International IDEA's Work
Regions: Nigeria

The International IDEA Nigeria Programme seeks to assist in the process of democratization and nation-building in Nigeria by providing a comprehensive package aimed at strengthening democratic institutions. The programme has developed a two-track approach. The first track seeks to promote dialogue and consultation both 'vertically' between the state and civil society and 'horizontally' between diverse groups in society. The second track seeks to support the democratic reform agenda in three thematic areas; support to the constitutional reform process, support to the national reconciliation process and support to the promotion of democratic political participation. A democracy assessment was conducted during 2000, and was summarized in the Democracy Assessment Report Democracy in Nigeria - Continuing Dialogue(s) for Nation-Building.

The future programme will build on and consolidate the current programme, with a focus on activities in 4 areas:

• Democratic Dialogue: Work that began with the democracy assessment in 2000 is being continued through a nationwide debate on key issues generated through the assessment process. International IDEA will continue to facilitate and support democratic dialogue on the democratization process in Nigeria. As part of the ongoing work associated with the democracy assessment, between June and August 2001, International IDEA co-organized, with the Contact Group of the Nigerian Democracy Assessment project, a series of workshops in Nigeria's six geopolitical zones. The workshops identified priorities for democratization as well as a set of recommendations. The proceedings of the workshops, including the key issues, findings and recommendations have been compiled into a report Democracy in Nigeria: Continuing the Dialogues. The report was produced in November 2001.
  
• Constitutional Reform: This is one of the key issues of the democratization process in Nigeria today. At the end of September 2001 International IDEA hosted a 3-day workshop on Constitutional Reform in Abuja, Nigeria. The workshop was co-organized by International IDEA in partnership with the Citizens' Forum for Constitutional Reform (CFCR). Around 50 participants representing a wide variety of NGOs and key government decision-makers drawn from each of the 6 Zones (regions) of Nigeria, as well as international experts from regions such as Asia and Southern Africa, attended the workshop. Discussions centred around the process of constitutional reform and explored the need for a more consultative and participatory process.
  
• National Reconciliation: International IDEA will continue to provide assistance to the Human Rights Violations Investigations Commission (HRVIC) particularly in supporting the Commission in its task of producing the official report on its hearings. The HRVIC has been collecting data through open hearings on human rights violations that occurred since the first military government in 1966 up until the transition elections of 1999.
  
• Political Participation comprises of three main activities: support to electoral administration in partnership with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), promotion of women's political participation; and promotion of sustainable and democratic political parties including campaign financing, monitoring and creating universal codes of conduct.

For more information contact

Brian Williams
b.williams@idea.int
b.williams@hyperia.com

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