About the Chairship of the Council of Member States

The primary responsibility of the Chair is to lead the governance agenda of the Institute. This includes, amongst others, the following responsibilities:  

• Chairing International IDEA’s governance meetings, initiating Council activities and decisions as well as overseeing nominations processes 
• Ensuring strategic communications with Member States and other governance bodies 
• Acting as the Secretary-General’s line manager
• Ensuring a successful handover with the incoming Chairship troika

The Chair meets with the Secretariat on a regular basis throughout the Chairship year and may engage in joint activities with the Institute’s regional, country and liaison offices. The Chair also supports the advocacy and representation of International IDEA and can utilize the Chairship to convene regional or global events on selected democracy priorities.  

In addition to providing leadership to the Institute, the Chair selects a priority theme and objectives for its Chairship. The 2024 Chair, Luxembourg, has selected gender and democracy as a thematic priority, building on the Institute’s well-established work on Gender and Inclusion and Luxembourg’s long-standing commitment to gender equality, women’s rights and the human rights of marginalised groups. 

Previous Chairship themes include the emphasis on learning of the Dutch Chairship of 2023 and the focus on the challenges of disinformation of the Canadian Chairship of 2022.