IDEA IN ACTION

Kosovo Central Election Commission Seminar

On 6-7 September International IDEA held a seminar to assess current electoral conditions in Kosovo. The seminar was organized on behalf of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Kosovo and in co-operation with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, OSCE, the European Commission and the Swedish Government. The main aim was to examine the experience of other Election Management Bodies in the Balkans with a view to identifying practical lessons for the Kosovo CEC in the organization of the local elections in October. Among the participants were Carl Bildt, UN Secretary-General Special Envoy for the Balkans, Amb Daan Everts, Head of the Kosovo CEC, and Jeff Fischer, Director of Election Operations, OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

Electoral Law Workshop

International IDEA and OSCE-ODIHR are collaborating on the production of Guidelines for the Formulation and Review of a Legal Framework for Elections. These guidelines will be a resource for practitioners in both established and developing democracies who are involved in composing, revising and amending electoral law, as they provide practical options based on internationally accepted standards and human rights conventions. A workshop was held 14-15 September to discuss draft guidelines prepared by Mr Jessie Pilgrim, an ODIHR expert with a view to finalizing the guidelines by the end of 2000 for publication in early 2001. The publication will be the second in the International IDEA Election Guidelines Series.

EU Workshop

International IDEA recently hosted a workshop to discuss support for democratization processes and the protection of Human Rights with the European Commission. Among other things, discussions focused on ways of enhancing co-operation and consultations between the European Commission and International IDEA. Participants in the workshop included European Commissioner for External Affairs Chris Patten, and Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh.

State of Democracy

To spark both the international debate and the local discussions on how to assess and enhance the development of democracy, International IDEA has initiated a project called "The State of Democracy". A new tool for examining participation, citizenship, rule of law, and democratic policy-making has been worked out and is now being tested in 10 pilot countries, two from each of the developing regions in the world, and two Western democracies. The countries are Kenya and Malawi (Africa), Bangladesh and South Korea (Asia), Peru and El Salvador (Latin America), Romania and Latvia (Eastern Europe) and Italy and New Zealand as established democracies.

The first county reports are expected later this year, and are designed to be useful to practitioners, politicians, media and the public in general in the understanding of democracy and its conditions. The draft reports from Kenya, Malawi and El Salvador have already been presented for scrutiny to a cross-section of national leaders, politicians, senior civil servants, civil society representatives and the local diplomatic community in the context of a workshop. In each country a lively debate was initiated and plans are afoot to carry the debate on the state of democracy in each country into national radio and television programs, the print media and civic education activities. Through incisive examination of the major aspects of democracy this project is intended to engage the public in the assessment of progress in their country's implementation of a democracy agenda.

Once fully tested the state of democracy methodology will become a publicly available resource tool. It is hoped that national experts and development agencies will use it widely to evaluate progress in democracy in the different countries where they work. To this end, a handbook on democracy assessment methodology will be published in the beginning of 2001.

Indonesia

In November International IDEA launches the report Democratization Assessment Indonesia, which is the result of dialogue and consensus-building processes with key Indonesian stakeholders (referred to as the Forum for Democratic Reform) on democratic reform and development. It is hoped that the report will be a resource for the on-going consultations and commitment to democratic reform and governance in the country. A more thorough report of the Indonesian Assessment will be published in the next issue of International IDEA's Newsletter.

Slovakia

Local governance reform, one of the major issues for consolidation of democracy in Slovakia, has been an integral part of the decade-long transition process in the country and a major concern of the current government. International IDEA has recently published the report Advancing Democracy in Slovakia through Local Self-Governance. The report is a result of a workshop held in March in Bratislava, organized by International IDEA. Participants in the workshop, which included representatives from the Slovak Government, the National Council and civil society, discussed experiences from other European countries such as Denmark, France, Poland and Spain, as well as the proposed reform in Slovakia. The target audience for the report include public policy makers (state and local levels), civil society representatives and the public at large in Slovakia, as well as regional and international organizations. It will be disseminated and used as a tool for facilitating the national agenda-setting process in Slovakia.

International IDEA's programme to support democratic development in Slovakia was initiated in January 2000. The approach is to contribute to the strengthening of key elements of the Democratic Development Reform Agenda by supporting national state and civil society efforts, and to assist the international community in improving the quality of support to the democratic development of the country.

International IDEA - Francophonie

International IDEA and the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF) signed a co-operative agreement this spring aimed at strengthening the synergies between the two organizations in their common efforts to promote democracy and assist electoral processes.

In an official ceremony held in Paris, France, Mr Bengt Säve-Söderbergh, Secretary-General of International IDEA, and Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the OIF, agreed to develop their joint efforts in areas of common interest and concern.