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In 2020, the world came up against the COVID-19 pandemic which caused serious health and national crises. Managing the pandemic and its consequences became the priority issue for most governments across the globe. The majority of countries implemented temporary measures such as quarantine that limited certain civic rights. In particular, the freedom of movement and assembly were directly affected by governments’ responses to the pandemic.
Albania | Study |
On 6-7 August, political party and community leaders from Ghana and 14 Commonwealth countries met in Ghana to discuss ways to tackle the under-representation of women in leadership positions.
To achieve the reality of programmes that respond to changing needs commitment is needed from practitioners and donors alike to change their practices. WFD, DAI Europe and the range of practitioners participating in the roundtable are committed to explaining why working in this difficult political space provides real value to development, but also why it needs to be flexible and adaptable to succeed.
Ahead of CO26, Members of Parliament from 5 countries – Canada, Georgia, Indonesia, Kenya, and Pakistan – have added their names to a statement that calls for public empowerment to be a top priority at the conference.
Training workshops on preventing and combating the use of hate speech for youth and civic activists took place in all regions of Kyrgyzstan from 6th – 23rd September 2021. Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), jointly with the Institute of Civic Development held these events in the run up to the country’s Parliamentary elections within the framework of the Media Dialogue project funded by the European Union.
Environmental democracy principles were discussed on Tuesday 21st September at a national workshop in Georgia organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) in partnership with the Parliament of Georgia and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture.
Georgia |
Ensuring that women and minority groups in Bangsamoro have political voice and meaningful representation is essential to enable the autonomous region to transition into a working democratic entity. In support of this vision, WFD recently held a Strategic Planning Workshop on Political Advocacy for members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Social Welfare Committee (SWC) in Bangsamoro. From 11th – 13th August 2021, 20 members of the SWC gathered for the event which took place in Isulan town, Sultan Kuarat.
Since the start of the democratic transition in Albania in 1990, the country has gone through many reform processes. However, there has not yet been a significant growth in the number and social power of civic movements. Nevertheless, in recent years social movements arising around new causes are propelling progressive ideas into the public domain.
Albania | Study |
Election campaigns provide particularly fertile ground for hate speech and incitement to hatred. Political parties, candidates, opinion makers, and members of civil society can be influential spreaders of hate speech. Hate speech is also amplified by the media, in particular social media.
Three areas are important for the political process and public discourse around elections: election campaigns; electoral observation; and the information landscape.
May 2017 saw the arrival in Kyiv of over 300 people from 52 countries interested in parliamentary openness. The Global Legislative Openness Conference was a two-day event, hosted by the Ukrainian Parliament and organised by the Legislative Openness Working Group of the Open Government Partnership and the Open Parliament Initiative in Ukraine. WFD participated through its senior staff from the UK, Sri Lanka and Serbia, and by supporting the presence of parliamentary delegations from Uganda, Kenya, Montenegro, Jordan, Morocco,Ghana and Venezuela.
The COVID-19 pandemic is testing governance systems around the world. Where democratic systems were already straining under the pressure of post-financial crisis populism, this latest crisis is pushing political institutions and norms to breaking point. Emergency measures once thought unthinkable have been quickly designed and enforced, often with little to no public scrutiny or time restrictions. The variation in responses and results has again opened the debate as to the ability of democracies to deliver in moments of crisis.
Through all this, one factor seems to dictate the extent to which governments have been able to respond successfully to the pandemic: political trust.
Through all this, one factor seems to dictate the extent to which governments have been able to respond successfully to the pandemic: political trust.
The past week has been an emotional, as well as a political, roller-coaster across the UK, including inside WFD. On both sides of the debate there has been surprise, concern, anger, and optimism at some point since the voting started on Thursday. There has been an outpouring of perceptive analysis about the result, much of it very relevant to the challenges that WFD tries to help our partners to address, including how important it is for political leaders to listen to all parts of society, and how to manage political campaigns responsibly.
I live in Northern Ireland, a small, charming part of the world that has had some big, devastating problems.