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Democratization

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NIMD


Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Ugandan politicians learn from their peers in Malawi
31 08 2010 Malawi has successfully overcome some of the challenges that Uganda now faces in the run-up to its general elections in early 2011. Thatâs why a delegation of Ugandan politicians visited Malawi last month, to learn how it was done.

"Beyond Orthodox Approaches" reviewed by the US Institute of Peace
31 08 2010 In March 2010, NIMD and Hivos launched a joint publication, Beyond Orthodox Approaches: Assessing opportunities for democracy support in the Middle East and North Africa. Hivos have now posted a review of the book on their website.

Agora PolÃtica: documenting democracy in Ecuador
05 08 2010 In 2010, NIMD's local partner in Ecuador, Agora DemocrÃ¡tica (NIMD-IDEA), launched a political magazine, Agora PolÃtica. The aim of the magazine is to disseminate a variety of political perspectives on the new political situation in Ecuador.

NDI


National Democratic Institute

NDI to Field Afghanistan Election Observation Mission
04 09 2010 Institute Also Working with Candidates, Political Parties, Polling Agents and Domestic Monitors NDI has announced its international observation mission for the Sept. 18 elections for Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the National Assembly. The Institute is mobilizing more than 140 international and Afghan observers who will monitor every aspect of the election process, including the campaign, balloting on election day and the counting of ballots. The delegation will issue a preliminary statement in the days following the election. The mission includes both long- and short-term observers covering all of the country's regions and the capital. For four weeks before and four weeks after election day, the observers will monitor electoral activities and meet with candidates, political parties, government officials, representatives of the Independent Election Commission, international and Afghan NGOs, domestic election monitors and other organizations related to the electoral process. The Institute will also field additional short-term observers to monitor voting and counting processes in polling stations in 22 of the country’s 34 provinces. NDI will coordinate with other observer groups including its long-time Afghan partner, the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA), which plans to deploy 7,000 domestic monitors. NDI will issue periodic election updates during the electoral process. The mission's international observers — a diverse and experienced group with representation from Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Lebanon, Netherlands, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, United Kingdom and the United States — all have experience in previous Afghan elections. The group includes current and former government, political party and election officials, legislative staff, representatives of democracy and human rights organizations, and academics. The mission's Afghan observers include male and female trainers who prepared thousands of candidates and polling agents for the 2009 and 2010 elections, and who are knowledgeable about local conditions and electoral procedures. NDI fielded 112 observers for the August 2009 presidential and provincial council elections and issued both preliminary and final reports. The Institute also created an online mapping tool, for analyzing election results data from those elections using demographic, ethnographic, topographic and security information. The tool also identifies areas that had significant electoral irregularities. Data from the previous elections in 2004 and 2005 are being added to the site, and data from this year's elections will also be available on the site. The observation mission is one of a number of election-related activities being carried out this year by NDI, which has worked in Afghanistan since 2002. Implemented through its seven regional offices in the country, these activities include:

Support for candidate polling agents to strengthen their skills to report on election-day activities. Some 96 Afghan master trainers are conducting workshops across Afghanistan to help 35,000 candidate agents learn about election procedures, election administration and the rights and obligations of polling agents. NDI developed a candidate agent manual, in Dari and Pashtu, and is working with the Independent Election Commission to distribute thousands of copies around the country.
Candidate orientation seminars conducted in 30 of the country's 34 provinces reached 1,709 candidates (68 percent of those registered).
Campaign schools for this year's record number of women candidates, focusing on their particular challenges. About 246 (or 62 percent of all) women candidates participated.
Political party strengthening to help parties develop campaigns that address voter concerns and, among other things, build campaign management skills.
Support for domestic election monitoring. NDI is providing technical and financial support to FEFA.

The Institute's election observation will be carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, which is endorsed by 35 intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the United Nations Secretariat. The mission builds upon NDI's 25 years of experience observing over 200 elections around the world and its election-related and operational experience in Afghanistan. The Institute's election observation mission is funded through a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Other election-related activities are supported by USAID and the Canadian International Development Agency. Related:

Pictured above: A voter casts his ballot in the 2009 presidential election. Published September 2, 2010

Yemeni Youth Break New Ground in Resolving Tribal Conflict
04 09 2010 In Yemen, tribal conflict is a backdrop affecting the country's economic development, governance and national stability. Disputes over land claims and competition for resources and government services often lead to violence and cycles of revenge killings that can extend over a decade, hindering the work of government and international development agencies, and isolating citizens from the state. Within tribes, young people are particularly affected by, and increasingly engage in, violence. Research by NDI shows that young people are the most likely to initiate conflict or break established truces. With almost half of Yemen's population under age 15 and another one-third aged 15 to 29, a significant percentage of the population is growing acclimated to violence as the primary means to address or resolve conflict.

Youth Council Delivers Results

Despite its short history, the Al Juba Cross-Tribal Youth Council has already developed solutions to some long-standing conflicts in Mareb. At first, addressing real conflicts seemed a potentially insurmountable challenge as youth council members were reluctant to broach issues dividing their tribes. Among the council members are two young men — one the son of a prominent sheikh and the other the son of a leading member of a rival tribe — who have been embroiled in an ongoing dispute between their respective tribes. The two were reluctant participants in a broader discussion about tribal conflict and refused to speak directly to each other out of loyalty to their tribes and in keeping with the rules of the ongoing conflicts between them. Throughout the three-day session, the 40 youth councilors were encouraged to talk about real conflicts they face, and discussions eventually led to the specific conflict that was keeping the two young tribesmen from speaking to one another — a proposal by the Yemeni government to build a school for girls in the district. The young men's tribes were fighting over where the school would be built. Using skills learned during the workshop and through a role-play on peer mediation with a third member of the council, the two men were able to broker an agreement to resolve the dispute. They proposed establishment of a Ministry of Education committee to study the best location for the school, looking at, among other factors, the number of girls that would benefit by having the school in close proximity to their villages. The two youth council members presented the proposal to the sheikhs of their tribes, who accepted the terms and plan to engage the Ministry of Education. Drawing inspiration from his peers' success, another council member decided to tackle a decades-old land dispute between rival tribes that want to use the same piece of property to grow crops. This council member, who is also a member of the tribe that controls rain irrigation to the disputed property, approached his fellow council members who are affiliated with the rival tribes and offered to serve as a mediator. After discussing the issue with both sides, he presented three potential resolutions. The council members involved in the negotiation chose an approach in which the rival tribes would share the land, an unconventional solution in Yemen, where tribal boundaries are significant and competition over resources is fierce. They presented their proposal to their tribal sheikhs who agreed.

To help deal with this problem, 40 young men and women, all under the age of 30, came together in July to form the country's first cross-tribal youth council. Located in Al Juba district in the conflict plagued Mareb governorate, the council is part of an 18-month program led by NDI to engage youth in the governorates of Mareb and Shabwa to resolve conflict and build relationships between young people and community leaders to address issues that contribute to violence. The council will advocate for youth to municipal and tribal leaders, learn and teach conflict prevention and problem solving skills to students, and serve as mediators among youth in their communities. Creation of the council required overcoming significant obstacles and followed a lengthy negotiation process with tribal and government officials. In Al Juba, long-standing and fierce tribal rivalries, cultural norms that keep women largely separated from men, the limited ability of government to deliver services and respond to the root cause of conflict were among the roadblocks. NDI spent nearly two months meeting with tribal sheikhs from Al Juba, Mareb and other governorates, as well as with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Administration, the Governor of Mareb, ministry representatives at the local level and local councilors to secure buy-in for creation of youth councils. Government and tribal leaders raised concerns about the described challenges, and local leaders also feared creating demands on the government that it could not meet. But ultimately, the leaders were eager to discuss effective ways to improve youth participation in their communities and tribes and how they could play an active role in the success of the youth council initiative. In a July launch ceremony in Al Juba, Mareb Governor Naji Bin Ali Al Zaidi and Sheikh M’Fareh Mohammed Buhaibeh, a respected Mareb tribal leader and tribal negotiator, lauded the youth council's aims and encouraged the young women and men as they embarked on the new initiative. The council's July meetings featured training in strategic planning, fundraising and local resource development, conflict resolution and mitigation strategies, and leadership and team building. NDI has focused on encouraging youth to work together across gender and tribal divides; build and strengthen the relationship between the youth council and the elected local council; create a conducive environment for regular interaction between youth, tribal leaders and the government; and promote discussion of conflicts facing Juba District. In just three weeks following its launch, the Juba District Cross-Tribal Youth Council raised $745 in local funds to support its work and established a financial committee, chaired by a female member, a media committee and a legal committee. In turn, the Al Juba Local Council committed space in its building for the council, invited council representatives to serve as honorary members of the local council and is finalizing a strategy to engage youth on community development issues. Throughout the next year, NDI will continue to support the Al Juba council, working to develop members' skills to educate students on conflict, serve as mediators and become advocates for community development initiatives. NDI will also provide guidance and assistance for efforts to form a similar council in Ain District in the neighboring Shabwa governorate. Since 2005, with support from the United States Agency for International Development, NDI has worked in partnership with tribal leaders and nongovernmental organizations in the governorates of Mareb, Al-Jawf and Shabwa to assist their efforts to end conflict in their regions. Related:

Pictured above: Members of the youth council work together. Published on August 27, 2010

Kenyan Election Observers Approve Referendum Process, Results
31 08 2010 Kenyan citizens overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a peaceful and credible referendum last week, according to a preliminary statement released by the Elections Observation Group (ELOG), a coalition of civic and faith-based Kenyan organizations. After the violence that marred the 2007 elections, the successful August 4 referendum was celebrated as Kenyans ratified a new constitution that provides checks and balances on the president, establishes a bill of rights, transfers some powers from the central government to the regions and addresses land distribution issues. It also eliminates the position of prime minister. ELOG conducted a parallel vote tabulation (PVT), an election observation tool that provides an independent vote count as a means to promote confidence in the official results. The PVT results, from a statistically random sample of polling stations tracked closely the results released by the Interim Independent Election Commission, which tallied 66.9 percent for and 30.7 against the new constitution. ELOG also noted it did not observe any major incidents that would mar the electoral process. In fact, in 99 percent of the polling stations it observed, ELOG observers said no one attempted to disrupt the voting process. They also reported a similar percent of polling stations where they observed officials following the referendum guidelines, from opening on time to sealing ballot boxes properly. “ELOG is confident that the process and the results reflect the wishes of Kenyan voters,” the statement said. In the months before the referendum, ELOG – with NDI’s support – recruited, trained and deployed approximately 10,000 general observers and more than 500 observers who sent rapid results via text messages to the ELOG database for the PVT. ELOG’s observers monitored the campaign period and on referendum day were deployed in all 210 constituencies. Since April 2010, NDI has been providing assistance to ELOG to design and conduct the pilot PVT for the referendum, as well as support the formation of a new secretariat and constituency level network, which will work beyond the referendum.

Read the full statement

Pictured Above: ELOG members share results of the preliminary PVT at a press conference. Published August 9, 2010

International IDEA


International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

New IDEA Board Member Margot Wallström says, UN resolutions lack teeth
21 07 2010 International IDEAs new board member, Margot Wallström, paid a visit to the Institutes headquarters in Stockholm on 17 February 2010 and spent time getting to know the staff and programmes. We took the opportunity to interview her for this newsletter.

Sudan: training female candidates
21 07 2010 240 female candidates from six political parties in Sudan received training in campaigning skills and the management of election campaigns at a series of workshops in February 2010.

Bolivian women ready for politics: parties still need to be prodded
21 07 2010 International IDEAs Bolivia programme is working with a network of womens organizations to mainstream gender equality into all aspects of political life. One notable success was the Mujeres listas para las listas (Women Ready for the Ballot) campaign, launched by the Womens Coordinating Committee, which resulted in a legal provision for gender equality on party candidate lists.

Index on Censorship / Magazine / Web Log


The main blog and daily news comment site run by the news editor of Index

Smashed Hits 2.0
04 09 2010 Press release – 2 September 2010 Daniel Barenboim, Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, Femi Kuti, Will Self and Gilad Atzmon discuss music and censorship in the new issue of Index on Censorship ‘Smashed Hits 2.0’ – publication date 8 September. In association with Freemuse. Launch: 21 September 630pm at the Free Word Centre 60 Farringdon Road London [...]

Iraq inquiry: Campbell propaganda unit wrote early WMD dossier
03 09 2010 New evidence points to the spin doctor's influence on the case for the Iraq war. Chris Ames reports

Mexico and Colombia: Drug trafficking reporting targeted
03 09 2010 In Mexico’s northeastern state of Sinaloa, the Noreste newspaper issued a statement saying that its facilities were the target of an armed attack on 1 September 2010. The attack took place after a reporter received a threatening phone call from unidentified members of an organised gang. They fired bullets at the Noreste building and placed [...]

MobileActive.org / News


A resource for activists using mobile technology worldwide

If You Build It, They Will Come: SeenReport and Mobile Citizen Journalism in Pakistan
02 09 2010 The devastating floods in Pakistan have been covered by trained reporters and mainstream media outlets around the world. Citizens, often on the front lines of the flood, have also been contributing thousands of reports though mobile phones, in part enabled by the citizen journalism service SeenReport.

SeenReport (from “see ‘n report”) is a citizen journalism service through which users can submit photos, videos, and text accounts of news as it is happening via SMS, MMS, or e-mail. SeenReport won a 2010 mBillionth award, a first-ever contest which recognizes mobile content in South Asia. A YouTube video explains more about the service.

The SeenReport platform is designed to augment stories on online news sites. The platform has been purchased and customized by other media organizations in Pakistan, which helps to both promote citizen journalism in the country and to create a revenue stream for SeenReport.

MobileActive.org talked with Sharjeel Qureshi, a founder of the service. Here is what we learned about SeenReport and citizen journalism in Pakistan.How does SeenReport work? A citizen reporter captures an event on a mobile phone and sends the content to SeenReport. There is no manual intervention at this stage - the content is automatically published on the SeenReport website to better ensure real-time reports which augment larger ongoing events. Further, citizen reporters can register personal information on the site after submitting material.

The system accepts content via SMS, MMS, and e-mail. If images or photos are sent, some basic text is required as far as description and location. The SeenReport platform is intelligent enough to detect this text and suggest related content and news stories. So, if several citizen reporters are submitting reports from the same event on their mobiles - the floods, for instance - the system will make a single thread from the incoming reports.

Some users create detailed online profiles. One freelance journalist, for example, includes his picture, email address, phone number, professional membership affiliation, and has established a subdomain on the SeenReport site with tabs for all of his uploaded content. Qureshi refers to it as a version of LinkedIn for freelance journalists. Others can post anonymously if they choose and are not required to create complete profiles.

The service has been integrated with social network sites so that when stories are published on the website, they are automatically posted on Twitter and Facebook for SeenReport. If a citizen journalist registers personal social media accounts, their reports will be automatically posted in those locations, too.

In general, mobile citizen reports open the door to spam, offensive content, and potentially non-newsworthy posts. SeenReport deals with this through a self-policing or "social censoring" system. Whenever content is posted, readers can comment on it, rate it, and flag it if they find it offensive. SeenReport administrators then remove the flagged content. This topic has been an ongoing discussion for the group behind SeenReport: the idea of how news stories are authenticated, how best to integrate citizen journalism into mainstream media, and what is good journalism.A strong initial boost Qureshi and his team began working on the SeenReport platform in 2007, at a time when there was a media blackout in Pakistan. Heavy censorship was imposed on media organizations at the time. The Internet was the only free medium of information, Qureshi said. During this time, the mobile market in Pakistan had proliferated and “we thought it would be a great idea to empower people to report news right from the cell phone and broadcast to the world in real-time,” he said.

When the site was launched in April 2008, it came on the heels of Pakistan’s Long March, the social unrest following firings of the judiciary. During this time, media coverage was heavily censored. SeenReport, Qureshi said, provided an alternative medium to cover the scale of the event and enable citizens at home to witness the historical moment.

SeenReport allows every mobile user in the crowd to become a reporter. In terms of the Long March, SMS reports provided minute-by-minute and mile-by-mile updates from eyewitnesses. The role of SeenReport in the march was a boost to the fledgling service and was covered by many international news outlets, including Global Voices, the BBC, and CIO Pakistan.SeenReport is more than a single "people powered news" site The SeenReport software, a cloud-based, open-source technology, was created in-house by a small team of engineers. SeenReport also sells this software-as-a-service to other media organizations interested in developing their own citizen journalism initiatives.

This software provision helps to generate income: the monthly recurring license fee model for adopters is the most significant source of revenue for the “modestly funded start-up,” Qureshi said.

SeenReport was designed in such a way that it can be adapted and customized by other users. Several news and media sites have purchased the platform, including Samaa, GeoDost, Aaj, and PlayTv. The first three use the technology for citizen journalism purposes while PlayTv, an entertainment and music channel for youth in Pakistan, uses it to engage young viewers through mobile interaction.

Because organizations have their own policies for driving citizen journalism, adopters can customize the functionality and tweak the editorial control. Some sites, for example, require a thorough review of content before it is published, unlike SeenReport’s system of instant posts and social censorship.

By providing the software to others, SeenReport contributes to citizen journalism in Pakistan. Across the spectrum of organizations using the platform, there have been over 10,000 news reports relating to the floods. GeoDost, for example, has established a unique section on the main page for natural disasters and an "initial flood portal". More than 500,000 citizen reports have been submitted by all users across all organizations, Qureshi said, which gives “an idea of how strong citizen journalism is in Pakistan.”

The HAART Cell phone Adherence Trial (WelTel Kenya1): A Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol
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Community-Level Economic Effects of M-PESA in Kenya: Initial Findings
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