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La ocasión para tomar el pulso a la situación política, económica y social de la región no pudo ser más oportuna.

STOCKHOLM—Mr Kofi Annan, Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation and former United Nations Secretary-General, will give a keynote address as part of International IDEA’s 20^th anniversary celebration in Stockholm, Sweden, on 16 September. The celebration will highlight International IDEA’s achievements in the past 20 years as well as prospects for continued action.

Wrapping up the three-day Global Conference on Money in Politics, International IDEA Secretary-General Yves Leterme highlighted the need to look ahead and take the experiences shared and gained in Mexico to continue the work on the issues involved in money in politics.

Following a four-year suspension, Haiti held the first round of the parliamentary elections on 9 August. Now in preparing for the run-off elections as well as the first round of the presidential and local elections scheduled for 25 October, there are some lessons to be learned to ensure a successful outcome.

Founded in 1995 by 14 Member States, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is the only intergovernmental organization with the mission to support sustainable democracy as its sole mandate.

To commemorate its 20th Anniversary, we look back and reflect on the organization’s beginnings and the context for its foundation back in 1995.

All political parties need funding to play their part in the political process, yet the role of money in politics is arguably the biggest threat to democracy today.

Stockholm, Sweden – International IDEA Secretary-General, Yves Leterme, was on a working visit to Bogotá on 23-26 August. Accompanied by International IDEA Latin America and the Caribbean Director, Mr Daniel Zovatto, the Secretary-General attended the Club de Madrid New Generation Democracy Forum for the Americas and met with key officials from Colombia.

As part of our ongoing work in the Kingdom of Bhutan, International IDEA is aiding in the development of a comprehensive civic/voter education programme, including a strategy for the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB).

Preparations for the November 8 elections in Myanmar are hectic, to say the least. At stake are 1 171 seats at the Pyithu, Amyota and State and Regions Hluttaws assemblies. More than 6 000 candidates nominated from 90 parties are being scrutinized by the election sub commissions. In 2010 there were over 3 000 candidates and 40 parties taking part.

This report examines how national constitutions can improve the delivery of services through decentralization, in particular by exploring the impact that different forms of decentralization and sequencing can have on the outcome.

Countries rich in oil and gas often derive great wealth from these resources. Yet such countries are also often host to chronic economic problems, regional infighting and democratic deficits—factors which lead to high levels of corruption and lack of government accountability in the oil and gas industry.

The term ‘corruption’ is used to describe a wide range of dishonest behaviour, including bribery, embezzlement, abuse of authority, extortion, illicit enrichment, kickbacks, and trading in influence, in addition to actions connected to, and often used to aid in the commission of, corrupt activities such as money laundering, concealment and obstruction of justice.

International IDEA, partnering with Transparency International and the Government and Public Policies School of Pontificia (Universidad Catolica del Peru), organized an international seminar on the Quality of Democracy in Latin America. The seminar is part of the work the IDEA office in Peru is doing to advance this topic in the Andean region and in Peru particularly, leading to the presidential elections next year.

The Solomon Islands has held regular parliamentary elections since independence in 1978 and the voter turnout has been relatively high according to IDEA’s voter turnout database. From the 1980s up to today the turnout has been between 58 to 89 per cent, 89 per cent voting in the November 2014 elections.

Whilst statistics show that Lesotho is doing well in addressing United Nations Millennium Development Goal 3 on “promoting gender equality and empowering women”, equal participation in elections remains an issue of concern. Following the February 2015 elections, only 30 out of 120 Members of Parliaments in the Lower House are female.

STOCKHOLM - International IDEA Secretary-General Yves Leterme is on a working visit to Santo Domingo from 15-21 August. Accompanied by International IDEA Latin America and the Caribbean Director, Daniel Zovatto, the Secretary-General is set to meet with key officials from the Dominican Republic, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Association of World Election Bodies (AWEB).

On 18 August 2015, International IDEA and the Electoral Commissions Forum of the SADC countries (ECF SADC) signed a memorandum of understanding formalizing the partnership between the two organisations.

Building on past initiatives but also looking at current challenges confronting electoral commissions in the region, the newly signed MoU sets out six key areas of collaboration:

Burkina Faso will hold its general election on 11 October 2015. This election will be the first in 27 years as the country moves forward in its political transition. It is therefore crucial that all actors, including personnel in charge of securing elections, have a good understanding of the electoral process.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of Lesotho and International IDEA are conducting a roundtable on the Institutionalization of Gender Equality in Electoral Processes in Maseru on 5-6 August 2015.

The constitutional and political reforms undertaken prior to the 2010 general election paved the way for the people of the Kingdom of Tonga to elect more representative governments that are accountable to the electorate.