NDI - South Africa

Southern African Opposition and Ruling Political Parties Convene to Discuss Policy Strengthening

blesswing — Mon, 04 May 2015 14:43:46 +0000

Leaders from opposition and ruling parties in seven Southern African nations came together recently for the region’s first conference focused exclusively on policy development.

At the Political Party Strengthening Institute (PPSI), rival political parties put aside partisan differences to discuss ways to improve how policies are developed to reflect the concerns and priorities of citizens in their respective countries. The March 2-6 conference was organized by NDI and held in Pretoria at the University of South Africa (UNISA), which was a sponsor.

Leaders from the top three political parties in South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Botswana, and two party representatives from Angola attended the five-day event, including two party presidents, five members of parliament and eight party deputies/secretaries general.

Hon. Mmamoloko Kubayi, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, African National Congress (ANC) member of parliament and chair of the South African Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services, welcomed the party leaders to South Africa on behalf of South African Minister in the Presidency, Jeff Radebe.

“The process of developing policies is an important consideration for every party, ruling and opposition,” said Hon. Kubayi. "In order to ensure citizen participation, parties must design processes that enable ordinary party members to have their views considered and to make contributions to the policies being developed by the party.”

Throughout the week, international experts led presentations and seminars on how political parties can use various tools and techniques to put together policy platforms that channel the demands and priorities of citizens.

Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee in the U.S., former governor of Vermont and a member of NDI’s Board of Directors, shared insights on how parties can improve communications with party members. He emphasized how social media and other online communications tools offer unique opportunities to share ideas so party members’ political priorities can be better represented.

Governor Dean also joined a panel with Janine Hicks, commissioner from the South African Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), and Professor Mmatsie Mooki, senior lecturer at UNISA College of Law, to discuss how and why parties should develop inclusive policies that reflect and promote the political voices of women and youth.

In another panel, Ambassador Nora Schimming-Chase, former Namibian ambassador to Germany, challenged participants to come up with new language that would help them work together, such as describing themselves as “governing and non-governing” parties rather than “ruling and opposition.”

On the same panel, Dr. Ozzonia Ojielo, regional cluster leader of the Governance and Peacebuilding group at the United Nations Development Programme, identified challenges and opportunities confronting political parties today. Among the major challenges are the lack of consultation with party members in policy formulation and the lack of representation of marginalized groups in the policy making process. Opportunities included the fact that the democratization process is still unfolding on the African continent and the marketplace of ideas is available to everyone because of the information and communication revolution.

Traci Cook, senior advisor for NDI’s Southern and East Africa programs and an expert on public opinion research, led a discussion on how political parties can incorporate opinion research into policy development. “I appreciated the opportunity to take a step back and remember that you can’t use your guts in politics,” said Edith Zewelani Nawakwi, president of the Forum for Democracy and Development political party in Zambia. “You have to get the facts, you have to do focus groups, you have to try and get to a community, listen, feel and observe, and then from there, the citizens guide you on what they want.”

Citing the nonpartisan atmosphere of the conference, many participants expressed interest in bringing the same group together for a future event to continue their discussions and expand on lessons learned. Zaida Matola, head of the training department for the FRELIMO party in Mozambique, noted that she looked forward to future events that incorporated more discussion time and opportunities to collaborate with participants.

“I didn’t even think we could sit and drink tea. I wish this meeting could be extended to senior politicians in other countries too. Just getting together like this to have tea may ease the tensions in a number of places and serve as a basis for conflict prevention,” said Nawakwi, referring to the aftermath of the contentious Zambian presidential by-election held in January.

“I will be leaving here with a lot of exposure and experience and real lessons, which I’ve liked, in particular bringing the high level presenters to share with us their experiences, the true experiences in their political life,” said Ibrahim Matola, secretary general for the People’s Party in Malawi. “It has really inspired me.”

Other speakers included: Ivan Doherty, director of NDI’s political party programs and former secretary general of the Fine Gael Party in Ireland; Alberto Ruiz-Thiery of the Centrist Democrat International; Christophe Sente of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies; Aimee Franklin of the Africa Liberal Network; Keith Jennings, director of NDI’s Southern and East Africa programs; and distinguished faculty from UNISA’s Department of Public, Constitutional and International Law, including Chairman Dr. DT Mailula.

As a follow-up to the event, participants will be able to stay connected through online social platforms, bi-monthly emails, and peer-to-peer mentoring by the trainers and facilitators. NDI plans to hold a second political party institute event with the same participants within the next year.

The program was supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the United Nations Development Programme, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, the Africa Liberal Network, and the Centrist Democrat International.

Published on May 4, 2015

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.

NDI’s Pat Merloe Testifies Before Congress on U.S. Election Support in Africa

blesswing — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:32:58 +0000

NDI Director of Electoral Programs Pat Merloe testified at a hearing, “U.S. Election Support in Africa” on March 18 before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.

“Support for democratic elections in Africa should build longer-term democratic political dynamics that result in responsive, accountable governance,” Merloe said. “International election observation can play an important role in achieving peaceful, credible elections in Africa.”

Watch the hearing »

Read Pat Merloe’s full statement here »

Read more:

NDI's Christopher Fomunyoh Testifies Before Congress on "Nigeria on the Brink?"

Experts to Discuss Critical African Elections at NDI

Published on March 18, 2015

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See the 2015-2016 calendar for African elections	60.27 KB
See a map of 2015-2016 African elections	129.47 KB

Global Campaign to Open Legislatures Draws Broad Support

dleonard — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 16:43:59 +0000

Civic activists and government reformers in at least 30 countries rallied behind open legislatures to promote values of transparency, inclusion and participation in the lawmaking process during the first-ever Global Legislative Openness Week (GLOW) Sept. 15 to 25.

GLOW kicked off on the International Day of Democracy and was designed to help legislatures share tools and strategies for engaging their citizens, particularly tech-empowered youth. The week was organized by the Open Government Partnership (OGP)’s Legislative Openness Working Group, which is co-anchored by the Chilean Congress and NDI.

Montenegrin youth present a skit on democracy to a regional meeting of members of parliament and civil society organizations.

At OGP’s High-Level Event on the margins of the UN General Assembly Sept. 24, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, which now holds the chairmanship of OGP, noted parliamentary openness as among its priorities: "a fin de que más reformadores puedan colaborar en un mayor número de ámbitos, impulsaremos iniciativas de Parlamento abierto..." ("so that more reformers can collaborate on a larger number of issues, we will promote initiatives on open parliament ...")

Events organized in conjunction with GLOW showcased the diversity of the global open-government movement and demonstrated that every society can take action toward openness, although institutional structures and technological capacities vary widely. Here are just a few of the events organized as part of GLOW:

Serbian civil society organization Otvoreni Parlament organized “Yes to Open Parliament” street actions in six cities.

In Montenegro, the OGP Legislative Openness Working Group and the Parliament of Montenegro held a two-day meeting to explore issues of legislative openness and how they can be advanced through the OGP process. The meeting, which featured members of parliament, parliamentary staffers, and civil society representatives from 15 countries, helped strengthen relationships among those groups around issues of legislative openness.
In Jordan, the speaker of parliament met with the Al Hayat Center for Civil Society Development to receive a letter on the importance of open parliamentary data. Al Hayat also released issue briefs on legislative transparency topics, and organized a series of local meetings between members of parliament and their constituents.
In Mexico, the Senate, Chamber of Deputies and Federal Institute for Access to Public Information and Data Protection (IFAI) joined civil society organizations in launching the Open Parliament Alliance, an institutional platform that will coordinate efforts to strengthen transparency, accountability and citizen participation.
In South Africa, the People’s Assembly website released an infographic measuring the South African Parliament’s progress against benchmarks based on the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness.
In Australia, the Open Australia Foundation invited local coders to work with parliamentary data during a weekend civic-hacking event. The ‘hackfest’ attracted more than 45 participants and generated a record 18 pull requests. Civil society organizations in Israel and Denmark also organized workshops around parliamentary data.
In Guatemala, the International Republican Institute organized a video teleconference with open-data experts in Mexico to discuss how legislators and civil society can use open data to promote accountability and stronger governance. The audience in Guatemala included members of congressional commissions, civil society groups working on transparency and OGP commitments, and university students.
In Serbia, Otvoreni Parlament organized a series of “Yes to Open Parliament” street actions in six cities.
In Brazil, the Hacker Lab of the Chamber of Deputies hosted a hacker weekend for experts and software developers to propose ideas and showcase projects aimed at legislative transparency -- including Olho nas Emendas (Eye on Amendments) and Vigia Político (Politicswatch).
In Poland, Gdansk Mayor Paweł Adamowicz recorded a video in support of GLOW, and the Lech Walesa Institute organized a Code for Freedom civic hackathon in partnership with ePanstwo Foundation and Teplitsa.
In Chile, the OGP Legislative Openness Working Group hosted its first global meeting. Members of the working group shared recent developments in parliamentary openness and drafted recommendations to the OGP Steering Committee for incorporating parliaments more effectively into the OGP process. This meeting occurred alongside the ParlAmericas Plenary Assembly, which included discussions of open parliaments on its agenda.
In six countries across Latin America, the Latin American Network for Legislative Transparency presented its second Index on Legislative Transparency.
Around the world, more than 100 parliamentary monitoring organizations signed onto an advocacy letter written by the Sunlight Foundation, which calls for parliamentary data to be open by default.

In addition to these events and several others, hundreds of individuals and organizations broadcast their support for GLOW on social media. The speaker of the UK House of Commons, Rt. Hon. John Bercow, recorded a video message for the meetings in Chile and Montenegro, both of which included representation from the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy. Others weighing in to support legislative openness included NDI’s Chairman Madeleine K. Albright, U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, Mexican Senator Arely Gómez González and New South Wales (Australia) Legislative Council Member Penny Sharpe, who expressed their support for GLOW on Twitter. In all, the #OpenParl2014 hashtag has been used in over 3,700 tweets. Visit openparl2014.org for more details about the week’s events.

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Published Sept. 30, 2014

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

NDI Mourns the Death of Nelson Mandela

dleonard — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 15:00:03 +0000

Nelson Mandela was a global force for freedom and human dignity. His passing is a time for sadness but also for renewed recognition of the example he set of courage, humility, perseverance and personal sacrifice as he led South Africa from apartheid to democracy.

“President Mandela was an activist, a prisoner of conscience, a political leader, and a venerated statesman, but he was, above all, a teacher,” said NDI Chairman Madeleine Albright. “He taught us that the power of forgiveness is greater than the power of hate, and that differences of race and nationality matter less than our shared humanity. These lessons are simple to articulate but require immense wisdom and courage to implement; Mandela’s strength as a teacher is that he not only advised us what to do; he showed us how.”

President Nelson Mandela and South African leaders arrive at a conference with leaders of Northern Ireland political parties in 1997.

NDI was privileged to work in South Africa to support the historic 1994 elections when apartheid was formally dismantled and the nation transitioned to a multiracial democracy. President Mandela charted a course of reconciliation that remains a model for other democratic transitions around the world.

The Institute witnessed the strength of that model in 1997 when it supported the effort to bring to South Africa leaders of Northern Ireland factions who, themselves, were soon to enter peace talks. For the first time, representatives of all the Northern Ireland political parties sat at the same table to hear President Mandela detail how reconciliation was achieved through negotiations. Less than a year later they were signatories to the historic Good Friday peace agreement. “Not a day went by in the talks that a reference was not made to the South African experience,” said one of the Northern Ireland signers of the agreement. “It was a turning point in our lives.”

"President Mandela leaves behind a globe in which the mere mention of his name inspires faith that injustice can be ended and conflicts resolved through respect for the dignity of every human being," said Albright. "That is why the best way to honor President Mandela is not merely to mourn him, but to follow his example."

Published Dec. 6, 2013

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

Obama's Africa Reset

dleonard — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 16:25:35 +0000

Source:

Voice of America

Article Link:

Published Date:

07/12/2013

Christopher Fomunyoh, NDI regional director for Central and West Africa, discusses the significance of President Obama’s recent trip to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa on Voice of America's "Encounter" program. Fomunyoh was joined by Ambassador David Shinn, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.

“I think the trip was successful both in the substance and in the symbolism of the places that he visited,” said Fomunyoh.

Listen to the full podcast here.

Paving the Way for Mandela's Election

dleonard — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:45:46 +0000

Source:

Foreign Policy

Article Link:

Published Date:

01/28/2013

In Foreign Policy, Amy Mawson, a senior project manager at Fireside Research, outlines the challenges that South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission faced in organizing the country’s first post-apartheid election in 1994. The commission, lead by Johann Kriegler, was tasked with creating polling places, issuing voter cards and bringing opposing factions into the conversation, among other things. In just four months, the commission was able to overcome these hurdles to successfully hold the country’s first democratic vote, which resulted in the election of Nelson Mandela. Kriegler and the commission’s ability to find solutions to the many challenges they faced was a large part of the election’s success, but Ben van der Ross, another commissioner, also credited the people of South Africa: "‘It worked because the people of South Africa really wanted it to work.’"

“The commission's timetable was short, but like many post-conflict countries, South Africa had to move fast. By demonstrating a high level of commitment, working closely with political parties to tackle problems head on, and seeking unique innovative solutions to last-minute glitches, the commission convinced a nation that it could believe in its founding elections.”

Inventing Democracy

dleonard — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:03:39 +0000

Source:

The New York Times

Article Link:

Published Date:

12/09/2012

Nearly a generation after it wrote the most progressive constitution on the continent, Bill Keller describes South Africa as “a great vantage point for watching the Arab world struggle to tailor itself a set of new democracies.” South Africa, he writes, should be a model for aspiring democracies, but “a glorious constitution carries you only so far if its values have not taken root.”

After asking influential figures of South African democracy what advice they would give to other struggling democracies, Keller summarizes suggestions related to creating a constitution, promoting peace and reconciliation within a country and creating national unity, many of which can also still be applied to South Africa as it struggles to practice many of the values set forth in its progressive constitution.

Keller shares advice from Mamphela Ramphele, a nonpartisan anti-apartheid activist and academic, for founders of new democracies as well as for South Africa that “freedom […] has to be won over and over.”

Over the Rainbow

dleonard — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:59:27 +0000

Source:

The Economist

Article Link:

Published Date:

10/20/2012

Reflecting on the anti-apartheid movement and the consequent birth of South Africa’s democracy, “Over the Rainbow” measures the country’s progress as well as its setbacks.

“In the 18 years since black-majority rule began and South Africa became a full democracy, its people have made progress,” with increased access to clean water and electricity, a new constitution, and the abolishment of the “racist legislation of apartheid.”

The article argues that despite these advancements, “in other ways South Africa is in a worse state than at any point since 1994,” referencing the “wildcat strikes” that erupted across the country after “police shot dead 34 miners on strike at a platinum mine near Marikana.”

Among many issues, including poor governance, a struggling economy and “growing social stresses”, the “starkest measure” of the country’s “failure” is the “yawning gap between rich and poor.” Despite 18 years of democracy, “South Africa [is] one of the most unequal countries in the world.”

Additionally, South Africa is suffering from rampant corruption, and while “no one knows how much money corruption costs the country ….the effect on its democracy is devastating.” The article argues that “the most important check on the [African National Congress—ANC] comes from outside party politics,” which means that both lobby groups and NGOs must work to keep the government accountable.

Many fear that ANC’s upcoming leadership election will not bring about necessary change, because South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, remains “unchallenged” and “if he is simply re-elected without promising anything new, it will be a worrying sign that the ANC has failed to grasp what ails their country.”

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

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Women's League of Burma to Be Honored at NDI Democracy Luncheon Dec. 15

fstovall — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:19:04 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

11/19/2008

Resource Type:

Press Release

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the release	137.59 KB

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Women's League of Burma to be Honored at NDI Luncheon Dec. 15

fstovall — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:14:20 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

12/12/2008

Resource Type:

Press Release

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the release	136.69 KB