral irregularities in Uganda, DEMGroup and the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy (CCEDU), both domestic election monitoring organizations, are using technology.

They have put in place a citizen hotline that Ugandans can use to call or text in concerns about the integrity of the electoral process. The comments are being collected, organized and checked out by DEMGroup and CCEDU monitors and digitally mapped on a public website to add transparency to the voting process.

The project is being conducted in partnership with NDI.

In Serbia, Five Pillars for Strengthening Parliament

As the political situation in Serbia has stabilized, attention has shifted to operation of its parliament and the lawmakers' responsibilities to constituents. Rebecca Shoot, a resident program officer in NDI's Belgrade office, discusses the Institute's work helping parliamentarians engage with the electorate.

NDI Brings Together Parliamentary Monitoring Groups in Jakarta

The efforts of civil society organizations to monitor and assess the work of legislatures was the subject of a recent meeting of representatives of parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMO) at the Sixth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The findings of a project to identify and map PMOs around the world were presented at the conference, as was an introduction to the AGORA Portal for Parliamentary Development, an online resource for sharing parliamentary best practices.

Watch the Winning Videos!

You voted for your favorites, now see who won! The Democracy Video Challenge has announced its six winning filmmakers— from Ethiopia, Indonesia, Spain, Iran, Nepal and Colombia — who earned the most votes for their three-minute videos completing the phrase "democracy is..." The six will now visit New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, where they will meet with representatives from government, democracy and other nongovernmental organizations, and the film and television industries.

Watch the winning videos»

Congress Looks to Women as Agents of Change

Women's meaningful participation in politics affects both the range of policy issues considered and the types of solutions that are proposed. In places such as Timor-Leste, Croatia, and South Africa, an increase in the number of female lawmakers has resulted in more legislation related to domestic violence, inheritance and security.

NDI President Kenneth Wollack testified about these gains at a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on "Women as Agents of Change: Advancing the Role of Women in Politics and Civil Society."

Read Wollack's testimony»

Constituents, Representatives Mix in Expanded Program in Cambodia

In Cambodia, members of the National Assembly have few chances to interact with constituents, and citizens rarely have an opportunity to express their views to their elected representatives in Phnom Penh. To address these challenges, NDI is expanding its constituency dialogue program as part of a five-year USAID-funded effort called Accountability in Governance and Politics. The dialogues are attended by 400 to 600 citizens and are similar to town hall meetings. Citizens can speak to and ask questions of their elected representatives.

Analysis: Signs of Optimism in the Balkans

Efforts in the Balkans to turn the page on a troubled past and look to democratic rule as a foundation for political stability are having an effect, according to Robert Benjamin, NDI's regional director for Central and Eastern Europe. In a recent talk, he discussed the outlook in the Western Balkans — Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia — and concluded that despite challenges the region is making real progress toward peace, stability and democracy.

"My optimistic message is that the region is stabilizing in ways we've never seen before," he said.

Read Benjamin's full remarks»

The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Congress Looks to Women as Agents of Change

fgalleto — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:57:09 +0000

In places as diverse as Timor-Leste, Croatia, Morocco, Rwanda and South Africa, increasing numbers of women are being elected to political office. In each case, more women has meant more legislation related to anti-discrimination, domestic violence, family codes, inheritance, and child support and protection.

"Women's political participation results in tangible gains for democracy, including greater responsiveness to citizen needs, increased cooperation across party and ethnic lines, and more sustainable peace," said NDI President Kenneth Wollack in testimony at a June 9 House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on "Women as Agents of Change: Advancing the Role of Women in Politics and Civil Society."

Wollack and other panelists discussed the concrete ways in which women help democracy deliver benefits to all citizens. Panelists also stressed the role that the United States must play in promoting gender equality and empowering women politically and economically to help establish stronger, more inclusive democracies around the world.

In the last 10 years, the rate of women's representation in national parliaments globally has grown from 13.1 percent at the end of 1999 to 18.6 percent at the end of 2009. Some regions have seen particularly dramatic increases, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of women in parliaments has risen from 10.9 to 17.6 percent. While these numbers show progress, women continue to be vastly underrepresented in politics, excluded from decision-making processes and routinely subjected to discrimination and violence.

In spite of enormous social and economic barriers and often in the face of violent opposition, women around the world are demanding their rights to education, security, and healthcare, and claiming a louder voice in decisions that affect their lives and communities. Panelists highlighted the vital role that women can play as leaders in politics and their communities, and stressed the need for increased support for women's political leadership both in the U.S. and abroad.

As Wollack noted, "it is not an accident that the countries in which health, education and economic development are not part of the national agenda are places where women are denied a genuine political voice. Empowering women politically will help countries develop democratic institutions so they can begin to successfully address issues related to security, jobs, human rights, physical well-being and human development." Throughout his testimony, he illustrated how NDI has been working with political and civic leaders for more than two decades to support their efforts to increase the number and effectiveness of women in political life.

Wollack also called attention to the various barriers that limit women's political and civic engagement, namely access to positions of power and to economic resources, lack of government transparency, and pervasive and discriminatory gender stereotypes. He focused on the eight ways to build women's political participation: conducting ongoing communications trainings; building leadership skills; uniting women across political party lines, often in the form of women's caucuses; reforming political parties internally so that women's participation is a real priority; teaching women to train other women so that knowledge and skills are not lost; training elected women so that they are ready to deliver services back to constituents, increasing their chances of re-election; exchanging information internationally; and engaging youth to help change attitudes and behavior towards women.

Other witnesses were: Melanne Verveer, ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues; Dr. Esther Brimmer, assistant secretary for International Organization Affairs; Swanee Hunt, chair of the Institute for Inclusive Security and former U.S. ambassador to Austria; and Judy van Rest, executive vice president of the International Republican Institute (IRI). The House Committee members and panelists discussed a range of topics, including women and governance; women and security; women's role in Haiti's reconstruction process; U.S. policies in Afghanistan; violence against women; the importance of ratifying The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); and the creation of a new United Nations gender entity that would coordinate efforts to support women globally.

Read Wollack's testimony»

Related:

Pictured above:Wollack testifies at the Subcommittee hearing

Published on June 14, 2010

Women as Agents of Change: Advancing the Role of Women in Politics and Civil Society

fgalleto — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:19:53 +0000

Author:

Ken Wollack

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

06/09/2010

Resource Type:

Testimony

Language:

English

Media Type:

PDF

2010

English

Attachment	Size
Kenneth Wollack's Testimony	42.9 KB

Analysis: Signs of Optimism in the Balkans

fgalleto — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:01:24 +0000

The Western Balkans — Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia — face ethnic divisions and other political, economic and social problems that continue to challenge stability in the wake of the violent conflicts of the 1990s. But people in the region are seeking to turn the page on a troubled past and look to democratic rule as the foundation for political stability and integration into the European Union and NATO.

Robert Benjamin, NDI's regional director for Central and Eastern Europe, recently discussed political stability in the Western Balkans at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. While Benjamin points to remaining challenges, overall he believes the region is making real progress toward peace, stability and democracy.

Here are excerpts from his remarks.

"My optimistic message is that the region is stabilizing in ways we've not seen before.

"First, for as problematic and destabilizing as the region's core issues are — principally between Serbia and Kosovo on the latter's independence and on Bosnia — the threat of armed conflict has been measurably reduced and perhaps altogether removed. Governments have eschewed militaristic policies, the armed forces are among the most reformed institutions in the region, and the international structures on the ground — both governmental and military — have ensured peace.

"Second, at a political level, there are increasing signs of cooperation between capitals. Most notably, Belgrade and Zagreb are cooperating on a host of bilateral issues, and both are proving themselves generally constructive in their relations with next-door Bosnia. For their size and prominence, Serbia and Croatia in many respects drive the region; the health of their relations sets a tone that others take their cues from. Turkey's recent diplomatic overtures involving Belgrade and Sarajevo, concurrent with what appears to be a bid for stronger economic ties with Serbia, are also welcome. Albania and Serbia are growing closer, as witnessed by the recent visit to Belgrade — and importantly, south Serbia — by Albania's deputy prime minister. Macedonia's and Montenegro's respective diplomatic recognitions of Kosovo, done not without measurable political risk at home — have also contributed to stability.

"Third, the region was conferred a "European perspective" at the 2003 EU Thessaloniki Summit, and is on track to incorporate into the European Union. Most will find their way into NATO, as Croatia and Albania have already done. For Brussels and Washington, the Balkans represent the remaining piece of the European puzzle. And for the Balkans, EU accession and NATO membership provide the ultimate security blanket. So the mutual interest is there. This year's EU visa liberalization for three of the countries, with Bosnia possibly on deck, and NATO's consideration of Membership Action Plan (MAP) status for Bosnia, help people in the Balkans look forward, not to the past.

"Fourth, even the most longstanding and intractable problems the region confronts — conflict between Serbia and Kosovo over the latter's independence, Bosnia's inability to cohere a functional system of government, and Macedonia's persistent name conflict with Greece — are playing out in an environment where they don't represent the existential threats they might have once did. For all of its vituperation, Belgrade insists that it will pursue its Kosovo policy through peaceful recourse to international law. Bosnia's situation, though politically dire, is not hitting up to the level of renewed conflict, and Athens and Skopje are circling around potential formulas concerning a workable solution to the name conflict, although, to be sure, domestic politics in either country do not necessarily favor a quick resolution.

"Finally, buttressing all of this is public opinion in the region. People don't want to go back. They want to get on with things. In poll after poll, jobs and the economy, not interethnic relations or territorial issues, top the list by a wide margin.

"Lest I sound too sanguine, and at the risk of contradicting myself, let me dent this optimistic scenario by mentioning some challenges and complications — although I still retain my core optimism."

Read the full text»

Published on June 4, 2010

Center-Right Political Party Youth Leaders Gather from across the Balkans to Form Political Network

fgalleto — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:24:50 +0000

As ethnic divisions ease in the Balkans, political parties across the spectrum are finding the need for new approaches that focus on thoughtful policy debate rather than personality and ethnicity. Young leaders in particular will play an important role in these changes.

In partnership with the VMRO-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), NDI co-hosted a meeting Feb. 5-7 of 35 young leaders from center-right Balkan political parties. At the meeting in Skopje, Macedonia, participants focused on how to attract youth to conservative values in the 21st century as well as how to tackle a wide range of issues, including those not traditionally seen as conservative.

The young people displayed an enthusiasm to leave behind the Balkans' troubled past of ethnic divisions to "set an example of multi-cultural integration and cooperation," in the words of a declaration signed at the conclusion of the meeting by the young political leaders.

Perspective at the meeting was provided by speakers from conservative parties from elsewhere in Europe who had experience with these issues. For example, Rob Thomas, from the British Conservative International Office, described the conservative experience in the United Kingdom (UK) in the early 1990s trying to modernize the party, reformulate policy and integrate new public communications techniques.

UK conservatives, he noted, began to tackle issues that were not traditionally seen as conservative — such as the environment, health care and social justice — while adhering to European conservative beliefs in a strong government, individual and economic liberty, and thriving civil society. The discussion concluded that conservative ideas of liberty, opportunity and choice should be attractive to young people and need to be presented as dynamic and forward-looking, supporting change and reform.

NDI enlisted Lucinda Creighton, a conservative member of parliament in Ireland, who spoke about her experience as a youth leader in the Fine Gael party and activist in the Youth of the European People's Party (YEPP). A spokesman for the Junge Union of the German Christian Democrat Union (CDU) also presented.

At the end of the two-day meeting, the participants co-signed the declaration to establish a network of young, center-right political leaders in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The international secretaries of the parties' youth wings will coordinate regular communications to promote youth engagement on policy development.

The development of such regional networks to share experience and best practices is part of NDI's regional initiative to support political parties in southeastern Europe. NDI assists parties in the development of policy platforms that are based on ideology and represent citizens' interests. NDI has worked with mainstream parties of the left, center and right in the Balkans for more than 15 years, helping them build organizations, bring new people into politics, contest elections responsibly and work in parliament on behalf of constituents.

These political parties are striving to provide leadership as their countries move toward membership in the European Union. They face the simultaneous challenge of articulating their political identity and applying it to policy and reform initiatives, while tackling persistent issues like corruption, the economy and unemployment.

NDI conducts its regional political party initiative with the goal of helping parties in the Balkans learn from each other and from sister parties around Europe on their roles in contemporary Europe. The initiative is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and has active support from a variety of European party foundations. The British Conservative International Office and the German Konrad Adenauer Stiftung joined NDI and VMRO as co-sponsors of the event.

Building on participant engagement on ideological discussion and the need for regional networking, NDI will support these center-right party youth organizations as they work toward common priorities and promote youth engagement on policy issues. The Institute will also use discussions at such gatherings to support center-right partners as they work to articulate ideology and pursue policy reforms.

Picture above: Gerti Bogdani (second from left) is the youngest member in the Albanian Parliament. He built popularity as a mayor of a sub-municipality in the capital of Tirana by addressing constituent needs. In Skopje, Bogdani discussed how his Democratic Party (DP) gathers youth supporters and their proposed education policy reforms in Albania. He sits next to fellow speaker Lucinda Creighton (far left) also the youngest Member of Parliament in Ireland.

Published March 11, 2010

Women Social Democrats of Southeastern Europe Reach across Borders for Shared Goals

fgalleto — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:53:48 +0000

As the countries of southeastern Europe struggle to move beyond a legacy of violent conflict and consolidate their democratic institutions, women leaders play an essential role. Frequently, women serve as the vanguard of political change, willing to break with established traditions and accepted wisdom to advocate for reforms. However, women politicians in the region have little place at their parties’ decision-making tables and are frequently absent when policy is developed. To foster cooperation among like-minded women leaders in the region, NDI, from Oct. 9 to 12, convened women from Social Democratic parties for a conference on the role of women's party organizations and Social Democratic approaches to policy topics.

Forty women legislators and leaders of political party women's forums gathered to discuss their common challenges. They stressed the importance of creating a regional network to develop policy solutions, carrying out joint projects and strategies, training women party activists, and moving issues of importance to women to the top of parties’ policy agendas. The event brought together representatives of 14 Social Democratic parties from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia, and connected them with western European counterparts, including policy experts from Germany and Sweden.

With funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the event was co-organized by NDI, the European Forum for Solidarity and Democracy, the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the Olof Palme International Center of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, and Socialist International Women. The Democratic Party hosted the conference in Serbia, following on Social Democratic regional party forums held in Croatia and Serbia in the last year.

Panel sessions focused on the most acute political, economic and social problems facing women from European democracies in transition, including addressing the effects of the current economic crisis, bolstering their position in the labor market, providing labor protections for working women, identifying the role of women's forums in party structures, responding to women's security concerns, and including women's policy platform issues in party agendas.

At the gathering, women legislators and senior party officials strategized on how to increase women's leadership in policy development and legislative advocacy and identify advancement opportunities for the next generation of women political leaders. They agreed to create a coordination body to spearhead establishment of a regional network that would help with these tasks.

"I support the idea to establish a network of women of Social Democratic parties, because we all need to learn from each other's experiences," said Gorica Majovic of the Democratic Party of Serbia. "We all have similar legislative frameworks. Why not use this opportunity to create a sub-network of women parliamentarians from Social Democratic parties?"

After the conference, participants from the Socialist Movement for Integration in Albania and the Democratic Party in Serbia collaborated on several bilateral projects to encourage women entrepreneurship. The Institute also sponsored a consultative visit by Sonja Lokar, a leading Social Democratic voice in Slovenia, to work with the women's wing of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) on creating a development plan to coincide with the group’s 10th anniversary.

NDI's regional party development program aims to help parties develop policy agendas and connect with like-minded parties in the Balkans and Western Europe. The program has been funded by the NED since 2005. In 2010, NDI will continue to organize similar gatherings of in southeastern Europe to encourage cross-border exchange.

Pictured above: Women leaders from southeastern Europe gathered with peers in Serbia to brainstorm solutions to common challenges.

Published November 24, 2009

Liberal Parties in the Balkans Plot a Shared Course Toward the Future

ggreene — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:50:04 +0000

With the Croatian People’s Party (HNS) serving as host, NDI brought some 25 representatives of Balkan Liberal political parties to the Croatian capital, Zagreb, for two days of discussion about advocacy of Liberal views on Balkans issues at the European level.

Highlighting the November seminar were policy workshops on ethics reform, gender equality, national security and economic opportunity. Participants also agreed to co-sign a letter calling for Europe-wide visa liberalization for citizens in the Balkans, in keeping with the Liberal emphasis on individual liberty. The seminar built on a new network of Liberal Parties in Southeastern Europe (Libseen). NDI and the HNS were joined by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung and the Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) as event co-sponsors.

The seminar was part of an NDI initiative to help political parties in Balkan countries readying themselves for membership in the European Union (EU) and broader Euro-Atlantic networks. As they move slowly toward joining the EU as full-fledged democracies, these nations wrestle with the demons of past ethnic wars along with present-day challenges of corruption, unemployment and other ills. Among the many efforts dedicated to readying Balkan governments, civil society and the private sector for the rigors of EU membership and other Euro-Atlantic alliances, few have focused on democratic reforms needed to make the grade. And fewer still have addressed the role that political parties play in providing the vision, leadership and ideas that will deliver the region from its troubled past and move it on toward Europe.

NDI has worked with mainstream parties of the left, center and right in the Balkans for more than 15 years, helping them build their organizations, bring new people into politics, contest elections responsibly and work in parliament on behalf of constituents. This leaves little time to consider bigger questions of how parties espouse and articulate their political identity, devote energy to developing policies responsive to the public interest and provide anxious citizens with clear reform plans to see their countries through uneasy transitions.

That’s why NDI began the regional party initiative, with the goal of helping parties in the Balkans learn from each other and from sister parties around Europe on their roles in contemporary Europe. The Institute grouped its partners in Social Democratic, Liberal and Conservative groups, respectively. The initiative is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and has active support from a variety of European party foundations.

Liberal parties in the Balkans have an especially important role in championing individual freedoms in a region exiting home-grown communism. Liberal parties have served in government, particularly in such countries as Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania that have seen quicker European integration, more robust economic growth and faster development of a middle class as compared to their neighbors.

The parties gathered in Zagreb – from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia – were joined by counterparts from Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, as well as Liberal International. LI Secretary General Emil Kirjas affirmed the importance of cooperation among Liberals in the region as well throughout Europe.

The vice president of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform (ELDR) party and LIBSEEN chair, Vesna Pusic, underscored this point in a keynote address. The ethnic wars of the 1990s that destroyed Yugoslavia were a betrayal of the values that its peoples share, she said, noting that peace and stability will ensue from functioning democratic institutions and civil society that span the sovereign borders that now mark the former Yugoslavia. Democracy cannot be imposed, she added, but rather will grow through the cultivation of home-grown political leaders with common understanding of shared values and issues. In this context Liberal ideas should be pursued throughout the region, she said.

Participants discussed how to form coalitions with parties to the left and right without sacrificing Liberal values, how to enhance national security without damaging individual rights, and whether gender quotas and other policies designed to promote those traditionally excluded from leadership detract from Liberal tenets on individual merit. There was also an interesting discourse on policy formation, led by Christian Moon, deputy head of U.K. LibDem policy and research center, in which he offered that party policies arising from consultation of rank and file often produce positions that don’t mesh with the inevitable compromises that occur within coalition governments seeking broad public support. What emerged through the discussions was a heightened recognition of challenges and opportunities among those who are charged with advocating Liberal ideas and values in the Balkans.

In the seminar’s wake, NDI country teams will put the discussions to good use in supporting the Institute’s Liberal partners in-country. With NDI support, HNS officials visited Kosovo in December to share their experiences in setting up party structures with New Kosovo Alliance (AKR), a new Liberal party. As well, Dutch VVD representatives were in Kosovo recently to assist the Autonomous Liberal Party (SLS), which represents Kosovar Serb communities.

Pictured above: Robert Benjamin (left), NDI director for Central and Eastern Europe, with Vesna Pusic (center), vice president of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and chair of the Liberal Southeastern Network (LIBSEEN), and Boris Blazekovic, director of the Croatian People’s Party’s Political Academy, at a November conference in Zagreb, Croatia.

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Published on Dec. 23, 2008

NDI Expert Explores “Semi-Presidentialism” in Central and Eastern Europe

ggreene — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:27:42 +0000

As co-editor of the recently published book Semi-Presidentialism in Central and Eastern Europe, Sophia Moestrup, NDI senior program manager for Central and West Africa, examines the effects of “semi-presidentialism,” on democratization in the region since 1990. “Semi-presidentialism” – a regime situation where there is a directly elected president as well as a prime minister responsible to the legislature – exists in more than half of all Central and Eastern European countries.

With a collection of essays on Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine, Moestrup and co-editor Robert Elgie of Dublin City University explore whether some forms of semi-presidentialism are more conducive to democratization than others. They conclude that this form of governance has not had a positive impact on democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, due largely to friction between presidents and prime ministers as well as the democratic requirements for European Union membership that dictate any and all democratic reforms in the region.

Learn more: Read about Semi-Presidentialism in Central and Eastern Europe at the publisher's web site| Visit site »

Review of Partner Relationships with GONG and Transparencia

vrao — Tue, 10 May 2005 04:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

11/01/2004

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	82.5 KB

Organizational Development for NGOs

vrao — Mon, 09 May 2005 04:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

05/01/2005

Resource Type:

Manual|Handbook

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the manual	813.77 KB

Vodic Kroz Kampanju

vrao — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 04:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

01/31/2004

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

Croatian

Attachment	Size
Read the report (Croatian)	80.63 KB

Croatia's Parliamentary Elections

vrao — Thu, 13 Nov 2003 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

11/12/2003

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Issue 1 (Nov. 12, 2003)	308.58 KB
Issue 2 (Nov. 14, 2003)	183.24 KB
Issue 3 (Nov. 21, 2003)	209.93 KB
Issue 4 (Nov. 24, 2003)	135.17 KB

Effective Local Councilors Your Place in the Council, Among the People and in Your Party! A Councilor's Manual

vrao — Wed, 23 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

10/01/2002

Resource Type:

Manual|Handbook

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Download the manual	251.12 KB