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Ethiopia is set to hold general elections on 21 June 2021 amid a devastating war in Tigray region and continuing security challenges across the country. But this was not how things were supposed to pan out.

On the occasion of World Refugee Day 2021, we recognize the perseverance and commemorate the journey of all migrant communities (refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced, stateless, labour migrants and undocumented migrants) across the globe. We mark this day in the midst of unprecedented social changes and a global pandemic that has tested our resilience and highlighted systematic inequalities.

International IDEA’s Secretary-General, Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, took part in a high-level panel on 9 June 2021 on the challenges and opportunities for governance in times of democratic backsliding. The event was organized by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) as part of its Governance Week and the broader Governance Network Journey.

The core value of election observation lies in the recommendations offered in observer reports, which serve as the basis for post-election reforms and long-term strengthening of democracy. Observers also contribute by building confidence in democratic practices and in deterring irregularities, particularly in transition and post-conflict contexts.

Political finance is one of the elephants in the room in any policy conversation on fighting corruption. It is also at the core of the credibility crisis that negatively impacts on public trust in political institutions in all regions of the world. Article 7.3 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) provides a crucial entry point for enhancing political finance transparency.

Es indudable que el dinero desempeña un papel importante en la política. Sin embargo, si el flujo de dinero en la política, conocido habitualmente como financiación política, no se regula adecuadamente, existe el peligro de que la influencia y el poder político se concentren en las manos de unos pocos.

International IDEA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia, held a virtual training session for young Tunisian diplomats on 8 June 2021. The training session was part of the Democracy for Diplomats training that the Institute has developed for its Members States.

Bidi Yolkey Rai, 28, struggles to conduct an online session on the importance of local government committees that deal with Covid-19, the climate impact on agriculture, or road construction. “मलाई सुनि राख्नु भएको छ?” (“Can you hear me?”) She asks from time to time.

“Press the mic there...no no, on your left…” 

"Oh, I was speaking all this all alone?” Laughter.

"Would you please mute your mic?”

“I should first know where the mic is!” Laughter.

“Am I audible?”

“Yes, yes, since the time you were scolding someone over the phone…” More laughter.

Más de 25 millones de peruanos irán a las urnas este 6 de junio para definir en ballotage quien será su próximo Presidente de la República. Esta elección se produce luego de cinco años marcados por una crisis política caracterizada por la confrontación entre el Congreso y el Ejecutivo. A ello se suma, en 2020, una severa crisis provocada por la pandemia de la Covid-19 que ha convertido a Perú en uno de los paises con más muertes por millón de habitantes en el mundo.

IDEA Internacional expresa su profunda preocupación por el creciente deterioro de la situación de los derechos humanos, falta de garantías a la oposición política y libertad de prensa en Nicaragua.

Las últimas acciones del gobierno nicaraguense constituyen prácticas contrarias a los valores democráticos presentes en la Carta Democrática Interamericana, minando la credibilidad e integridad del proceso electoral general a realizarse en noviembre de 2021.

El 7 de septiembre de 2020 inició formalmente el Proceso Electoral Federal 2020-2021. Se trata de un suceso sin precedentes pues se considera que son las elecciones más grandes y complejas en la historia de México.

More than 25 million Peruvians will go to the polls on 6 June to define in ballotage who will be their next President of the Republic. This election comes after five years marked by a political crisis caused by the confrontation between Congress and the Executive. In addition, since 2020, a severe health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has made Peru one of the countries with the most deaths per million inhabitants in the world.

The 2020-2021 Federal Election Process formally started on 7 September  2020. It is considered an unprecedented event, since these will be the biggest and most complex elections held in Mexico’s history. They will be the biggest because on Election Day, 6 June  2021, more than 21,300 offices will be renewed by popular vote. This is due to the fact that, along with the Federal election, all 32 states will have local elections.

Training is the process of learning the skills you need to do a particular job or activity. For election officials, training organized by electoral management bodies (EMBs) can be geared towards election procedures before, during or after elections; or be part of staff's lifelong learning to maintain and improve the professional competence of staff. Beyond their staff, several EMBs also train or educate other stakeholder

International IDEA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a Letter of Agreement initiating a partnership to support Timor-Leste’s electoral management bodies (EMBs) in preparing a manual and plan to conduct Covid-resilient elections under the project ‘Covid-Resilient Elections in Timor-Leste’ funded by the Government of Japan.

The discussion on how technology can be applied to improve the integrity and transparency of elections often focuses on complex and expensive technologies such as biometrics, electronic voting and voter identification systems.

The open-list proportional representation (OLPR) system, as opposed to the closed-list version, allows voters to pick their favourite candidate from the party list while retaining proportionality of the election results.

In the Asia & the Pacific region, this system is used in among others: Fiji, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. What are the upsides, downsides and unintended consequences of this system? Follow the lecture and/or read the paper for the answers.

How can democracies better act when facing future health crises?

This lecture deals with the intersection between three sets of challenges, each of which constitutes an existential threat to democracies across the world. The first is linked to money in politics, which poses the danger not only of ‘policy capture’ but also, in worse-case scenarios, of state capture by monied interests.