In anticipation of Nov. 30 presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire, NDI, the UN mission in Abidjan and the Ivorian electoral commission co-led negotiations on a code of conduct for Ivorian political parties. The code was adopted April 24 during a signing ceremony attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Hopes that Kenya’s last elections on December 27, 2007, would be seen as a model for African democracies were dashed within 48 hours of the vote when violence erupted amid charges of election result manipulation.

Major political parties in Georgia have taken a significant step to ensure that their party members adhere to established standards of conduct in advance of May 21 parliamentary elections. The “Code of Conduct for Party Activists” – a voluntary agreement between the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Georgia’s political parties – was officially launched at a press conference April 9 in Tbilisi.