NDI - India

NDI Hosts Democracy Support Roundtable with Emerging Powers

rrunyan — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:09:33 +0000

A group of politicians, civil society leaders and academics from the transatlantic community and emerging powers – including Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa – convened recently in Washington to discuss the potential for greater cooperation on democracy support.

The Washington roundtable gave participants the opportunity to share perspectives and experiences on how emerging powers support democratic development beyond their borders. It also explored the challenges to greater engagement by emerging powers in democracy support and ways that the traditional donor community could better support these efforts.

The number of people living collectively in the democracies of Brazil, India and Indonesia is double the number living in the United States and European Union combined. However, even though many emerging powers have the most relevant democratic and economic development models, they are often not present in policy discussions on democracy support because they tend to be neither major donors nor recipients of development assistance. The roundtable was intended to examine opportunities for deepening partnerships between the transatlantic community and emerging democratic powers on democracy support.

Indonesia’s Transition Provides Key Lessons for Democracy Supporters

Against a backdrop of unfolding events in Egypt, Indonesia’s ambassador to the U.S., Dino Patti Djalal, recalled his country’s transition to democracy and the skepticism it engendered along the way. Djalal, who has worked in the Indonesian government for more than 20 years, remembered those who doubted whether his country had a democratic future as it began the transition in 2001.

People would say, “It’s never going to work. Democracy is not right for Indonesia,” he told an audience at NDI. “When you hear that enough, you tend to be affected by it,” he said. “You fear the uncertainty.”

The Washington roundtable, hosted by NDI, gave participants the opportunity to share perspectives and experiences on how emerging powers support democratic development beyond their borders. It also explored the challenges to greater engagement by emerging powers in democracy support and ways that the traditional donor community could better support these efforts. The discussion also explored mechanisms, including multilateral and nongovernmental channels, for deepening cooperation between the transatlantic community and emerging democratic powers on democracy support.

The roundtable, held Feb. 6 to 8, was made possible through the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, with additional support from the Mexican and Indonesian embassies. The discussions will inform a working paper that will provide recommendations to a transatlantic dialogue on democracy support. The two-year dialogue first met in Washington last June. The second conference will be held at the European Parliament in Brussels, March 13-15.

The dialogue is co-chaired by Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. secretary of state; Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament; Javier Solana, former EU high representative for the common foreign security policy; and former U.S. Representative Vin Weber. NDI is hosting the dialogue with support from the European Commission, the National Endowment for Democracy, the German Marshall Fund, the European Partnership for Democracy and the Office for the Promotion of Parliamentary Democracy of the European Parliament.

Pictured Above: NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright speaks at the opening of the roundtable.

Published February 28, 2011

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

Implementing Party Reforms in South Asia: Challenges and Strategies

vrao — Thu, 24 Jan 2002 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

Randhir B. Jain

Publisher:

Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD)

Published Date:

01/06/2002

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	167.65 KB

Political Party Developments Issue VI: How Political Party Programs Increase Women's Participation in Political Processes

vrao — Thu, 15 Mar 2001 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

03/15/1999

Resource Type:

Newsletter

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the newsletter	205.6 KB

Funding of Political Parties: An International Comparative Study

vrao — Fri, 05 Jan 2001 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

01/01/1998

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	5.65 MB

Report on the Study Mission of South African and Namibian Delegates to India and Malaysia

vrao — Tue, 12 Dec 2000 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

12/01/1996

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	1.09 MB