NDI - El Salvador

NDI Regional Director Jim Swigert Testifies Before Senate Committee on Opportunities for Central America’s Northern Triangle

sruiz — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 15:09:19 +0000

On Tuesday, April 19, NDI’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jim Swigert, delivered remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the prospects for democracy in Central America’s Northern Triangle. Swigert’s testimony pointed to endemic violence, impunity from the law, and corruption as the three biggest impediments to good governance in the Northern Triangle region of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. These factors, coupled with deep social inequality, lack of economic opportunity, and unresponsive political institutions, contribute to the region’s migration crisis and undermine democracy.

NDI Regional Director Jim Swigert testifies before Senate Committee on Opportunities for Central America’s Northern Triangle.

Read Full Testimony

Swigert noted ways in which Northern Triangle governments and civil society can collaborate with the United States to address persistent problems affecting the region. The three countries of the Northern Triangle have formed the joint Alliance for Prosperity to work together to overcome the development, security and governance challenges to the region, and have the active support of the United States, the Inter-American Development Bank, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, among others. The Alliance provides the opportunity for greater regional cooperation, sustained engagement from Central American leaders, and democracy-strengthening efforts by organizations like NDI. Swigert’s remarks underlined the importance of continued U.S. assistance to the region.

“[The Alliance for Prosperity] provides additional needed resources and equally critical, real incentives for Northern Triangle governments to follow through on much needed reforms,” Swigert said. “Congress’ role in ensuring oversight and monitoring for effective use of the resources -- with hearings such as this -- has been critical.”

NDI programs in the Northern Triangle have successfully promoted dialogue among civil society, political parties, and government institutions at the municipal, national, and regional levels to strengthen democratic governance. Since 2010, NDI has contributed to democratic engagement on citizen security policy by:

Organizing international exchanges of best practices in advocacy and strategies for violence prevention;
Designing and conducting courses to analyze regional challenges and share best practices for engaging citizens and effective policy making; and
Assisting municipal actors to develop and implement local violence prevention initiatives.

The Institute assists civil society organizations to communicate citizen concerns to political leaders while helping parties and governments engage with constituents to develop more effective, transparent, and responsive policies. NDI civic partners, like Alliance for Peace and Justice in Honduras and the Pro-Justice Movement in Guatemala, actively support concrete policy reforms and closely monitor government actions.

In turn, such programs have resulted in increased government outreach to civic groups. Swigert testified that in Guatemala, for example, extensive interaction between civil society leaders, legislators, government and political party leaders has resulted in the approval of key elements of anti-corruption legislation and stalled political reform. Guatemala’s experience over the past year suggests that sustained public engagement is key to advancing reform.

NDI partners and other civil society organizations have successfully advocated for political and electoral reforms in all three countries of the Northern Triangle. Regional exchanges are taking place not just among governments, but among political and civic leaders to promote a unified regional agenda. However, Swigert stressed that much more needs to be done to support these efforts. He also noted that Northern Triangle legislatures have a key oversight role that should be supported in addition to bolstering their law-making functions.

“Citizens want more from their democracy than just regular elections,” Swigert said. “They want democracy to deliver on security and opportunity. And the tension between the public’s belief in democracy in the Northern Triangle and acute disappointment with its performance, adds an an element of political volatility to the governance challenges.”

Published on April 21, 2016

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

Central American Governments Work Together to Increase Citizen Security

dleonard — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:59:24 +0000

In northern Central America, where homicide rates are among the highest in the world, lack of security threatens the stability of democratic institutions and often stymies development. Disparities in the way El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras approach the problem make regional security issues difficult to tackle, and organized crime and drug trafficking leaders easily cross borders based on which country has laxer procedures or laws.

In an effort to improve regional security, congressional representatives from all three countries—which make up the region known as the Northern Triangle—as well as leaders of regional organizations and the Colombian House of Representatives, met in Guatemala City Jan. 30-31. During the Interparliamentary Forum on Security Policy and Violence Prevention, hosted by NDI, participants discussed how to work together to address issues such as human trafficking, regulating private security companies, police reform, drug trafficking, organized crime, violence prevention, gender, and the trade, sale and trafficking of weapons. The forum was part of the Institute’s broader regional program, which helps political and civil society leaders at the local and national levels advocate and develop policies that address citizen security challenges.

From left to right: German Edgardo Leitzelar Vidaurreta, Mario Alonso Perez Lopez and Agapito Alexander Rodriguez Escobar of the Honduran Congress' security commission.

“Violence is without a doubt a cancer that is consuming our societies, and spaces like this help us to reflect on the progress we have made in each of our countries, but mainly on the great challenges that remain,” said Pedro Muadi, president of the Guatemalan Congress, about the forum.

The forum gave leaders of the security and justice committees from Northern Triangle countries as well as representatives from different political parties the chance to discuss coordinating legislative efforts throughout the region and to learn from examples in other countries, like Colombia, which has led efforts to deal with issues like organized crime and drug trafficking.

Two regional organizations that participated, the Democratic Security Directorship of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Forum of Central American and Caribbean Legislative Presidents (FOPREL), are already working on regional citizen security initiatives. SICA is working to strengthen institutions and improve the skills of officials that deal with these issues, and provide examples for how to prevent violence and rehabilitate criminals. FOPREL is developing security legislation that can serve as a model for governments in the region. Thus far it has completed draft legislation on human trafficking and arms and munitions.

“With the level of organization and economic capital that organized crime has, countries cannot work independently," warned Álvaro Padilla Lacayo, a specialist in citizen security from SICA.

Participants discussed what security and justice legislation has worked for each country, and how to improve progress. For example, El Salvador hopes to capitalize on the truce brokered between the country’s two major gangs by encouraging the voluntary surrender of weapons. Honduras is trying to make gun legislation more restrictive, and Guatemala is working to improve regulation of weapons by making its classification system more specific. Guatemalan and Honduran legislators said they have made progress combatting drug trafficking with new laws that allow them to confiscate criminals’ property, and El Salvador has a law on peaceful coexistence that lays out values - such as human dignity, equality and tolerance - that people need to feel secure.

They identified common concerns - such as improving regulation of private security companies, whose operatives far outnumber national police forces, combating police corruption and addressing the growing use of technology, like cell phones, to organize criminal activity. They also stressed the importance of communicating within and among the region’s legislatures and improving coordination among branches of government. Participants said they want to continue their coordination and invest in stronger democratic institutions.

"We hope to continue gaining knowledge and experiences from these forums that will help [Honduras], which is now one of the most violent countries in the world," said Mario Pérez López, president of the Honduran Congress’ security committee.

NDI has begun a database of regional citizen security legislation and documents to share with participants, and plans to coordinate with FOPREL and SICA as well as the respective congresses to encourage more regular exchanges, including document sharing, virtual meetings and a second forum.

Read more:

Published March 12, 2013

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: Election Prep in Bosnia, Egypt, Afghanistan | Oct. 2010

fstovall — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:52:34 +0000

October 2010

Preparing for Election Day - Debating, Educating Assessing

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Candidates greet the moderators before debating in Bosnia.

Though the voting part of an election usually takes just a day, months and sometimes years of preparation go into making it a success. There's the preparatory work by election commissions, organizing by political parties, choosing candidates, the campaign itself, training observers, educating and motivating the electorate to participate, and creating an atmosphere in which voters feel safe enough to go to the polls. In many countries where NDI works, the Institute and its partners are involved in one or more of these aspects of election day preparation. Here are some examples:

Leading up to the Oct. 3 general elections in Bosnia, NDI partnered with two major public television stations to present a series of candidate debates.
These events, along with a series of regional town-hall style meetings, were unique for focusing on issues, and the parties' stances on those issues, rather than personal or ethnic attacks and accusations.

As Egypt prepares for legislative elections in November, a new website, www.vote4egypt.com, conveys the importance of voting. It features promotional get out the vote videos, posters and message boards, where users can discuss topics such as how to get voter identification cards and where to vote on election day. The site is part of a larger civic participation effort by the nonpartisan Bridge Center for Dialogue and Development, an NDI partner organization.

A trainer gives a presentation about her political party in Kyrgyzstan.

Before Kyrgyzstan's Oct. 10 parliamentary elections, NDI worked with women candidates and party members seeking to learn new skills needed to be effective candidates, and for gaining leadership roles within their parties.

In preparation for Afghanistan's Sept. 18 parliamentary elections, NDI conducted orientation sessions for more than 1,700 candidates (68 percent of the total), organized training for political parties, ran campaign schools for more than 240 women candidates (62 percent of the total) and provided technical assistance to FEFA, the country's largest domestic election monitoring organization. It also trained more than 36,000 candidate agents across the country to report on election day activities.

In addition to its work with local partners, NDI takes part in pre-election assessments. Recently in Jordan,
Ukraine and Nigeria, the Institute has fielded high-level delegations that have met with election officials, ruling and opposition political figures, civil society groups, journalists and others to assess the electoral environment and recommend short- and long-term improvements in the electoral process.

In Haiti, Citizens Voice Ideas and Concerns about Rebuilding

Haiti's Action Plan for National Recovery and Development is a blueprint aimed at helping Haitians rebuild and overcome the challenges posed by last January's earthquake. To ensure that citizens and local government officials have an opportunity to contribute their own ideas, initiative committees across Haiti are holding meetings to solicit advice from citizens. Read more»

Despite Violence, Voters in Afghanistan Show Commitment to Democratic Process

Although violence marred the electoral process in many parts of the country, millions of Afghans turned out to vote in legislative elections Sept. 18, showing courage and resolve to move their nation toward a more democratic future. NDI's observers released a preliminary statement lauding Afghans for their commitment to democracy while drawing attention to a number of problems with the electoral process. Read more»

New Publications Encourage Women's Political Participation

In many countries, women who want to get involved in politics lack the role models and resources to help them pursue their goals. Two new publications seek to meet those needs and encourage more women to get involved in the political process.

Aimed at young women from the Middle East and North Africa region, Confidence, Capacity, Connections: A Young Woman's Guide to Leadership is a workbook that combines ideas, strategies and advice from experts on pursuing a political career. Read more»

In Bangladesh, Who's Who: Women Leaders at a Glance profiles 134 Bangladeshi women and is designed to provide inspiration and role models to other women aspiring to leadership roles. Read more»

Iraqi National Youth Caucus Works to Turn Youth Priority Issues into Policy Changes

As Iraqis work to create a new government, a group of young people is working to perfect the civic advocacy skills they need to influence how policy is made. Members of Iraq's National Youth Caucus (NYC) came together recently to discuss their strategies for ongoing advocacy campaigns for improving high school and college education and combating the high rate of youth unemployment. Read more»

Central American Leaders See Transparency as Key to Public Security

In El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, more than three quarters of the population thinks public safety is the greatest problem facing the region. Recently, leaders from government, political parties, business, academia and civil society came together to discuss the link between transparency and security in Central America. At the NDI-supported event, the 150 participants identified and agreed on concrete actions to fight corruption and increase transparency. Read more»

New Partnerships Strive for More Inclusive, Stronger Parliaments

NDI recently signed two memoranda of understanding (MoU) that seek to strengthen parliaments and make them more accountable and inclusive.

In Kenya, NDI and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association signed an MoU to collaborate on efforts to enhance representative government around the world. The association is a group of national and subnational legislatures of the Commonwealth, representing some two billion citizens from all faiths and ethnicities from six continents. Read more»

The MoU signed by NDI and the Guatemalan Congress will allow the two to create initiatives to improve the representation of indigenous people and women in Guatemala's government and to reform laws governing elections and political parties. Read more»

Democracy Updates | Partner Spotlights | In-Country Perspectives |

Democracy Dialogue | Publications | Employment

NDI E-news: In-Country Perspectives, Sudan, El Salvador

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:10:22 +0000

October 2009

NDI Offers an "In-Country Perspective"

More than 1,000 expatriates and local staff work for NDI in nearly 80 countries around the world. Their daily interactions with NDI's partners on the ground give them unique insights into the challenges of supporting and strengthening democratic institutions, sometimes under very difficult circumstances.

A special section on our website, "In-Country Perspectives" at www.ndi.org is devoted to highlighting their stories. Here are a few examples:

NDI senior program officer Michael Rifer's narrative about the impact of NDI's radio distribution and civic education program in the Sudanese village of Leer. Read more»

An interview with NDI's Macedonia Director Chris Henshaw about a code of conduct campaign that NDI supported during spring elections that helped Macedonia largely avoid violence and voting irregularities. Read more»

In Iraq, young activists from different ethnic, religious and regional backgrounds attended a "Youth for Change" camp, sharing ideas and collaborating on solutions to political challenges in their country. Read more»

John Manley, former Canadian deputy prime minister and a member of NDI's delegation to observe the Aug. 20 elections in Afghanistan, reflected on his experience in an op-ed in the Toronto Globe and Mail. Read more»

Perspectives from Mali, Ecuador and Afghanistan are coming soon.

NDI 2.0

We're on Facebook and Twitter! Become a fan of NDI on Facebook and follow @NDI on Twitter. Keep track of new stories, events, publications and political insights from NDI and its staff.

Educating New Voters in Sudan

In preparation for elections in southern Sudan next April, the Sudanese Network for Democratic Elections (SuNDE), a network of over 70 Sudanese civic organizations, with NDI support has concluded a successful two-week voter education campaign, conducting 375 events in 37 counties in all 10 states of southern Sudan. The presidential, parliamentary and local elections will be the first nationwide vote since the start of Sudan’s civil war, which began in 1986 and ended in 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

In Somalia, Website Helps to Create a Dialogue

The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the internationally recognized government of Somalia since 2004, launched its first official website with technical and strategic support from NDI. The government’s website is a major component of the TFG’s initiative to increase dialogue with Somali citizens. It includes an "Ask The Government" section that helps citizens connect with their elected leaders.

Democracy is...

The Democracy Video Challenge, a global project to celebrate democracy through film, has launched its second annual competition. NDI is a partner in the Challenge, which invites citizens from around the world to create video shorts that complete the phrase: "Democracy is..." in an effort to enhance the global dialogue on democracy.

Winners of the inaugural challenge came from Iran, Brazil, Poland, Zambia, Nepal and the Philippines. Watch the winning videos from 2009 or enter your own video to win in 2010.

In Afghan Runoff, NDI Urges Improved Security, Other Measures

With the announcement of a runoff presidential election in Afghanistan on Nov. 7, NDI recommended steps to address problems of the August balloting, such as so-called "ghost" voting. The Institute, which conducted an international observation mission for the Aug. 20 elections, has continued to monitor the process and will field a group of experts for the runoff.

Women Leaders Learn From Each Other in El Salvador

Current and former women leaders from across the political spectrum recently came together in San Salvador to discuss women's issues in the country, and to decide on an agenda to move those issues forward. The women set as their priorities promoting a national budget with a gender focus, advancing a law that guarantees equal opportunity for women and men, and a law against femicide, the killing of a woman based on gender, a crime that is not currently recognized and often goes unpunished.

NDI Releases Reports on Bosnia, Sudan and the Roma

NDI frequently publishes reports, handbooks, manuals and assessments about the state of democracy in many of the countries in which it works. Some recent publications:

NDI's assessment of the political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina since the Dayton accords identifies challenges to democracy that the young nation continues to face. Read the assessment»
Imagining the Election is the culmination of interviews and focus groups from across Sudan, which analyzes the country's hopes and expectations for the April 2010 presidential and parliamentary elections. Read the report»
The Roma are the largest ethnic minority in central and eastern Europe. A new NDI report analyzes the political progress they've made in the region and the challenges they still face. Read the report»

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.

Central American Leaders See Transparency as Key to Public Security

rrunyan — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:46:04 +0000

Public security is the number one issue for Central American countries, especially those in what is known as the Northern Triangle, which includes El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. More than three quarters of the population in Central America believes that insecurity is the greatest problem facing the region, according to a recent United Nations report.

At a recent forum, leaders from government, political parties, business, academia and civil society in the region gathered in El Salvador to get to the root of the problem by highlighting the link between security and transparency.

“States with high levels of corruption and impunity are particularly susceptible to the infiltration of groups linked to organized crime,” said Eduardo Nuñez, NDI’s resident director in Guatemala and director of NDI’s regional program to promote civil society participation in public security issues. “These groups undermine the states’ ability to form policies that effectively address the issues of insecurity and the spread of violence.”

The 150 forum participants identified and agreed to implement concrete actions to fight corruption and increase transparency. They included strengthening collaboration between civil society and government to root out corruption in state security agencies; creating violence prevention plans, especially at the municipal level; and improving oversight of political contributions to prevent the infiltration of drug money in democratic politics.

A declaration was signed by the participants that reaffirmed the commitment to address the epidemic of violence in the region. In writing the declaration, forum participants examined and built on past regional and international agreements that set out plans to stem corruption and violence.

One mechanism for getting more results may be to establish a regional impunity commission, like the U.N.-backed Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala, CICIG). CICIG works with the Guatemalan government to investigate and dismantle criminal organizations believed to be responsible for the high level of crime and weak judicial system. It is credited with resolving several high profile cases. Central American leaders, including Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, have encouraged discussion on whether a similar regional body could help governments in the sub-region tackle the challenges of transnational crime.

“There is wide interest in understanding the role of this commission, its mandate, its mechanisms, its results, its limits,” Nuñez said. “The extraordinary growth of organized crime in the region warrants extraordinary measures to contain it, and among them the CICIG model deserves to at least be considered.”

The CICIG commissioner Francisco Dall´Anese, along with Nuñez, attended the two-day forum supported by NDI and co-sponsored by the Salvadoran Government, the Central American Integration System (Sistema de Integración Centroamericana, SICA), the National Foundation for Development (Fundación Nacional para el Desarrollo, FUNDE) and Transparency International. The declaration and policy proposals of the forum will be assessed in a year when a similar forum convenes in Costa Rica.

Pictured Above: Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes (far left) provides opening remarks at the forum on transparency and public security in San Salvador, El Salvador held Sept. 28-29.

Published October 8, 2010

El Salvador 2009 Benchmark Democracy Survey

rrunyan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:54:38 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

01/26/2010

Resource Type:

Survey

Language:

English, Spanish

English

Spanish

Attachment	Size
Read the survey (English)	1.62 MB
Read the survey (Español)	2.51 MB

Democracy Survey Shows Opportunities, Ongoing Challenges for Political Participation in El Salvador

rrunyan — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:59:07 +0000

NDI recently published the El Salvador 2009 Benchmark Democracy Survey, which measures citizens’ democratic values and perceptions of democracy in their country.

The survey uncovered a number of unexpected attitudes among women and young people, which prompted NDI’s former country director for El Salvador, Alison Miranda, to think about new ways to increase Salvadorans’ levels of political and civic engagement.

NDI recently published the El Salvador 2009 Benchmark Democracy Survey, which measures citizens’ democratic values and perceptions of democracy in their country. NDI also has administered similar surveys in Nicaragua and Guatemala.

What does the survey measure?

The survey measures people’s perceptions of how democracy is working or not working for them. It also measures values and captures how those surveyed perceive and interact with others. For example, do they trust people around them? Are they tolerant? Do they believe in equal rights?

The idea is to find people that are either facing barriers or are completely marginalized from civic and political life and figure out what is preventing them from participating in democratic society. In that way, the survey provides a different perspective from most surveys: it doesn’t only focus on who is participating and how but rather who cannot, but would like to.

How is the survey conducted?

We worked with local partners in El Salvador, just as we did in Nicaragua and Guatemala. The survey is pretty extensive and is more like a conversation than a typical survey, so it’s important that local people do the interviews. We get the data back and do an initial run of the findings, and then we hold focus groups. We try to target the groups that we feel are most disadvantaged according to the data. We present the data to them and say “How does this look to you? Does this ring true? Does this track to your life?” Then we brainstorm with them how to address these barriers.

What were the main findings? Were there any findings that surprised you or went against conventional wisdom?

The perception among national and international analysts is that El Salvador has been able to develop economically and democratically more than its counterparts in the region. It doesn’t face the same levels of extreme poverty that Honduras or Nicaragua face. There were relatively well-run and peaceful elections in January and March 2009 and a peaceful transition from the right-leaning party that had governed for 20 years to the principal left-leaning, former guerilla party. But the data revealed that certain sectors are being left out of the process. I think what the survey revealed is that while the peaceful transition to democracy has been achieved, it doesn’t mean the consolidation process has come to an end. There’s still work to be done in El Salvador.

The conventional wisdom is that youth are not interested or apathetic. But in El Salvador, youth demonstrate similar levels of political knowledge as adults; however, they are far more interested in engaging (61.8 percent of youth were interested in politics, compared to 48.7 percent for adults). Young people expressed a real sense of frustration about the voting process, such as the relatively cumbersome process for obtaining the citizen ID card (DUI, for its Spanish acronym) required to vote, and access to birth certificates needed to request a DUI.

Women’s disengagement and absence from democratic life was also particularly shocking. Historically, they vote at lower levels than men. But I expected the survey to show that women were the ones participating in their communities – going to the parent-teacher association meetings or building community gardens, but they’re not. In fact, it’s young men who are doing that. There’s also conventional wisdom that says women aren’t engaged because they don’t have access to education, but according to the data, women are not participating regardless of their education level. Only 23.7 percent of women reported high levels of civic engagement in their communities, compared to 39.8 percent for men. The gender gap is even more pronounced for political engagement: 22.1 percent of men reported being politically active compared to only 7.9 percent of women.

Another surprising finding was an extremely high percentage of people – more than 60 percent – who said they would be willing to approach their local government to resolve an issue in their community, but that rarely ever happens (only 14.8 percent of people said they had done so). So what is going to push them from considering it, to actually going to the municipal council and voicing their problems?

What are some of the factors keeping women and youth from participating in democratic life?

In both instances, there are motivational and institutional barriers. Motivational is: “It’s too costly for me to do this. I don’t have time. I’m working two or three jobs and I can’t get time off.” There are pretty high motivational barriers facing all demographic sectors we looked at. Institutional barriers primarily affect young people – they have trouble getting their citizen ID card or obtaining a birth certificate. Young people are twice as likely as the average population to not have a birth certificate. Youth cited “lack of a DUI” and “not on the voter’s list” as the two principal reasons for not voting in the March 2009 Presidential election, whereas adults mainly cited “lack of interest”. Through the focus groups, women cited the issues of security, violence and crime keeping women and girls in their homes and out of public life.

Now that you’ve identified these barriers and the demographics they affect, what can be done to change them?

Some of the values we track in the survey are cynicism and interpersonal trust issues. So the survey provides a better sense of who doesn’t trust anybody around them and who is the most cynical, who believes that the government wouldn’t do anything for them – and these sectors could be targeted to encourage greater engagement and to open up different ways of participating.

For institutional barriers, like not being able to obtain a birth certificate, one option is to work with the entities in charge of handling birth certificates to identify a solution. Conducting an independent audit of the voter registry and other citizen data sources that feed the registry would be an important step to better target where the disconnect is between citizens who want to vote but who are not on the voter registry.

But for motivational issues, it is clear that one issue in El Salvador is the need to create a safer environment where people can feel confident that they can go out of their homes and not face negative consequences for advocating putting up a wall to keep the river from overflowing into the kids’ school, or whatever the issue is. It is necessary to organize and build that personal trust, and that starts at a grassroots level.

What are the next steps to ensure that positive change comes from the survey?

One step is to organize smaller round table discussions, putting together, for example, people from the Ministry of Social Inclusion and the Committee for Equality and presenting them with this information in a way that challenges conventional wisdom about women and youth in the democratic process. The goal is to create synergies with different groups that are probably operating pretty independently, to really challenge people. What would they do about this? What are the solutions? What are the solutions to the security situation? How do you get people to participate in their communities through formal mechanisms and processes? How do you open channels to get youth to vote?

Also, political parties should take a real interest in these results. Political parties have not been reaching out to large sectors of the population that could be winning elections for them. But they could really be targeting messages to these sectors, particularly youth, and engaging them either as rank and file members or at least figuring out what their needs are and mobilizing them.

Unfortunately, NDI closed its office in El Salvador at the end of 2009, but we’re hoping that this benchmark survey and the findings in the report can serve as a tool for local elected officials, political parties and civil society groups to engage more women and youth. I hope that those groups will look at this data to include more people into the democratic process by lowering the institutional and motivational barriers to participation.

Pictured Above: Alison Miranda, NDI’s former country director

Published January 26, 2010

MUJERES SALVADOREÑAS DEFINEN UNA AGENDA EN COMÚN

fstovall — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:25:18 +0000

Crónicamente sub-representadas en la vida política de El Salvador, mujeres de los diferentes partidos políticos nacionales se reunieron recientemente en San Salvador para definir un programa legislativo que conduzca al país a mayores niveles de igualdad de género.

Treinta y cinco diputadas y ex diputadas asistieron al foro y definieron como prioridades: promover un presupuesto nacional con enfoque de género, promover una ley que garantice la igualdad de oportunidades entre hombres y mujeres, y aprobar una ley contra el feminicidio, el asesinato de una mujer por razones de género, un crimen que no se reconoce como tal y con frecuencia no es castigado.

El evento fue coauspiciado por el NDI, el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD), el Fondo de Desarrollo de las Naciones Unidas para la Mujer (UNIFEM), el Fondo de Población de las Naciones Unidas (UNFPA), y la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) en seguimiento a dos foros regionales de legisladoras latinoamericanas que se celebraron en México y España durante el presente año.

El foro en San Salvador inició con la intervención del Presidente de la Asamblea Legislativa Ciro Cruz Zepeda, del Partido de Conciliación Nacional (PCN), quien celebró la disponibilidad de las participantes a dejar a un lado sus diferencias políticas para discutir temas de género, y se comprometió a apoyar las iniciativas que se desarrollaran durante el encuentro. Las sesiones de discusión grupal fueron facilitadas por la experta mexicana en género y liderazgo Mónica Zárate, del Instituto de Liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir (ILSB).

El panel titulado "Participación Política de las Mujeres Salvadoreñas” se enfocó en la importancia de la representación política de las mujeres y los efectos de la sub-representación. La moderadora del panel, Margarita Escobar de la Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA), señaló que mientras las mujeres constituyen más del 52 por ciento de la población del país, su participación legislativa se mantiene en un promedio de 14 por ciento.

En el segundo panel se hizo una revisión de las iniciativas que la Asamblea Legislativa ha aprobado en favor de la mujer, incluyendo el Código de Familia, la Ley contra la Violencia Intrafamiliar, la creación del Instituto Salvadoreño de la Mujer (ISDEMU), y la ratificación de la Convención para la Eliminación de todas las Formas de Discriminación contra la Mujer (CEDAW). En el panel se discutieron los siguientes pasos y las metas de las participantes en cuanto al legado que dejarían en la Asamblea sobre derechos de las Mujeres.

Durante las sesiones de trabajo, se integraron grupos multipartidarios para acordar prioridades a promover a nivel nacional. Las participantes definieron una agenda en común y luego discutieron estrategias tomando en cuenta el contexto político, económico y social, los recursos disponibles y el nivel de apoyo ciudadano existente.

Por el momento, Lorena Peña y Sandra Salgado, Secretarias de la Junta Directiva de la Asamblea Legislativa, por el Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) y el Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC) respectivamente, confían en incluir fondos en el presupuesto 2010 de la Asamblea Legislativa para efectuar un diagnóstico del estado de los derechos de las mujeres que laboran en la Asamblea.

Retratadas arriba: La Vice-Presidenta de la Fracción Legislativa del FMLN Norma Guevara y la facilitadora Mexicana Mónica Zárate se conocen durante la apertura del evento.

Retratadas abajo: La Diputada de ARENA Milena de Escalón (al centro), junto a dos representantes del FMLN, leen la propuesta firmada por políticas salvadoreñas en el foro "la Crisis Económica y su Impacto en las Mujeres" realizado en Agosto.

NDI E-news: Extractive Industries, Iraq, Liberia | March 2009

fstovall — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:40:47 +0000

March 2009

The Role of Legislators in Extractive Industry Transparency

A global initiative aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in the disposition of oil, gas and mineral resources is currently underway in 26 countries. But this global effort – the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) – has yet to include an explicit role for legislators even though they must safeguard citizens’ interests, oversee national extractive industry policies and hold governments to account.

Work on EITI is part of NDI’s ongoing effort to help nascent democratic institutions improve standards of living for citizens. The Institute’s latest initiative is a new publication, EITI Guide for Legislators: How to Support and Strengthen Resource Transparency, that focuses on the critical role lawmakers can play in stemming the frequent misuse and mismanagement of revenues from oil, gas and mining.

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Twelve percent of the candidates trained by NDI were elected to office and now represent 20 percent of the membership of provincial councils.

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Salvadoran Women Define a Common Agenda

fstovall — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:15:16 +0000

Chronically underrepresented in the political life of El Salvador, women from a cross section of national political parties came together recently in San Salvador to lay out a National Legislative Assembly program to move the nation toward more gender equity.

Thirty-five current and former women legislators attended the forum and set as their priorities promoting a national budget with a gender focus, advancing a law that guarantees equal opportunity for women and men, and a law against femicide, the killing of a woman based on gender, a crime that is not currently recognized and often goes unpunished.

The event was co-hosted by NDI, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Women Development (UNIFEM), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, AECID) as a follow up to two Latin American Women Legislators' Regional Forums held in Mexico and Spain earlier this year.

The San Salvador forum began with remarks by National Assembly President Ciro Zepeda from the National Conciliation Party (Partido de Conciliación Nacional, PCN), who commended the participants' willingness to set aside political differences and discuss gender issues, and pledged to support initiatives developed during the gathering. Group sessions were facilitated by Mexican gender and leadership expert Mónica Zárate of the Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute (Instituto de Liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir, ILSB).

A panel entitled "Political Participation of Salvadoran Women" focused on the importance of women's political representation and the effects of underrepresentation. The panel's host, Margarita Escobar of the Republican Nationalistic Alliance (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, ARENA), pointed out that while women make up more than 52 percent of the country's population, their legislative participation averages 14 percent.

A second panel provided an overview of the initiatives that the National Assembly has approved in favor of women, including the Family Code, the Law Against Intra Family Violence, the creation of the Salvadoran Institute for Women and the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The panel discussed next steps and members' goals for their legislative legacy on women's rights.

During working sessions, women formed multi-party groups to agree on common priorities to promote at the national level. The women defined a common agenda and then discussed strategies that took into account political, financial and social contexts, available resources and citizen engagement.

Meanwhile, Lorena Peña and Sandra Salgado, secretaries of the National Assembly Board of Directors for the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) and the Christian Democrat Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano, PDC) respectively, hope to include funding in the 2010 National Assembly budget for an internal evaluation of the rights of women working in the National Assembly.

Read this article in Spanish»

Pictured above: FMLN Legislative Caucus Vice-President Norma Guevara and Mexican facilitator Mónica Zárate introduce themselves during the opening session.

Pictured below: ARENA Legislator Milena de Escalón (center), along with two FMLN representatives read the proposals signed by women politicians at an August forum on the "Economic Crisis and its Impact on Women."

Published on October 7, 2009

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MUJERES SALVADOREÑAS DEFINEN UNA AGENDA EN COMÚN

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