From Yemen to Tunisia: Fostering dialogue and democracy awareness across the Arab region

From encouraging reconciliation in war-torn Yemen to supporting the Libyan Parliament and encouraging debate about constitutional developments in Tunisia, International IDEA fosters democratic support across the Arab region. Following the outbreak of Yemen’s most recent conflict, a reconciliation commission was established in Taiz province, where the Institute helped organize training and dialogue sessions. 

International IDEA also organized, in cooperation with South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, a study tour to Pretoria to enable the commission to learn about South Africa’s experience with reconciliation. International IDEA has been working in Yemen since 2014, helping the country navigate its transition and assisting the UN in negotiating a peaceful end to the conflict. International IDEA supported electoral reform in Lebanon to advocate for an independent election management body and in Palestine by supporting the Central Electoral Committee in its consultation’s efforts on reforms to local election.

The institute also helped organize a high-level expert meeting on political parties in the Arab region, covering Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen. As part of a broader effort aimed at making the work of parliaments in emerging democracies and countries in transition more effective, International IDEA arranged a visit to the Czech Parliament for 14 department heads from the Diwan, the Secretariat of Libya’s House of Representatives. Organized on a peer-to-peer basis, the visit enabled representatives to exchange experiences especially on parliamentary research, organizational management and legal drafting and analysis.

The Tunis Office organized a Moot Court competition in March 2023, centered on the concept of proportionality and the Tunisian constitution’s limitations on rights and freedoms, involving teams from the Higher Institute of the Legal Profession and the National Bar Association.