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Political voices and coalitions can help address environmental problems by raising citizens’ concerns and holding governments accountable. To do so, political voices need to be more inclusive and aware on climate change. Development cooperation can help by enhancing public awareness, enabling capacity of the media and civil society to cover climate change, and building multi-stakeholder coalitions to support policy development and implementation.
Unsustainable and opaque debt is a democratic deficit. New briefs by the National Democratic Institute and WFD explain how parliaments can ensure governments take on debt responsibly and in ways that benefit citizens.
A group of community leaders from Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina visited Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland with WFD to learn how citizens and local government worked together to solve problems and improve their city.
To help build awareness of the realities of LGBT+ peoples’ lives in Sri Lanka, WFD provided funding for a series of fictional short films, which premiered in the country in late 2021 and will go on tour around the country in 2022.
WFD hosted a side event on the margins of the 144th IPU Assembly and related meetings aimed at calling for enhanced participation from parliamentarians in overseeing the fulfillment of global commitments to tackle the climate emergency.
There is a growing trend towards the use of internet shutdowns around elections. It is vital that the international elections community takes coordinated pre-emptive action to ensure that internet shutdowns do not become an established or tolerated international norm.
Political parties can help strengthen environmental democracy through mediating public preferences and political voices, by holding government accountable on environmental actions, and through party competition. But there is a need for more awareness of environmental issues and policy responses to climate change among political parties – that is where international support can help.
Our Long-Term Observer (LTO) training provides knowledge and skills required for those aspiring to become LTOs in future OSCE/ODIHR missions. The course will take place from Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 March 2022 from 09:00-17:00 in Westminster, London.
WFD's Sophia Fernandes and Halyna Shevchuk, Ukraine Country Representative, highlight the importance of women's political participation in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
The Lebanese youth is severely underrepresented in Parliament, where the median age of MPs is 60.4 years. That is why WFD trained young people elected as MPs to the Lebanese Youth Parliament.
The role of parliaments is not only to adopt legislation, but also to ensure that the laws are of good quality and implemented in practice. This can only happen if laws are scrutinized after they have been adopted.
WFD’s current Inclusive and Accountable Politics (IAP) programme in Uganda is expanding on its past work by promoting quality representation and inclusion of both women and youth. WFD also works directly with Uganda MPs to support their capacity to carry out their accountability function in parliament.
Tickets for the Training for UK short term observers to election observation missions are sold out for both the sessions on 21st February. WFD is planning to launch further STO training sessions later this year.
Election days matter in democracy – but they are not the only thing that matters. The best time to defend electoral integrity, and therefore democracy, is after an election. To be able to make improvements, we need politically smart approaches to electoral reform.
