International Institute for Democracy and Elections (IDEA)
From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations
International Institute for Democracy and Elections (IDEA)
Strömsborg, SE-103 34
Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46 8 698 37 00
Fax: +46 8 20 24 22
E-mail: info@idea.int
Africa Regional Office
337 Brooklyn Drive
Lord Charles Office Park
(Building A, 1st Floor West Wing)
Brooklyn - Pretoria 0181 - South Africa
Postal Address:
Suite 55, Private Bag X1
Menlo Park 0102, Pretoria, South Africa
Tel: +27 12 460 5305 / 346 3814 / 346 3174
Fax: +27 12 346 2581
Contact: Abdalla Hamdok, Director of Africa Programme, e-mail: a.hamdok@idea.int
Description
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), based in Stockholm, Sweden, and with offices in Africa, Asia and Latin America, is a multilateral institution created in 1995 to promote and advance sustainable democracy worldwide. It seeks to generate knowledge and understanding of the meaning of democracy, provide support for the process and institutions of democracy, and establish a comprehensive, long-term and effective commitment to democracy from the international community. It is currently supported by sixteen member states and several international NGOs.
International IDEA’s areas of expertise include: constitution-building processes, electoral processes, political parties, democracy and gender, and democracy assessments. The Institute offers Knowledge resources, in the form of expert networks, databases, handbooks and websites; Policy proposals to provoke debate and action on democracy; and Assistance with democratic reform in response to specific national requests.
Track Record
International IDEA has had major impact on democracy and specifically electioneering in Africa. It has acted as a catalyst for democracy building by providing knowledge resources, expertise and a platform for debate on democracy issues. It works together with policy makers, donor governments, UN organizations and agencies, regional organizations and others engaged in democracy building.
Currently the main thematic areas of IDEA’s work are Sustainable Election Processes, Political Participation, Democracy and Conflict Management, and Democracy Assessment. The Institute is currently helping to advance democracy in countries such as Guatemala, Paraguay, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Burma, Indonesia, and Nepal, among others.
The direction of the elections-related work of International IDEA is towards the promotion and enhancement of quality and sustainability in election structures, election administration, and in international election work. The thematic area of Political Participation provides well-documented comparative information on ways of enhancing citizen participation in democratic processes. The organization overtly links conflict management to democracy, both in viewing and using the institutions of democracy as conflict management tools, and in approaching conflict management within civil society as a support for sustainable democracy.
The institute, which was granted UN observer status in September 2003, has received, created and conveyed knowledge in the sphere of democratization and has worked for transparence, professionalism and effectiveness of election processes. International IDEA also has a unique data base on elections and election procedures which permit global comparisons.
Included in the most recent examples of the activities of International IDEA are new regulations concerning the management of political parties in Peru and the training of members of local election authorities in Mozambique and the provisional electoral commission in Afghanistan.
