| * |  | | IFES and CEPPS Honored to Announce Partnership with USAID Under the Democratic Elections and Political Processes Leader with Associates Award | The Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) has been selected as the prime recipient of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Democratic Elections and Political Processes (DEPP) Leader with Associates Award. This partnership will support inclusive and accountable democracies to advance freedom, dignity and development over the next five years. IFES is a core CEPPS partner, along with the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, joined by four senior technical partners for DEPP: The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, the Center for International Private Enterprise, Democracy Arch and Internews.
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 | | IFES Launches Center for Anti-Corruption and Democratic Trust | “Left unchecked, electoral and political corruption threatens the very foundation of democracy, and ultimately can drive violent conflict and humanitarian crises.” IFES President and CEO Anthony Banbury
On the International Day of Democracy, September 15, Banbury announced the launch of the IFES Center for Anti-Corruption and Democratic Trust to “forge new partnerships and develop new approaches to counter the dangers that corruption poses to democracies around the world.” The new Center is headed by Katherine Ellena, IFES senior global legal advisor, and will focus on improving the ability of democracies to deliver for all people through cross-sectoral anti-corruption initiatives that address the global democratic trust deficit.
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 | | Opinion: Corruption is a pandemic. The solution is democracy. | IFES President and CEO Anthony Banbury and Sr. Global Advisor-Legal & head of IFES’ new Center for Anti-Corruption & Democratic Trust Katherine Ellena remind us via Devex that the solution to corruption is rooted in strong democracies with fair elections. They offer recommendations ahead of the Summit for Democracy, organized by the Biden administration for December 9-10, and following recent anti-corruption commitments by the United Nations.
Read the Opinion Piece | |
 | | IFES Signs the Generation Equality Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action | IFES is proud to be a signatory of the Generation Equality Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action (WPS-HA). In signing WPS-HA, IFES joins over 100 governments, civil societies and organizations in advancing the meaningful participation of women in democratic and peace building processes. IFES has been fully committed to the full inclusion of women and girls in democratic and peacebuilding processes since inception. IFES continues to honor this commitment by taking nine, Compact-specific actions.
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 | | Watch: Why Electoral Justice Matters | Resolving electoral complaints is fundamental to election integrity and legitimacy. If the rules dictating election complaints is unclear, do not offer real solutions or are governed by poorly trained officials, it can destabilize governments, undermine public trust and instigate violence. A new IFES original whiteboard video explores the meaning of electoral justice and the importance of election dispute resolution.
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 | | Social Media Strategies for Election Management Bodies | Technological platforms and products continue to transform and impact elections. As disinformation flourishes on social media it is essential that democratic actors communicate effectively to share credible information and transparency around elections. Social Media Strategies for Election Management Bodies: A Tactical Guide to Expanding Voter Outreach provides platform-specific tip sheets, strategies to use across platforms, guidance on hosting live video events, suggestions on how to use social media partnerships to expand the reach of content and a special section on messaging strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Edited by IFES’ Lisa Reppell, this guide will help election officials use social media to increase public understanding of elections, build trust in their institutions and strengthen voters’ confidence in the safety and integrity of voting.
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 | | International Day of Democracy | The theme for International Day of Democracy on September 15 was “Strengthening Democratic Resilience in the Face of Future Crises.” IFES is guided by our vision “Democracy for a better future” and our mission “Together we build democracies that deliver for all.” Strong democracies are resilient in the face of crises. IFES is focused on four strategic outcomes to strengthen democracy globally: 1) Trusted electoral institutions deliver credible elections; 2) Effective governing institutions are accountable to the people they serve; 3) All people safely participate in civic and political life on an equal basis; 4) Technology, information and data positively serve elections and democracy.
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 | | Climate, Displacement and Democracy: Safeguarding the Democratic Rights of the Environmentally Displaced | As many as 200 million people could be environmentally displaced by 2050 resulting from climate change. This would exacerbate vulnerabilities in democracies. Displaced people often lose their ability to participate in basic political activities barring full inclusion in their new environment. Watch an expert discussion, cohosted by IFES and the Embassy of Sweden and featuring: - Karin Olofsdotter, Ambassador of Sweden to the United States
- Anthony Banbury, IFES President and CEO
- Janine Alm Ericson, State Secretary for International Development Cooperation, Sweden
- Johnny Walsh, Deputy Assistant Administrator, USAID
- Jenny Ohlsson, Ambassador for Migration and Refugees, MFA of Sweden
- Vasu Mohan, IFES Senior Global Advisor for Conflict, Displacement and Minority Rights
- Alexandra Bilak, Director, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
Watch the Event | |
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 | | Election FAQs | This month Georgia, Iraq, and the Czech Republic held major elections. On October 2, Georgian voters participated in municipal elections. Iraqis voted in 18 electorates and 83 governates on October 10 to elect 329 representatives to the Council of Representatives (CoR). Within 30 days of the election, the CoR will choose the next president. On October 8, the Czech Republic held elections for 200 representatives in the Chamber of Deputies.
Read the Georgia FAQs
Read the Iraq FAQs
Read the Czech Republic FAQs | |
 | | Interview with Evelyn Mulemangabo N’Enbintu on new IFES Study on EMB Practices in Africa | A new IFES study focuses on the different practices electoral management bodies (EMBs) have implemented on the African continent to include traditionally underrepresented voters, such as women and persons with disabilities. The study, available in French, provides several examples of tools used by EMBs in Africa, analyzing initiatives by the Nigerian, Liberian and Congolese EMBs as cases studies. IFES spoke with Evelyn Mulemangabo N’Enbintu, lawyer by trade, and the President of the non-profit Woman, Election and Development and the National Coordinator of the Network Dynamics of Women (DRF-P) about her thoughts on the study.
Read the Interview | |
 | | ElectionBase | IFES’ Regional European Office developed ElectionBase — an easily accessible database to equip electoral stakeholders with essential information about different electoral systems, leadership and legal reform options in Europe.
Visit ElectionBase | |
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| Work with IFES | IFES is hiring country directors for Guyana and Mali to serve as IFES’ primary in-country representatives and coordinators of programming with local and international counterparts, as well as a senior global election technology and cybersecurity advisor to design programs and make policy recommendations. We are also recruiting for a democracy data analyst that will use advanced analytical techniques to position IFES as a leader in the use of data to inform programming in the democracy, rights and governance field.
Apply Now | |
| IFES Mentions | IFES programs, experts and research are regularly featured in the media. We value the opportunity to highlight democracy assistance and further our mission to build democracies that deliver for all. Please see the Newsroom on IFES.org for more.
Global: A New Security Beat op-ed on conflict prevention and climate change in U.S. foreign policy and assistance cited IFES’ April paper on the Electoral Rights of Environmentally Displaced Persons. The Edge Markets published an article discussing the possibility of voting through mobile devices and interviewed IFES' Staffan Darnolf. The Keyword announced Google’s plans to provide security keys to high-risk users, including in partnership with IFES.
Africa: A Rest of World op-ed on Ugandan women in politics cited IFES’ 2018 assessment of violence against women in elections in Zimbabwe. An edition of VOA News Straight Talk Africa included a discussion panel featuring IFES' Rushdi Nackerdien on the characteristics of free and fair elections.
Americas: Voto Digital reported on IFES' publication on the effective use of electoral digital communication.
Asia-Pacific: Liputan6 posted an article about the Association of Indonesian Persons with Disabilities (PPDI) joining an IFES-supported Strengthening the Capacity of Advocacy Networks in Southeast Asia (SCANSEA) project. Civil Beat mentioned IFES' involvement with the Blue Pacific Alliance.
Burkina Faso: Lefaso published an article about IFES' week-long BRIDGE training workshop in Loumbila.
Canada: CBC Canada referenced an IFES report in an article about voting in Canadian federal elections.
Dominican Republic: Diario Libre referenced an IFES report in an article about regulating state funding for political parties.
Guinea: Guinee Matin reported on IFES' willingness to assist with Guinea's political transition.
Indonesia: Republika reported on IFES' findings on voter data on disability in Indonesia.
Nigeria: News Chronicle reported on IFES providing capacity building to Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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