January 2009
Elections in Bangladesh and Ghana Promote Stability and Democracy
Peaceful transitions of power marked parliamentary elections in Bangladesh and a presidential runoff in Ghana last month.
In Bangladesh, NDI fielded a 60-member international observer delegation for the Dec. 29 polls in which the victory of the Awami League brought two years of military-backed rule to a close. The delegation concluded that the vote was well-administered and conducted in an orderly fashion.
In Ghana – a pillar of African democracy – a highly competitive Dec. 7 presidential contest prompted a runoff on Dec. 28. Ghana’s Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), an NDI partner organization, monitored both contests. Its independent vote tabulation, which confirmed the Electoral Commission’s announcement of a razor-thin victory for the opposition leader, built public confidence for the result.
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Linking women across continents, languages and faiths is part of the success story of iKNOW Politics – an online portal through which women in politics network and share information, knowledge and expertise.
Approaching its second anniversary, the site has received over 31 million hits at a rate of nearly 138,000 per day, with membership topping 3,500. The site was launched by NDI in partnership with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
Available in English, French and Spanish, with Arabic expected this summer, iKNOW’s online library has over 1,000 papers, case studies, training guides and other materials; access to 23 international news sources; a space for online dialogue; and more than 60 experts from 28 countries to answer questions.
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To mark the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, NDI and the Presidential Inaugural Committee hosted a luncheon Jan. 20 for more than 150 Washington-based ambassadors at Blair House, the guest quarters for visiting heads of state located across the street from the White House.
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The engagement of women in Iraq’s political process has been a major focus of NDI’s efforts since 2006. One of the Institute’s Iraq staff members, Ferdos Majeed, discusses a series of NDI training programs in Erbil that have encouraged women’s political participation.
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