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.
“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.
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.
What has happened to elections in Latin America in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic? How have the electoral management and judicial bodies faced the various challenges of the health crisis? Which best practices and lessons have been implemented to defend democracy in the region? These are some of the questions raised by the Group of Electoral Authorities and Experts: Elections and Covid-19, an initiative of International IDEA, the Mexican Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary of the Federation (TEPJF) and the Global Network of Electoral Justice.
Elections were held in Chile on 15 and 16 May 2021—after being postponed twice[1]—to elect 155 delegates to the Constitutional Convention (which will meet as of July for 9 to 12 months to draft a new constitution whose adoption will be subject to a referendum with compulsory voting); 13 regional governors—the first time governors will be elected rather than designated by the President of the Republic; 345 mayors; and local council members.
Indigenous communities should be able to vote using the voting methods they choose, especially during a pandemic. Online voting is a method many Indigenous communities have deployed in recent years and others are looking to use.
The SDG 16 Data Initiative organized an online event on 27 April to monitor current trends on the progress of SDG 16 and assess the effects of the pandemic on the global achievement of Peace, Justice and Accountable Institutions.
Over a year has passed since, on 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic and warned of sustained risks of further global spread. One year on, we have seen how the pandemic has forced a major re-evaluation of long-established electoral policies and practices, transforming the way in which, over the last decades, electoral management bodies (EMBs) have conventionally administered and delivered election after election.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has organized several major elections: those for the Bihar’s Legislative Assembly in November 2020 and indirect elections of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) held in March and June 2020. On 6 April 2021, State Assembly elections were organized in four Indian states and one union territory, calling alltogether 185 million eligible voters to decide the faith of 824 Assembly seats, making these elections one of the largest organized during the pandemic.
