NDI - Ecuador

Civic Updates

vrao — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 17:55:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Resource Type:

Civic Update

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Issue 50: A Matter of Political Space (April 2016)	1.06 MB
Issue 49: Social Movements (January '16)	1.22 MB
Issue 48: Peace, Security and Democratic Resilience (August '15)	818.41 KB
Issue 47: Integration (April '15)	1011.57 KB
Issue 46: The Infomediary Role of NDI Partners (Jan. '15)	339.19 KB
Issue 45: The Role of Dialogue in Deepening Democracy (Sept. '14)	1.84 MB
Issue 44: Taking Advantage of Political Entry Points to Improve Meaningful Engagement (May '14)	1.12 MB
Issue 43: Political Inclusion of LGBT Population (Jan. '14)	1.43 MB
Issue 42: Radio as an Effective Communication Tool (Aug. '13)	1.48 MB
Issue 41: The Use of ICT to Enhance Citizen Participation (May '13)	1.57 MB
Issue 40: Supporting Inclusion of Marginalized Ethnic and Religious Groups (Dec. '12)	1.87 MB
Issue 39: Public Opinion Research (Sept. '12)	1.69 MB
Issue 38: Youth Programming (May '12)	1.83 MB
Issue 37: Mainstreaming Persons with Disabilities (Jan. '12)	1.72 MB
Issue 36: Organizational Development (May '11)	1.1 MB
Issue 35: GOTV, Voter Information & Voter Education (Jan. '11)	1.04 MB
Issue 34: Structuring and Maintaining Partnerships (Sept. '10)	306.87 KB
Issue 33: Political Process Monitoring (May '10)	419.89 KB
Issue 32: Defending Space for Citizen Participation (Aug. '09)	204.87 KB
Issue 31: Best Practices for Meaningful Citizen Engagement (April '09)	540.61 KB
Issue 30: Context Matters (Jan. '09)	311.87 KB
Issue 29: Voice, Space and Accountability (Aug. '08)	869.11 KB
Issue 28: Communications Tools (May '08)	207.88 KB
Issue 27: Using Information and Communications Techonologies (Jan. '08)	486.89 KB
Issue 26: Working with Marginalized Populations (Sept. '07)	283.24 KB
Issue 25: Ten Years of Civic Updates (July '07)	258.56 KB
Issue 24: Making Democracy Deliver (Feb. '07)	413.86 KB
Issue 23: Positive Partnerships with Local Groups (May '06)	268.06 KB
Issue 22: Political Activism for People with Disablities (Dec. '05)	458.7 KB
Issue 21: Local Fundraising and Volunteer Recruitment (July '05)	221.65 KB
Issue 20: Tips from NDI Practioners (April '05)	561.26 KB
Issue 19: Get Out The Vote (Dec. '04)	496.75 KB
Issue 18: Involving Youth in the Political Process (July '04)	277.27 KB
Issue 17: Monitoring as a Driver of Change (Feb. '04)	488.58 KB
Issue 16: Citizen Surveys and Other Organizing Tools (Nov. '03)	546.03 KB
Issue 15: Making University Connections (Aug. '03)	579.18 KB
Issue 14: Focus Groups (May '03)	334.74 KB
Issue 13: Civic Forum (Nov. '02)	279.56 KB
Issue 12: Coalition Building (Jan. '02)	195.45 KB
Issue 11: Assessment Methods (Aug. '01)	84.74 KB
Issue 10: Partnership Approaches (April '01)	109.87 KB
Issue 9: What's Voting All About? (Oct. '99)	82.5 KB
Issue 8: Global Seminar on Advocacy and Democracy Development (June '99)	481.85 KB
Issue 7: How Civic Programs Increase Women's Participation in Processes (Dec. '98)	962.34 KB
Issue 6: Post-Conflict and Ethnic Divided Societies (July '98)	120.75 KB
Issue 5: Assessing Programs (March '98)	81.99 KB
Issue 4: Training (Nov. '97)	98.85 KB
Issue 3: Resources and Communication (July '97)	74.43 KB
Issue 2: Advocacy (April '97)	94.31 KB
Issue 1: Program Highlights from Around the World (Feb. '97)	121.71 KB

Sandra Pepera

skincaid — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 18:41:17 +0000

Sandra Pepera is a career diplomat and international development professional. Before joining NDI as its director for Gender, Women and Democracy in 2014, she spent thirteen years as a senior officer at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), including leading programs in the Caribbean, Rwanda-Burundi and Sudan. Prior to joining DFID, Sandra spent time in British domestic politics; lecturing in political science and international relations at the University of Ghana; and as a political analyst in the Political Affairs Division at the Commonwealth Secretariat. She has a portfolio of skills and experience which include strategy development, political and risk analysis, diplomacy, general management and corporate governance.

Much of Sandra’s career has been spent working in or on transitional economies, focusing on the building of resilient and inclusive institutions. She led work on women and politics at the University of Ghana and in outreach public policy during the period of intense and unstable political transition in the early 1990s. This included participating in a program that supported the ANC Women’s League during South Africa’s transition from apartheid to majority democratic rule in 1993.

Sandra is a member of the Cambridge Sustainability Leaders Network, the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Global Board Ready Women initiative, and the International Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Journal for International Affairs (the Round Table). She holds the Financial Times Diploma for Non-Executive Directors, and serves as a trustee for the pension fund of an intergovernmental organization.

Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guide to Promote Women's Political Participation (Now available in Burmese)

fstovall — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 14:31:07 +0000

Author:

Julie Ballington

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute United Nations Development Programme

Published Date:

10/31/2011

Resource Type:

Manual|Handbook

Language:

Arabic, Burmese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Urdu

English

Arabic

French

Spanish

Russian

Urdu

Attachment	Size
Read the manual (English)	2.49 MB
Read the manual with case studies (English)	3.45 MB
Read the manual (Arabic)	1.9 MB
Download the poster (Arabic)	1.18 MB
Read the manual (Burmese)	4.59 MB
Read the manual (French)	2.57 MB
Download the poster (French)	670.54 KB
Read the manual (Russian)	2.82 MB
Download the poster (Russian)	256.16 KB
Read the manual (Spanish)	2.59 MB
Download the poster (Spanish)	680.95 KB
Read the manual (Urdu)	3.74 MB
Read the manual with case studies (Albanian)	10.91 MB

Equal Access: How to Include Persons with Disabilities in Elections and Political Processes

dleonard — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:59:44 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

03/06/2014

Resource Type:

Manual|Handbook

Language:

Arabic, English, French, Indonesian, Russian, Spanish, Uzbek

English

Arabic

Spanish

Russian

Attachment	Size
Download the manual in Arabic	2.54 MB
Download the manual in English	3.24 MB
Download the manual in French	2.36 MB
Download the manual in Indonesian	16.34 MB
Download the manual in Russian	2.37 MB
Download the manual in Spanish	16.87 MB
Download the manual in Uzbek	3.85 MB

Increasing Women’s Political Participation Through Effective Training Programs: A Guide to Best Practices and Lessons Learned

fstovall — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:08:23 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

10/23/2013

Resource Type:

Training Manual

Language:

Arabic, English, French, Russian, Spanish

English

Arabic

French

Spanish

Russian

Attachment	Size
Download the manual (English)	994.16 KB
Download the manual (français)	1.02 MB
Download the manual (РУС)	1.31 MB
Download the manual (español)	1.08 MB
Download the manual (بالعربية)	787.23 KB

Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations and Code of Conduct for Nonpartisan Citizen Election Observers and Monitors

fstovall — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:06:44 +0000

Publisher:

United Nations

Published Date:

04/03/2012

Resource Type:

Declaration

Language:

Arabic, Bangla, English, French, Mongolian, Romanian Russian, Spanish

English

Arabic

French

Spanish

Romanian

Russian

Attachment	Size
Read the declaration (Arabic)	267.58 KB
Read the declaration (English)	897.79 KB
Read the declaration (Bangla)	8.27 MB
Read the declaration (Burmese)	302.33 KB
Read the declaration (French)	327.02 KB
Read the declaration (Indonesian)	16.61 MB
Read the declaration (Mongolian)	345.97 KB
Read the declaration (Romanian)	275.41 KB
Read the declaration (Russian)	286.22 KB
Read the declaration (Spanish)	326.57 KB
Read the declaration (Urdu)	370.99 KB

NDI E-news: North Africa, Liberia, Ecuador | May 2011

fstovall — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:27:35 +0000

May 2011

Across North Africa, Citizens Find Their Voice

STAY CONNECTED

CONTRIBUTE

On one wall of Tahrir Square in Benghazi, Libya, people leave pictures of those who died during the reign of Muammar Gaddafi, including during the uprising that began in February. Photo by Maroun Sfeir.

With the major changes taking place across North Africa, NDI is expanding its activities in Egypt and Tunisia, where citizen uprisings led to the overthrow of authoritarian rulers and events are unfolding quickly as citizens work to organize new democratic systems.

In Libya, where citizens are fighting for freedom, NDI sent a team to Benghazi earlier this month to assess what Libyans will need for a democratic transition. Les Campbell, NDI director of Middle East and North Africa programs, writes about his experiences in this first-person account. "There is such a hunger for information ... The isolation of this part of Libya was profound and what is going on now is a genuine awakening."

NDI has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Transitional National Council (TNC), outlining ways the Institute can support Libya's transition by working with both the TNC and civil society.

Young people protest against regional discrimination in Le Kef, a city in northwestern Tunisia.

In Tunisia, NDI is beginning a second round of focus group research to learn how political parties are viewed and what issues citizens are most concerned about. As Tunisia prepares for its first democratic elections in more than 20 years, set for July 24, the Institute will share the findings with political parties to help them draft platforms and campaign strategies that address the needs of Tunisians.

In April, NDI brought Polish Solidarity leader and former defense minister Janusz Onyszkiewicz and retired Indonesian general Agus Widjojo to Cairo for a series of consultations with Egyptian political leaders and civic activists on political transitions. Discussions focused on how opposition groups can prepare for elections on an accelerated timetable, overcome internal divisions and navigate a transition to democracy that is being directed by the military with limited public input. Most Egyptian political parties are focused on September's parliamentary elections. NDI has been helping them develop campaign strategies and skills, and work on new campaign techniques, such as door-to-door campaigning, that have traditionally been resisted by Egyptian activists. NDI has also been working with parties to organize candidate debates and with civic groups to discuss electoral reform.

Meanwhile, NDI and the government of Bulgaria signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at sharing that nation's experience in democratic transitions with countries in the Middle East and North Africa. "As a country that has spent the past two decades undergoing a massive and often difficult transformation from dictatorship to democracy, Bulgaria has much to share with those who are now struggling to instill those same changes in their societies," said Nikolay Mladenov, Bulgaria's foreign minister, at a signing ceremony at NDI. Already, Bulgarian political leaders have visited with new political parties in Tunisia to share lessons learned.

Arabic language publications

NDI offers a number of manuals and handbooks designed to help civil society organizations, political parties and governments through democratic transitions. The Institute's most recent manual,
Political Process Monitoring: Activist Tools and Techniques, helps citizen groups monitor electoral campaign conduct as well as scrutinize government performance. The Institute also offers 75 Arabic language publications on topics such as advocacy, women's participation, democratic governance and using technology for more effective communications.

'Small Small' Improvements to Liberian Bill Tracking Improve Transparency

Reporting from Monrovia, Liberia, Program Manager Brittany Danisch explains how small improvements to the legislature's bill tracking system have had a big impact. Listen to the audio or read the transcript»

Sudanese Civic Group Gives Mostly Positive Marks to South Kordofan Polling Process

Elections held in the Sudanese state of Southern Kordofan were generally well conducted despite a number of deficiencies, according to the Sudanese Group for Democracy and Elections (SuGDE), an NDI partner. SuGDE deployed 90 citizen observers for the gubernatorial and state legislative elections. Read more»

Serbia Debates Electoral Reform as Precursor to EU Membership

Serbia's election system — particularly the manner in which citizens vote for representatives in parliament — is seen as one factor keeping the country from membership in the European Union. NDI brought 80 members of academia, government and civil society together to create recommendations on amending the electoral law. Read more»

Former Congresswoman Emphasizes the Value of Oversight to Russian Duma

Constance Morella, former U.S. representative from Maryland, recently appeared before the Russian Duma to testify on behalf of a bill that would increase congressional oversight in Russia — an important legislative branch check on executive authority. Morella was invited to testify by Just Russia, a party NDI has been working with on issues of democratic governance. Read more»

Democracy is...Tolerance

"Voices from the Middle East: Democracy is Tolerance" is a new video using material submitted online through Democracy is..., a public-private partnership in which NDI is a partner. The program asks young people around the world to complete the phrase "Democracy is..." through videos, tweets and photos submitted online. The video combines entries from across the region with common themes of equality, diversity and tolerance.
Watch»

Join the conversation»

Parliamentarians, Business Leaders Work Together in Mauritania to Improve Economy

In Mauritania, parliamentarians joined forces openly with representatives of the business community for the first time in the country's history this month. The two groups agreed to submit an official report to the Mauritanian National Assembly detailing issues and recommendations, and to establish a commission promoting ongoing collaboration between government and the private sector. Read more»

Cleaner Hospitals is Subject for Legislator Training in Ecuador

The poor hospital hygiene that may have been responsible for a recent string of infant deaths in Ecuador became a case study for a legislative training program organized by NDI. The program simulated ways to seek and incorporate citizen input into legislation that would improve regulation of hospital conditions. Read more»

Macedonian Code of Conduct Asks 'What Mark Will We Leave?'

Macedonian political parties signed a code of conduct ahead of snap parliamentary elections, calling on parties to respect the electoral law and foster a tolerant campaign atmosphere free of violent or intimidating rhetoric, fraud, bribery and proxy voting. The code is the eighth NDI has sponsored, and adherence to the codes has increased over the last eight elections. Read more»

Electoral Fairs Bring Politics Out of the Box in Peru

In the weeks leading up to last month's Peruvian elections, NDI partnered with Transparencia, a leading civic group, to organize a series of candidate debates and electoral fairs that gave citizens from outside the capital the opportunity to interact personally with candidates. Read more»

Marching Ahead: A Profile Book of Women Constituent Assembly Members

The April 2008 elections in Nepal marked a historic and unprecedented step forward for that nation's women, who won one-third of the seats in the Constituent Assembly, the body tasked with drafting the new Nepali constitution. A new book, Marching Ahead: A Profile Book on Women Constituent Assembly Members, profiles 24 of these women, sharing their stories as inspirations and role models for the next generation of women leaders. Read more»

Cleaning Hospitals, Training Legislators

rrunyan — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:35:41 +0000

Following a string of recent premature infant deaths in Ecuador that appeared to result from poor hospital hygiene, there was widespread agreement that authorities needed to act.

Jitinder Kohli, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, conducted a training program for legislators in Ecuador last month that explored how they could bring citizen input into this issue and others.

By Raúl Arce-Contreras and Juliana Ferreira

Following a string of recent premature infant deaths in Ecuador that appeared to result from poor hospital hygiene, there was widespread agreement that authorities needed to act.

Nine of the deaths occurred at Francisco Ycaza Bustamante Hospital, one of the biggest hospitals in Guayaquil city, the port that is the center of Ecuador's business and manufacturing industries. There were also seven infant deaths in Isidro Ayora Hospital in the southern city of Loja, raising questions about hospital hygiene practices around the country.

Ecuador has a government-run healthcare system that gives public officials the authority to order training for health workers and research on major issues as well as specific hospital cases.

These programs may be carried out by executive branch agencies, but the National Assembly has the power to request or legislate such actions. And the fact that the legislature has authority to intervene made it a good case study for Jitinder Kohli, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, who conducted a training program for legislators in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, last month at the invitation of NDI.

“We chose this subject because legislators from different political organizations would agree on the need for action,” Kohli said, “and we would avoid partisan arguments dominating the session. We wanted to find a policy area through which we could demonstrate the practical value of seeking input from outside groups and citizens when developing and implementing policy.”

Ecuador, which became a democracy in 1979, still struggles to include citizens in the decision-making process and hold legislators accountable for their policies. Similarly, civic groups are figuring out how to amplify their voices on the issues they hold dear. The training program included instruction for both lawmakers and representatives of civic organizations.

For legislators, Kohli prepared a set of exercises that emphasized the importance of working closely with citizens to promote more inclusive policies and increased accountability.

The first exercise asked legislators how they would go about developing policies to improve hospital hygiene to reduce the risk of infant deaths. In the second half of the exercise, some of the legislators continued in their roles as lawmakers while others were asked to act as representatives of interest groups.

The legislators group determined that developing good policy required significant expert input from patient and medical groups to incorporate their perspectives and fully understand the nature of the problem. The civil society group made it clear that lawmakers would be held accountable for a lack of progress on the issue.

To help the legislators with their outreach, the training session also focused on communication techniques and new media tools, including Twitter and Facebook, as well as more traditional techniques, such as responding to newsletters or participating in town hall meetings.

Civic leaders, in their training, were keen to learn communications strategies for building coalitions of groups based on common issues. They also were interested in discussing how to track follow-through on elected leaders’ campaign promises to increase accountability.

Meanwhile, the legislators group emphasized the importance of including citizens’ needs in their legislative work plans, raising awareness with constituents on these issues, and promoting laws and policies to address them.

“We will intensify the interaction between elected representatives and citizens, to identify the possible mistakes and rectify them,” one legislator pledged.

The training program was funded by the British Embassy in Quito, which also hosted a reception that brought together legislators and representatives of civil society groups.

Raúl Arce-Contreras is a press assistant at the Center for American Progress. Juliana Ferreira is program assistant at NDI Ecuador.

Related:

Pictured above: Members of civil society work in groups during training.

Published May 17, 2011

NDI E-news: Democracy Day, Middle East, Cambodia | Sept. 2009

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:25:17 +0000

September 15, 2009

Happy Democracy Day!

NDI wishes you a happy International Day of Democracy, an annual global celebration of human rights, the rule of law and other principles that unite democracies around the world. This day, Sept. 15, was designated by the United Nations to reaffirm the universality of democratic values and recognize the aspirations of people around the world to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems.

Supporting and strengthening democratic institutions is the main mission of NDI, which works in nearly 80 countries to advance citizen participation, safeguard elections and promote open and accountable government. Our primary focus is people — bringing together individuals and groups to share ideas, knowledge, experiences and expertise with the goal of improving the responsiveness and effectiveness of democratic governance. You can learn more about our work at www.ndi.org.

Afghans Pursue Democracy Despite Violence

NDI, which fielded more than 100 international and Afghan observers for Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential and provincial council elections, found that aspects of the election were in accordance with democratic principles. But the Institute also identified serious flaws in the process that needed to be addressed and offered 17 recommendations for improvements. The delegation's full preliminary statement can be found here.

Last week, as election authorities grappled with what they termed “clear and convincing evidence of fraud,” NDI expressed deep concern, noting that “it will be impossible to determine the will of the Afghan people” unless those issues are addressed.

The August delegation was led by former U.S. Senator Gary Hart; Karl Inderfurth, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs; John Manley, former Canadian deputy prime minister and foreign minister; Nora Owen, former minister of justice in Ireland; Karin von Hippel, co-director of the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Jamie Metzl, executive vice president of the Asia Society; Kenneth Wollack, president of NDI; and Peter Manikas, NDI's director of Asia programs.
Both Hart and Manley wrote op-ed pieces about their experiences. In addition, Metzl coauthored an op-ed with Christine Fair of Georgetown University, who also was an NDI election observer.

Inderfurth, von Hippel and other members of the election mission spoke about their impressions and answered questions about the vote at an event sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Read more about the event and watch the video»

NDI has been working in Afghanistan since early 2002 and has since conducted programs to promote the participation of Afghan civic groups and political parties in the country's political and electoral processes. A major component of NDI's work involves building the capacity of provincial councils, the only elected bodies below the national level.

Code of Conduct Takes Macedonia Toward Democracy and Europe

With its eye on membership in the European Union, Macedonia held peaceful local and presidential elections this spring without the violence that marred previous polls. The success of the election process was attributable, in part, to a Code of Conduct campaign that rallied political party leaders, candidates and voters alike to show that Macedonia can hold elections consistent with international standards. Chris Henshaw, NDI's resident director in Macedonia, discusses the Institute's history with Code of Conduct campaigns in Macedonia, dating to 2002, and their effect on the country's democratic transition.

Latest Iran Bulletin Explores Religion and Politics

Iran's religious institutions play a prominent role in the country's politics. Now, the disputed presidential election and its violent aftermath have led members of the Iranian religious establishment to question the moral, legal and religious foundations of the Islamic Republic. Prior to the election, Shi'a clerics mostly debated the relative balance of the Republic's Islamic and democratic aspects. Now debate has shifted to the fundamental nature, pillars and theoretical justifications for the regime itself.

NDI has been chronicling developments in Iran since February in its Iran Bulletin. Read the latest issue»

Save the Date!

NDI will celebrate its first quarter century with a special event on Nov. 3 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. More details will be available on the NDI website .

Training the Next Generation of Leaders...

...in the Middle East

Convening for the second year in Doha, Qatar, NDI's Young Women Leaders Academy brought together women aged 19 to 28 from across the Middle East who aspire to political careers. The women came from 12 countries to learn political skills and increase their knowledge about how to run a successful campaign and advocate effectively for a cause.

Meet some of the women who participated in the YWLA.

... in Latin America

NDI's Political Leadership Program, now in its 1oth year, brings together young leaders from Latin America to study international best practices. During the last decade, participants from 56 major political parties and movements from across the ideological spectrum have learned about political party renewal and reform. This year, national academies were held in Ecuador, Mexico and Peru for 69 emerging leaders who learned about the role of political parties, transparency and outreach, and planned individual projects for their parties.

Meet some of the attendees.

Visiting Cambodian MPs See Congress Up Close

Members of Cambodia's National Assembly, seeking to strengthen democracy in their country, visited both the U.S. Congress and the Maryland State Capitol as part of a recent study mission focused on issues of transparency, public access and the balance of power in government. The visit was sponsored jointly by NDI and the Institute for Representative Government.

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 Marks 10 Years of Support for Young Political Party Leaders Across Latin America

rrunyan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:36:39 +0000

Responding to a crisis of confidence in political parties, 15 years ago NDI and the then Ministry of the Presidency of Chile brought together senior political party leaders from 14 countries in Latin America to consider how to boost popular support for party reform.

They focused on generating more leadership opportunities for women and young people, internal party democratization, and establishing links among political movements and parties in the hemisphere so they could share ideas.

The result of their efforts was the Political Leadership Program (LP), launched by NDI in 1999 to help emerging political leaders strengthen their management and organizational skills to promote political party renewal.

Selected Leadership Program Profiles

Maria Eugenia
Campos Galván

Campos is a federal congresswoman for Mexico’s National Action Party (PAN) representing the state of Chihuahua. As her 1999 Leadership Program assignment, Campos, the PAN secretary of youth in Chihuahua, carried out a state voter mobilization project that increased youth registration with the party and raised voter participation.

“The lessons that I was able to share with my colleagues helped the PAN youth movement in Chihuahua greatly,” Campos said. “There was no budget for youth activities and no youth representatives on the party’s state committee. Using ideas I gained from the Leadership Program seminar, I obtained a budget for the youth movement, two seats for youth representatives on the state committee and coordinated a campaign to promote the youth vote in the presidential election of 2000. As a result, we won the youth vote in the state - increasing youth voter participation from 30 to 50 percent.”

As a congresswoman, Campos continues to implement the best practices she learned in the LP program regarding outreach to young people and women. She also places her financial information on her Web site as an exercise in transparency. (See campaign videos)

Carlos Daniel Fernandez

Fernandez is coordinator of the parliamentary group of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the Mexican state of Sonora. He previously served as the president of the state committee of the PRI. Under his leadership and as part of his 2006 Leadership Program project, the PRI parliamentary group in Sonora implemented a number of innovative transparency and constituency outreach initiatives, including establishing 14 district offices and developing outreach projects such as job placement, health campaigns and directing needy constituents to appropriate federal and state programs. During his tenure, the PRI parliamentary group of Sonora began publishing all of its expenditures online and began broadcasting all of its deliberations via webcam. (See Web site)

Juan Carlos Guerra

Guerra is the youngest of 21 vice presidents of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). He previously served as vice president of the Dominican Revolutionary Youth (JRD) and president for the province of Santo Domingo, and official spokesperson and member of the national political commission of the JRD. He recently campaigned to be president of the party. As vice president, Guerra decided to focus on improving the ethics of the party and successfully developed an ethics code that was passed by party leaders in November 2005. This code was developed and implemented as part of his 2005 Leadership Program project. (See Web site)

Sandy Quimbaya

jbowen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:42:45 +0000

Sandy Quimbaya is NDI's resident director in Malawi. She has also served as NDI’s resident representative in Ecuador, where programs assist reform-minded leaders of Ecuadorian political and civil society organizations with building more responsive political parties and stronger civic groups that can enhance political discourse and citizen involvement. She previously served as a program officer with the Washington, D.C.-based Latin America and Caribbean team of the Institute, managing Institute projects in Colombia, Guyana and Haiti.

Ms. Quimbaya has represented the Democratic Party of Virginia as a committee member for the 8th Congressional District and served as vice president of the Arlington Young Democrats. She has also participated in various local campaigns in the United States and served on community advisory boards with a focus on youth and Latino populations. Ms. Quimbaya is an Institute for International Public Policy fellow.

Before joining NDI in 2002, Ms. Quimbaya worked with the National Committee for an Effective Congress and the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia. She is of Colombian descent and speaks English, French and Spanish. Ms. Quimbaya graduated from Trinity College with a bachelor’s degree in international studies and political science. She has lived in Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Haiti and Israel.

Latin America and the Caribbean

jennycohan — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:30:54 +0000

More than 30 years after a wave of democratic change swept through the Americas and enabled citizens to regain fundamental political rights, public confidence in representative institutions remains low. Limited progress in overcoming problems of poverty and corruption, and the marginalization of large sectors of society have weakened the foundation of democratic institutions in a number of countries in the region. Many political leaders and political parties face pressure to become more effective in reaching out to citizens and addressing their needs.

Subscribe to updates about Latin America and the Caribbean

Colombia

NDI has assisted political parties with strengthening their organizations and reaching out to new sectors, and worked to enhance the political participation and skills of representatives of underrepresented sectors.
| Read more »

Guatemala

NDI focuses on strengthening the leadership capacity and political engagement of women and indigenous people, as well as increasing outreach to these sectors of the population.
| Read more »

Haiti

Haiti continues its consolidation of democracy, but high poverty rates, limited access to education, corruption and a winner-takes-all political culture have hindered that process. Since 1986, NDI has worked with Haitian political and civic leaders to strengthen democratic practices and institutions.
| Read more »

Honduras

NDI is working with Honduran election observation groups to promote their capacity to monitor pre-election and election-day conditions in the areas of decision-making, division of labor, project planning and outreach strategies.
| Read more »

Mexico

NDI offers technical assistance to civic groups promoting community development and the political rights of the disabled, works with young leaders from political parties, and works with women legislators to help reduce the gender disparity in policy areas within Congress.
| Read more »

Nicaragua

Providing support for nonpartisan election observation groups, enhancing the media's capacity to increase public engagement with the electoral process, and helping political parties with reform are goals of the Institute's programs.
| Read more »

Latin American Regional Programs

NDI's regional programs exchange best democratic practices throughout Latin America and enable NDI to address issues that span national boundaries.

| Read more»

Central American Citizen Security

Responding to the concern of Central American citizens over their governments' ability to address security issues in the region, NDI has worked since 2010 to help public officials, political party and civil society leaders create responsive citizen security policies; facilitate regional coordination on citizen security; and assist local leaders with violence prevention initiatives.
| Read more »

Past Programs

Information on programs in other countries where the Institute has worked.
| Read more »

NDI 2005 Annual Report

vrao — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

12/01/2005

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	6.23 MB

Political Parties and Civil Society: Working Together to Deliver Solutions to Citizen Concerns.

vrao — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

Erica Breth

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

03/01/2007

Resource Type:

Manual|Handbook

Language:

English, Spanish, Russian

English

Spanish

Russian

Attachment	Size
Read the training manual (English)	238.38 KB
Read the training manual (Spanish)	244.66 KB
Read the training manual (Russian)	1.94 MB

Focus Group Study Research Report on Political Parties in Ecuador

jbowen — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:27:17 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

08/11/2006

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	62.85 KB

NDI - Ecuador

Civic Updates

Sandra Pepera

Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guide to Promote Women's Political Participation (Now available in Burmese)

Equal Access: How to Include Persons with Disabilities in Elections and Political Processes

Increasing Women’s Political Participation Through Effective Training Programs: A Guide to Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations and Code of Conduct for Nonpartisan Citizen Election Observers and Monitors

NDI E-news: North Africa, Liberia, Ecuador | May 2011

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Cleaning Hospitals, Training Legislators

NDI E-news: Democracy Day, Middle East, Cambodia | Sept. 2009

September 15, 2009

Training the Next Generation of Leaders...

NDI Marks 10 Years of Support for Young Political Party Leaders Across Latin America

Selected Leadership Program Profiles

Maria Eugenia Campos Galván

Carlos Daniel Fernandez

Juan Carlos Guerra

Sandy Quimbaya

Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin American Regional Programs

NDI 2005 Annual Report

Political Parties and Civil Society: Working Together to Deliver Solutions to Citizen Concerns.

Focus Group Study Research Report on Political Parties in Ecuador

Maria Eugenia
Campos Galván