The Office of the Permanent Observer for International IDEA to the United Nations (UN) has established itself as an institutional hub to enhance collaboration with the UN Secretariat and UN agencies, and with key partners including Member States, governments, global and regional organizations, civil society organizations, think tanks and universities, and other associations and initiatives that work on issues related to democracy building.
Throughout 2020, the following partnerships and collaborations were established or strengthened, and International IDEA, through its office in New York, played a leading role.
Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy (IRDD)
The IRDD is the only global platform that gathers international and regional organizations, together with civil society organizations and other key stakeholders, for discussions on issues related to democracy and good governance. In 2020, the IRDD led or engaged on:
- Publication of the discussion paper ‘Democracy and Peacebuilding in the Framework of SDG16+: Policy Recommendations from an Interregional and Multistakeholder Approach’.
- An online conversation between the secretaries-general of International IDEA, the Community of Democracies and the Organization of American States to discuss the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on democratic resilience.
- Regional consultations organized by the Stimson Center in Washington, DC to gather input and formulate policy recommendations to mark the 75th anniversary of the UN and the restructuring of the UN system.
- The Regional and International Organizations Working Group is an initiative of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), which seeks to create an operational addition to the IRDD platform to support its efforts and expand the pool of organizations that contribute to it. International IDEA, GPPAC, the UN Development Programme and the Community of Democracies will lead this initiative in 2021.
SDG16 Data Initiative
As in previous years, International IDEA led the launch of the 2020 Global Report of the SDG16 Data Initiative to support the open and holistic tracking of the commitments made by all 193 UN Member States captured in SDG16+.
Other partnerships and initiatives
- The New York Office has a close relationship with Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies initiative, which is a group of 38 UN Member States, international organizations, global partnerships, civil society and the private sector that seeks to accelerate action on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for peace, justice and inclusion (SDG16+).
- The Permanent Observer for International IDEA to the UN has recently joined as a Thought Partner of the Workstream 1 – Constitutional & Legal Tools of the Prevention Project hosted by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU School of Law.
- The New York Office has also engaged with other universities and youth organizations interested in actively discussing matters related to democracy. International IDEA staff have engaged with Universidad del Norte (Colombia), Universidad del Atlántico (Colombia), Corporación IPSA (Colombia), Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico) and Friendship Ambassadors Foundation (USA). The Office of the Permanent Observer for International IDEA to the United Nations has also actively engaged with private foundations and think tanks based in New York and Washington, such as the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, National Endowment for Democracy, International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. It also engaged with organizations such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and CAF – Banco de Desarrollo para America Latina.