Arab Parliaments: Research and Publications

The Parliamentary Development Strategy Note establishes a policy framework for UNDP activities in that field. After an extended review of the 2003 Parliamentary Development Practice Note, the new Strategy Note takes into consideration lessons from the field and emerging issues to provide practical advice for UNDP governance practitioners.

Manual on Legislative Drafting for the Iraqi Council of Representatives [ Arabic ]. 2008 [brief description]

This manual was prepared by Mr. Mahmoud Sabra, one of the Arab region’s leading experts in legislative drafting, and was published by UNDP-POGAR as part of the project entitled “Strengthening the Capacities of the Iraqi Council of Representatives”. This manual is designed specifically for the Iraqi Council of Representatives, and contains guidelines on how to read, analyze, and draft a bill. The purpose of the Manual is to help members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives and legal councilors perform their duties as efficiently and effectively as possible.

A guide published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). The guide provides the means for a comprehensive assessment of democracy on a national level led by governments or civil society and academic institutions, rather than depending solely on conventional measures such as external country rankings and elections.

A toolkit published by United Nations instraw and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). It provides a thorough explanation of the significance of gender in parliamentary oversight of the security sector. Includes sections on gender equality in decision making and on women's representation in parliament and parliamentary security decision making.

Consolidated Response on How to Promote a Gender Equality Policy Within a Political Party [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

This paper describes experiences of the CIS countries with integrating gender equality in national policies and budgets. It includes recommendations on improving gender analysis throughout national plans, strengthening links between policy and budgets, improving statistical development, and increasing national civil service capacities.

The Internal Regulations of the House of Representatives: Commented Study [ Arabic ]. 2008 [brief description]

Advancing Gender Equality – Using CEDAW and UN Security Council Resolution 1325. [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

The purpose of this training module, prepared by UNIFEM, is to build the capacity and awareness of gender equality advocates in government and civil society in the Southern Caucasus to advocate for and support the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

Article published by MONFEMNET on efforts to introduce a 30% quota for women in Mongolia and Mongolian women's struggles towards adopting the required legislation in that regard. The article provides a space to women's voice expressing their own analysis of parliamentary actions and to propose future steps concerning women rights.

Strengthening Internal Political Party Democracy: Candidate Recruitment from a Gender Perspective [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Paper published by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). The paper is based on the premise that political parties can not claim to be democratic unless they are inclusive of all sectors of society they represent whereas the reality is that parliaments remain male dominated. In this regard the paper discusses the candidate selection process within political parties and highlights particular obstacles women face.

Assessing Women’s Political Party Programs: Best Practices and Recommendations [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Assessment published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) designed to identify effective approaches towards encouraging women's participation and leadership in political parties. The assessment is intended as a roadmap for both individuals and organizations towards achieving that end.

Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women? [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Report published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) providing an analysis on the non-achievement of gender equality commitments endorsed in the MDGs and suggests that the phenomenon is the result of lack of accountability to women. The report stresses that women must be legitimate members of any oversight or accountability process as their involvement would result in more positive outcomes.

Consolidated response on commentaries and suggestions to the UN-INSTRAW tool for electoral systems [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Toolkit published by UN-instarw and the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). It may be useful to parliamentarians involved in security policy making processes. It highlights the benefits and opportunities of integrating gender issues into national level security policy making as that would increase the participation and the representation of all sectors of society that may be affected by the issue.

Toolkit intended for policy-makers providing a practical introduction on the significance and means of integrating gender issues into security reform. It contains 12 chapters mainly on the reform of defense, justice and penal system, police and border management, and on parliamentary and civil society oversight of the security sector. The toolkit is published by UN-instraw and the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).

Consolidated Response: Eliminating Violence Against Women In Politics [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

Consolidated response published by the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOWpolitics) addressing violence against women in politics. The main questions raised were on the frequency and sources of such violence, how to reduce such violence and whether any measures have been put in place towards that end such as legislations, policies, or programmes. The ways in which violence against women in politics manifests itself in different cultural contexts is also tackled.

Speech to a lecture series sponsored by Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Community, Culture, and Gender Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme. Its main focus is on women's representation as it constitutes one of three indicators on gender equality and women's empowerment, a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) that has been unfulfilled on the assigned year, 2005.

The Role of Female Parliamentarians in Strenghtening Democratic Institutions [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

Article published by Africa in Democracy and Good Governance (magazine) which tackles the issue of strengthening democracy through parliaments as they constitute one of the three main democratic institutions, the other two being the executive and judiciary. The main emphasis is on the participation of women in parliaments and the democratization process. The article highlights the way forward in terms of women parliamentarians forming networks within each country and between parliaments.

Roundtable Discussion On Analyzing Legislation With A Gender Perspective [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

A training manual published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) focusing on four main components: gender in lawmaking, gender in committees, gender oversight, and gender and representation. It sheds light on legislation and oversight of gender-sensitive laws. It highlights how a gender perspective would ultimately enable women to play a greater role in decision making in parliament.

A handbook published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). The handbook was followed by a seminar and focuses on the role to be played by parliaments in post-conflict societies during the transitional period and reconciliation process. The handbook and seminar describe lessons from past cases and point out pitfalls to be avoided during the process.

Designing for Equality: Best-fit, Medium-Fit and Non-Favourable Combinations of Electoral Systems and Gender Quotas [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

A guidebook published by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) providing an overview of how electoral systems function with different quotas for women. It assesses how women's representation can be increased under different combinations of electoral systems and quotas.

Strengthening Democracy: Fair and Sustainable Funding of Political Parties [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

This report sets out a comprehensive range of reforms which, if accepted in full by the political parties themselves, should also include an increase in public funding of political parties to enhance public engagement in our democratic system.

Challenging the Norms and Standards of Elections Administration [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

This document is a collection of studies published by IFES, that identify evolving concerns that Elections Management Bodies (EMB) increasingly face. Topics discussed include: electronic voting, usage of internet, external and absentee voting, and political finance.

This paper, prepared by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, analyzes the situation of secular parties in four Arab countries (Morocco, Egypt, Yemen and Kuwait). It presents the background of these parties and undertakes a thorough analysis of their future.

Moving Towards a Partisan Policy? The Islamic Constitutional Movement in Kuwait [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This paper, prepared by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sheds light on the Islamic constitutional movement in Kuwaiti politics. It discusses the rise of this movement, its efforts to gain an Islamic and constitutional dimension and its capacity to use and strengthen parliamentarian tools, as well as the possibility for an opposition coalition to undertake political reforms in Kuwait.

Women and Political Participation in the United Arab Emirates [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study is an attempt to examine the political system in the United Arab Emirates and identify obstacles and challenges facing women’s political empowerment including the degree of prejudice of Emirati society towards women political empowerment.

This presentation, published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), explains the terms used in gender mainstreaming work such as gender analysis; gender budgeting, gender equality and gender equity. It describes the gaps existing in gender equality and comparative strategies employed by governments to address them. The presentation also includes steps on implementing gender based programming and policy recommendations on overcoming gender disparities.

This report, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), argues that women in parliament can have a positive impact on the political process and strongly advocates for gender equality in parliament. It also includes a brief case study of women legislators in Rwanda.

Engendering Constitutions: Gender Equality Provisions in Selected Constitution [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study provides analysis of global best practices of engendered constitutions using CEDAW as an analytical framework. It also analyzes existing or in some cases, draft constitutional .texts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia according to CEDAW provisions and reviews political party platforms for commitment to gender.

The 2008 Gender Report published by the Ministry of Finance and Privatization aims to review and analyze the impact of the major sectoral programmes to identify some areas of intervention to better take into consideration the gender dimension in the design of public policies.

This paper explores some of most common questions on gender, recalls basic obligations for UNDP staff, and develops a human rights-based approach to practical tools for democratic governance practitioners in terms of gender programming per cluster.

This training manual, translated by NDI, was designed to expand opportunities for women’s grassroots leadership. The manual covers leadership topics such as appreciative inquiry, experiential learning, conflict resolution and teambuilding. It also provides training techniques for using interactive, learner-centred methods and designing, implementing and evaluating participatory training. The resource section includes clear descriptions of leadership related concepts, as well as skills, tools, training methods and activities. It could be of interest to adult educators, community organizations, groups working with women, youth and organizations that wish to strengthen in-house training skills.

Draft International Law for Youth: Survey of International Youth Related Legislation. First Study [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study was prepared by the Arab Scout Parliamentary Union, the Parliamentary Program at Cairo University, with the support of UNDP. The study aims at observing the best practices in modern international legislation (the focus of this study) as well as Arab legislation (focus of the second study “Draft International Law for Youth: Arab Countries and Legislations Related to Youth Rights and Duties”), as it is a legislative and institutional mechanism for Arab youth empowerment.

Draft International Law for Youth: Arab Countries and Legislations Related to Youth Rights and Duties. Second Study [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study was prepared by the Arab Scout Parliamentary Union, and the Parliamentary Program at Cairo University, with the support of UNDP. The study aims at observing the best practices in Arab legislation (focus of this study), as well as modern international legislation (the focus of the first study “Draft International Law for Youth: Survey of International Youth Related Legislation”) as it is a legislative and institutional mechanism for Arab youth empowerment.

Through interviews and conversations with women belonging to Lebanon’s Hizballah, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, and other Islamist organizations across numerous Arab nations, the authors found an energetic debate among women activists on their newfound role as political actors.

Jordanian Woman's Participation in Politics: Analytical Study of the Parliamentary conduct in the Fourteenth Parliament Council [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This report, published by the United Nations Development Fund For Women (UNIFEM) in collaboration with the National Committee for Women, aims at shedding light on and studying the situation of Jordanian women in terms of political participation and the role of political will in guaranteeing the presence and integration of women in decision-making processes in Jordan. It also deals with the obstacles and challenges facing women in politics, and places emphasis on women political participation in Jordan since the beginning of 2003 when Provisional Law No. 34, dated 2001on Parliamentary Elections, known as the Women Quota Law, was amended. The report contains an anaysis and comparison between the strengths and weaknesses in the law within the national context.

Toward the Development of International Standards for Democratic Legislatures: A Discussion Document for Review by Interested Legislatures, Donors and International Organizations [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

Prepared by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), this document is intended as a basis for discussion within the international community regarding standards for the functioning of democratic legislatures. It highlights key topics such as election and the status of the legislators, organization of the legislature, and the functions and values of the legislature.

Women and Political Participation in the United Arab Emirates: Political Participation of Women From the Perspective of the Educated Members of the Bahraini Society [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study, published by the United Nations Development Fund For Women (UNIFEM) and the Supreme Council for Women, is an attempt to examine the political system in Bahrain and identify obstacles and challenges facing women’s political empowerment including the degree of prejudice of Bahraini society towards women political empowerment.

Political Parties in Central and Eastern Europe: In Search of Consolidation [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study, published by International IDEA, analyzes the party systems in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on external regulation, internal functioning, women’s participation and the impact of different electoral systems on the development of the party system. It details information about the state of political parties in this region and includes individual profiles of 18 countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Political Parties in Africa: Challenges for Sustained Multiparty Democracy [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study, published by International IDEA, provides a broad, comparative analysis of 27 African countries and 75 political parties. The data was assembled during 2004-06 and was followed by national and sub-regional dialogue workshops between political parties, researchers and civil society. The agenda for reform that emanated from the research and dialogue process is reflected and discussed in the report. Legislative regulation of parties, women’s participation, funding of political parties, party democracy and party programmes and policies that represent and reflect the preferences of the people are high on the agenda for the process ahead.

This study, published by International IDEA, provides a comparative view of the conditions, roles and functioning of political parties in five countries of the South Asian region – Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The publication builds on empirical information collected from 49 parties and addresses the challenges of politics as experienced by the key political actors themselves: the political parties. In addition, it includes practical recommendations for reforms in the party domain.

This study, published jointly by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), International IDEA, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) aims to provide decision-makers, dialogue promoters and practitioners with a practical guide on how to organize, facilitate and assess dialogue processes. It combines conceptual and practical knowledge, while providing practitioners with an extensive repertoire of relevant tools, experiences and approaches adapted to the issue at stake, the local context and the stakeholders involved.

Engaging the Electorate: Initiatives to Promote Voter Turnout From Around the World [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

The intention of this study, published by International IDEA, is to examine some of the efforts made throughout the world to stem and/or reverse the decline in voter turnout and to attempt to maximize turnout at electoral events of all types, including elections, referendums and citizens’ initiatives.

Effective Electoral Assistance - Moving from Event-based Support to Process Support: Conference report and Conclusions [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

The Ottawa Conference on Effective Electoral Assistance, held in May 2006 by IDEA in cooperation with CIDA, brought together many electoral stakeholders to share thoughts and experiences on electoral assistance. Participants included representatives from donor agencies engaged in the provision or funding of electoral assistance, from electoral management bodies, and other organizations in countries that are or have been recipients of electoral assistance and funding, from organizations which have been actively engaged in the provision and implementation of donor-funded electoral assistance, and from others, including national and international electoral observers and individual experts in electoral technical assistance worldwide. The conference has launched a dialogue towards common guidelines for electoral assistance, and called for the development both of effective situation analysis tools for donors and of effective training courses in electoral assistance.

The Electoral Management Design Handbook is written for electoral administrators, electoral administration designers and other practitioners involved in building professional, sustainable and cost-effective electoral administrations which can deliver legitimate and credible free and fair elections. It is a comparative study that shares best practices and know-how from around the world on financing, structuring and evaluation of Electoral Management Bodies.

Engaging Parliaments in The Millenium Development Goals: a Key Part of National MDG Strategies [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

This study, published by UNDP, presents input made by several UNDP specialists around the world, who shared their experiences and information about how UNDP has supported parliaments in several countries in engaging in the promotion and achievement of Millennium Development Goals. The main topics discussed are: the role of parliamentarians in rich and developing countries in meeting the MDGs; legislatures in pursuit of the MDGs: a key part of national MDG strategies; best practices for European Union parliamentarians to meet the MDGs; references on parliamentary work on MDGs.

The Independent Elections Committee: a Comparative Study and Proposed Framework [ Arabic ]. 2006 [brief description]

This study focuses on a number of issues dealing with the electoral process and how to enhance the performance of electoral management bodies. It attempts to clarify the process by analyzing the work of independent electoral commissions in several other countries.

Parliaments, Politics and HIV/AIDS: A Comparative Study of Five African Countries [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

This is a synthesis report from a comparative study in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa on the effective use of parliamentary oversight in respect of the national responses to HIV/AIDS. It provides lessons learned and detailed analysis on the impact of parliamentary oversight of HIV/AIDS as well as key recommendations to strengthen the role of parliamentarians in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

This handbook, published by the World Bank Institute in collaboration with the Parliamentary Centre, is designed to assist parliamentarians in carrying out their oversight role on gender. It discusses the definition of gender, identifies some of the topical gender issues for clarification, provides an overview of microfinance, and focuses on some security issues that directly affect women. It also addresses the question of poverty, focuses on the budget as a mechanism for allocating resources in society, and establishes the link between gender issues and the role of parliamentarians. Finally, it examines the origins of attitudes towards gender, and discusses reasons for change and how such change can be achieved.

This paper was presented by NDI in the International Conference on Parliaments, Crisis Prevention and Recovery organized by UNDP in Belgium. The paper highlights the role of the international community in providing support in post conflict environments. Particularly, their role in engaging political parties in the peace process and in the parliament.

The Public Sector in Palestine: Duties and Powers of the Palestinian National Authority Institutions [ Arabic ]. 2006 [brief description]

This publication produced by Aman-Palestine introduces the legal framework governing public sector institutions in Palestine by reviewing the legislations by virtue of which these institutions operate, be it the ones implemented by the concerned institutions or the administrative legislations organizing their activity. The study identifies the weaknesses and strengths in the legal situation of public sector institutions in Palestine, as well as the problems faced by these institutions and the obstacles preventing them from discharging their .duties in an efficient way, and suggests practical measures aimed at improving the efficiency of these institutions.

Parliaments, Crisis Prevention and Recovery: Guidelines for the International Community [ English ][ French ]. 2006

This study covers three major topics: first, women and international instruments of human rights; second, Jordan’s position in respect of these instruments; and third, how women’s legal status has been affected by these instruments. The report also identifies areas if legal concern relevant to the legal status of Jordanian women. The report also examines the status of women in Jordan in other areas including education, health, economic empowerment and the family. The report recognizes that considerable achievements have been made in terms of improvements in women’s status, but nevertheless highlights areas of particular concern in respect of women’s health and economic stats.

Women’s representation rate in parliament is one of the most important gender indicators signifying level of women’s political participation, which is still low at the international level 13.4% and also in the Arab World 4.6%. During the past three decades, women’s status in Syria has faced radical changes in the area of strengthening women’s capacity in education, work and her general participation. This study is an attempt to examine the political system in Syria and identify obstacles and challenges facing women’s political empowerment.

Democracy, Conflict and Human Security: Pursuing Peace in the 21st Century (Volume 1) [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

This IDEA publication tackles questions on how democracies can deliver social and economic rights, include all citizens in decision making and reduce poverty. It explores ways in which democratic practice can contribute to the management of contemporary conflicts and promote the realization of security and development objectives. It is aimed at different stakeholders concerned with problems such as social exclusion, the quality of democracy and new forms of authoritarian regimes.

A feasibility study conducted by the United Nations Development Program on empowering parliaments on the global and local levels through the use of ICTs as related to legislation, representation, and oversight. The study delineates the inherent difficulties and indicates that e-parliaments are still in the infancy stage even in developed countries. Developing countries on the other hand face greater challenges ranging from access and connectivity to democratization and governance.

Women’s Rights Under Attack: Occupation, Constitution and Fundamentalisms [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

This report highlights the findings of the Women's Involvement in Local Leadership (WILL) research program examining how elements of program design and implementation contribute to the cultivation of women's leadership and enhance the democratic process in conflict-affected communities in Iraq, Colombia and Serbia. It discusses educational and economic independence, programs to promote women’s leadership, traditional family and social structures, value of women’s contributions, and perception of democracy and politics in the context of the three countries.

Gender Responsive Budgeting and Women’s Reproductive Rights: A Resource Pack [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

This resource pack, published by UNIFEM/UNFPA, provides relevant knowledge to facilitate mainstreaming gender-responsive approaches into reproductive health programmes, and the inclusion of specific aspects of gender inequality and disadvantage into national policy frameworks. It focuses primarily on health, particularly reproductive health; on HIV/AIDS; and on violence against women as it relates to health services.

This manual, provides tools to human rights activists and defenders who investigate violence perpetrated against women by non-state actors. Its goal is to offer guidance with regard to the legal definitions and human rights protection mechanisms that may help them compel States to fulfill their obligation to protect. It presents concrete examples of particular forms of violence committed against women by non-state actors and models of strategies that have been used effectively, particularly in Muslim communities.

The Passport to Equality is a publication that presents, explains and reproduces CEDAW in the form of a personal passport. The purpose of the Passport is to make women and men all over the world aware of the existence of the Convention.

Assessing the Power of the Purse: An Index of Legislative Budget Institutions [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

This paper compares parliamentary capacity for financial scrutiny, through constructing an index using data for 36 countries on budgeting procedures. The index captures six institutional prerequisites for legislative control, relating to amendment powers, reversionary budgets, executive flexibility during implementation, the timing of the budget, legislative committees and budgetary information. Various methods of index construction are reviewed, and the comparative results are analyzed.

Freedom of Information and Access to Government Record Laws Around the World [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2006 [brief description]

This guide provides a basic introduction to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, and reviews their commonalities, synergies, and potential strategic uses, particularly in the context of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction.

The training manual on gender responsive budgeting (GRB) is intended to build the capacity of UNFPA and UNIFEM staff in applying gender budget analysis tools in their programming around gender equality and women’s rights, it will also assist them in supporting gender budget initiatives wherever they exist. The manual specifically seeks to build understanding of GRB as a tool for promoting gender equity, accountability to women’s rights as well as efficiency and transparency in budget policies and processes.

The Public's Right to Know: Principles related to the Laws on the Freedom of Knowledge [ Arabic ]. 2006 [brief description]

This manual tackles various legal, constitutional and political aspects of the freedom of information and of the right to know and presents some of the sectors which directly benefit from the adoption of a law in this respect, such as the environment and the media. "No Corruption" includes in the manual a document containing the general principles of the right to know, as well as a model law on the access to information translated by the Association from "Article 19- The International Center Against Censorship".

This study of political finance in post-conflict society, published by IFES, identifies lessons learned from international donor-funded efforts to support political processes in post-conflict environments in general and the funding of political parties and campaign finance in particular. The document consists of eight case studies that seek to improve the understanding not only of the political dynamics of post-conflict situations but also of how to rally international support for holding elections and supporting democratization under such circumstances.

Promoting Gender Equality in New Aid Modalities and Partnerships [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness calls for donors to increase aid and to adopt concrete actions that can be monitored while aid delivery and management is reformed. This discussion paper identifies an initial set of considerations to ensure that gender equality is central to the aid effectiveness agenda. It highlights gender responsive budgets as one of the important tools in this realm. It is intended for policy-makers currently adjusting to the new aid modalities.

A handbook published by the IRI Women's Democracy Network on fundraising tactics for women. The guide follows logical steps such as planning, research and donor or sponsor identification in the initial phase. It moves onto the methods for formulating a strategic plan in the case of an organization and a tactical plan on an individual basis. Various sources of funding are also highlighted.

Performances of Resistance: Women's Struggle for Political Power in Cambodia [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

Paper published by UN-INSTRAW exploring strategies employed by Cambodian women to resist male domination within the political sphere. It investigates ways of eliminating gender hierarchies and altering gender stereotypes and roles. To that end, it addresses two main processes which are networking and mobilization, and the formation on new identities by Cambodian women.

Budgeting for Women's Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

The report published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) aims to provide ideas that may be useful in monitoring the compliance of government budgets with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), including the means by which gender budget analysis may assist in monitoring compliance with CEDAW.

Article, Published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), advancing the argument that parliaments experiencing situations of crisis or recovery are presented with an opportunity to integrate a gender perspective into their core functions. Within the article is the argument that men and women are differently affected by conflict and hence a gender-sensitive approach is required to understand the differing needs of women and men in crisis situations and recovery processes.

The training guide, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), focuses on a human rights-based approach to democratic governance as a framework for women's empowerment and the need for development cooperation to ensure gender equality in areas relating to parliament, electoral systems, and public administration.

The report published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the World Economic Forum assesses the gender gap in 58 countries, including 30 countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED). It measures the extent of gender equality in five critical areas: economic opportunity, economic empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well-being.

Political Parties and Democracy in Theoretical and Practical Perspectives: Developments in Party Communications [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The paper published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) considers possible approaches to create more effective and inclusive political parties. It focuses on communication channels that parties may use to strengthen relationships with citizens and promote fair elections. It also describes communication channels that can be adopted by governments to promote fair and free elections.

Strengthening Women's Participation in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (Excerpt from Implementing Quotas: European Experiences) [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Report published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) assessing the role and effectiveness of the international community and international instruments in lobbying for gender quotas. It also examines how the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), European Union (EU), and the European Women's Lobby (EWL) are workinng towards ensuring gender equality within their own structures.

Gender Mainstreaming in Parliaments: International Best Practices [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Paper Published by ONA-UNDP that serves as a guide for parliamentarians to facilitate gender mainstreaming into the main functions of parliament such as representation, oversight, and legislation. It also highlights emerging gender issues within these areas and ways to integrate them through a gender perspective.

Paper published by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UN-DAW).The paper analyses the interaction of gender issues with political parties and the relationship between the two in order to assess under which circumstances political parties incorporate gender demands, and the tendency of political parties to be more or less committed to the advancement of gender policies. The paper focuses on the countries of Latin America but may also be applied beyond the continent and to a broader context.

Explaining Women’s Representation: The Role of Legislative Recruitment & Electoral Systems [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Paper published by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UN-DAW). It examines the essential steps involved in being elected to countries' parliaments. It also examines the impact of a certain country's level of development, culture, and electoral system on the representation of women.

Seethings and Seatings: Strategies for Women’s Political Participation in Asia Pacific [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Book published by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development. It aims at assisting women in the Asia Pacific region to challenge existing structures, especially social structures, hindering their participation in the political process. The book presents six case studies on women leaders from the region.

Promoting Partnership between Men and Women in Parliament: The Experience of the Inter-Parliamentary Union [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Case study presented by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) related to the promotion of the participation of women in parliament which is divided into three sections. The first section consists in a brief analysis of progress or setbacks women parliamentarians have experienced over the past 10 years. The second section examines best practices established by the IPU for parliaments to facilitate the participation of women. The third and final section reflects on a number of capacity building efforts in national parliaments.

Win With Women - Strengthen Political Parties: Global Action Plan [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

A report published by National Democratic Institute (NDI) discussing the Global Action Plan developed by the Win with Women initiative. Includes recommendations on increasing the participation of women in politics on the parliamentary, provincial, local, and political party level, in addition to advocating for legislation that embeds full equality for women and men.

Political Party Development Program: Political Party Training Manual [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Candidate Training Manual for Women: Training Manual for Civil Society Organizations [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Training manual published by National Democratic Institute (NDI) designed for trainers of women candidates running for office at the local and national levels. Background information and guidelines are provided on securing party funding, campaign plan and message development, and constituency outreach.

A legal and institutional resource and manual published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) based on the constitution of Afghanistan which is intended for trainers accustoming target beneficiaries, especially those lacking a legal background, to study and refer to the constitution with the aim of instigating debate and research.

Securing the Peace: Guiding the International Community towards Women's Effective Participation throughout Peace Processes [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication provides concrete recommendations to support women's effective participation at all stages of a peace process, promote gender-sensitive peace negotiations and agreements, and encourage the mainstreaming of a gender perspective throughout the implementation of peace accords.

Towards Achieving the MDGs in Sudan: Centrality of Women’s Leadership and Gender Equality [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication examines the relationship between women leadership and gender equality. It sheds light on promoting effective participation of Sudanese women in the peace process, and draws conclusions and recommendations on the centrality of women's leadership and gender equality to the MDG's in Sudan.

This paper, prepared by Ghana Center for Democratic Development, sheds light on political party funding in Ghana. It discusses the arguments for and against public funding, the policy guidelines, sources of funding, eligibility criteria, financial discloser and sanctions imposed. It also suggests a funding formula for the disbursement and use of funds.

This paper, prepared by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, aims to discuss the system of state funding of political parties, candidates and political think tanks or foundations in some selected countries of the world. It looks at various nuances of public funding made available to the political structures in diverse democracies around the world today.

This guide, published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) provides an introduction to various approaches and techniques for lobbying parliament. It includes an overview of lobbying campaigns, tactics for lobbying individual members of parliament and party caucuses, and guidelines for preparing a written submission to a parliamentary committee.

This report, published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, discusses women’s political participation in Iraq, including their role in building sustainable peace in the country and drafting the new constitution. It also includes biographies of some Iraqi women leaders and list of publications related to the new role of women in Iraq.

The Participation of Women and Men in Decision-Making: The Parliamentary Dimension [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This paper has been prepared for the United Nations Expert Group Meeting (EGM) entitled the “Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes, with particular emphasis on political participation and leadership”. It focuses on the quantitative aspect of women’s participation in parliaments, primarily in the past ten years. It provides an overview of the gains relating to women’s access to parliaments and executive bodies, and highlights some of the factors that influence women’s access to decision-making positions

This annex to the 2006 economic and financial report on the gender approach stands as a pioneer step in the Arab world. The report sheds light on the gender approach concept and methodology and on some of the elements of the public policies on gender implemented by the various ministries.

This United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) manual specifically seeks to build understanding of gender responsive budgeting as a tool for promoting gender equity and transparency in budget policies and processes. This version of the Manual has a specific reference to Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS region.

This report presents the findings of a study on public attitudes towards women's rights in Egypt. It discusses the status of women's political, educational, economic, and legal rights, as well as the role of the media and information technology in expanding the information available to women on news, politics, and local affairs. The study finds that progress for women is hindered by gaps in public knowledge about basic rights, as well as by institutional weaknesses in Egypt’s government.

Equal Participation of Women and Men in Decision-Making Processes, with Particular Emphasis on Political Participation [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This paper, published by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, describes issues relevant to women's political participation, representation and leadership. It describes strategies to address the disparity between men and women, gender mainstreaming as a cross-cutting strategy, globalization, and women's mobilization strategies.

The book published by Cambridge University Press explains in what ways corruption constitutes a threat to democracy and economic development in many societies. It researches countries from both the global North and South, and addresses corruption problems related to each. Both the political and economic aspects of corruption are emphasized..

The Role of Parliament in Mastering Situations of Radical Change: The Creation of a Democratic Germany after World War Two and German reunification in 1990 [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Supporting Parliaments as Mediators In Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This paper, published by NDI, offers an analysis of political finance policy as it affects parties and democratic development, with a primary focus on societies where democracy is either relatively new or re-emerging from crisis.

This paper, published by NDI, will discuss the advantages and risks of intra-party democracy, examining some of the specific questions parties may face in implementing more internally inclusive decision-making procedures.

This paper, published by NDI, identifies two broad, complimentary strategies. The first suggests how political parties can improve their capacity to communicate with supporters and the general public. And the second suggests how governments can develop communication policies through appropriate democratic reforms within each country to improve freedom of the media and to produce fair regulation of party competition.

This new and updated edition of Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers Handbook, published by IDEA, covers the ground of women’s access to the legislature in three steps: It looks into the obstacles women confront when entering Parliament – be they political, socio-economic or ideological and psychological. It presents solutions to overcome these obstacles, such as changing electoral systems and introducing quotas, and it details strategies for women to influence politics once they are elected to parliament, an institution which is traditionally male dominated.

This policy paper is aimed at the Iraqi political and social leadership representing different and conflicting visions, but is also relevant to those sectors of the international community called to provide technical, financial and political support to the transition process in Iraq. This policy paper addresses three discrete areas: constitution building processes, electoral system design and political parties in divided societies. It is based on a comparative global analysis undertaken by IDEA. It is meant to offer practical options on how to strengthen democratic institutions and processes.

This IDEA report examines women’s political representation in Europe, through studying the effect off applying quota systems. There are 11 country case studies included in the report: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovenia.

This IPU publication is the report of the Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments that took place in New York at the United Nations Headquarters in September 2005. The participants discussed methods to help to bridge the democracy gap in international relations. The main topics discussed were: reform of the United Nations; terrorism and human rights; development; parliamentary involvement in international affairs; parliament and democracy in the 21st century; parliaments and the United nations; responsibilities of parliaments in international affairs; and parliaments contribution to democracy.

This information kit, published by IPU, is composed of six data sheets on women's participation in politics over the past 60 years: historical table on the institutional and legal evolution of states and the presence of women in national parliaments; progress and setbacks of women in national parliaments between 01.07.1995 and 01.01.2005; women in the two parliamentary regional assemblies elected by direct suffrage: The Central American Parliament and the European Parliament; a chronology of women heads of state or government: 1945 - 02.2005; an overview of women in the executive and legislative branches; ten years in review: trends of women in parliament worldwide.

This handbook, published by the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption, is a guide to parliamentarians around the world interested in good governance and combating corruption. It discusses the relation between the parliament and good governance, the causes and consequences of corruption, controlling corruption, parliaments and coalition building tools and tasks, and building parliamentary networks.

Strengthening Parliaments in Conflict/Post-conflict Situations: Case Study on Yemen [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Vital Resources for Parliamentary Researchers: Perspectives and Experience from Around the World [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This document collects reflections and analyses from legislative research services around the world on the challenges they have faced in providing responsive and high-quality analysis in the unique and demanding environment of a modern parliament, and the lessons they have learned.

Women’s political rights, previously nonexistent in the conservative Arab Gulf states, have undergone extraordinary growth in recent years. The author ponders the question of how much progress has actually been achieved, considering that women's representations in the Gulf States are even poorer than those in other Arab countries, and how much influence can the US have on this process?

Official Structures in the Service of Research and Information in the Egyptian Parliament [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The Egyptian Parliament offers technical and administrative assistance to its members through different organs, with the main objective of empowering MPs to carry out their legislative and control tasks and in this study an attempt is made to describe and evaluate the official institutional structures that offer information and research services in Parliament.

Parallel Structures for Parliamentary Research and Studies in Egypt [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This report reviews the parallel information structures of the Egyptian People’s Assembly. It seeks to place these structures within a theoretical framework that facilitates a comparison with other cases in the area of performance evaluation and raising alternatives to enhance information efficiency in parliamentary debates.

The Parliament Press in Egypt 2000 – 2003: A Mechanism for increasing Awareness of the Legislative Institution [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This study raises a number of questions that seek to give depth to the debate on the role of the parliamentary press. The analysis in this paper focused on a period from 2000 to 2003, which includes a national parliamentary election round in 2000. This election has seen some new phenomena that have left their mark on parliamentary life thereafter.

Women and Elections: Guide to Promoting the Participation of Women in Elections [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The current handbook is intended to provide a quick reference guide to assist headquarters- and field-based actors from the United Nations, Governments and civil society working to promote greater participation of women in electoral processes in post-conflict countries.

The Role of Parliaments in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations: Comparative Study of Five Arab Countries [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The present study aims at assessing the role of parliament in preventing, managing and resolving conflict. The assessment builds on field research conducted in four selected countries: Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen.

Stewards of Peace. The Role of Women and Youth in Post-Conflict Sudan: Report on a Series of Workshops with Sudanese Women and Youth [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This report covers the findings of the series of workshops facilitated by NDI that was designed to strengthen the capacity of Sudanese women and youth to play a full and active role in the future of their country. It focused on three areas: identifying and developing skills necessary to increase participation; providing a platform for cross-cultural dialogue; and creating an agenda for advocacy.

This guidebook jointly produced by NDI-USAID, is designed to help women in dealing and benefiting from media to get media recognition for their cause. the handbook provides useful information on how to plan a media strategy, and how to use the different media options such as printed media, electronic media, audio-visual media as well as how to prepare for interviews, press releases speeches and presentations, and public speaking.

Women’s Experience with Elections: The National Consultative Meeting with Female Candidates to the Parliamentary Elections in Yemen [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication, prepared by the Montada Al Shaqeq Al Arabi for Human Rights, sheds light on the political participation of Yemeni women by conducting a gender-based political, cultural and historical analysis of the electoral programs of political parties and organizations. It also refers to the experience of seven women who stood for the legislative elections in 2003 and who talked objectively of the obstacles preventing women’s participation in the electoral process in Yemen.

The First Democratic Forum of Arab Women: The Political Empowerment of Women is the First Step towards Political Reform in the Arab World [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication, prepared by the Montada Al Shaqeq Al Arabi for Human Rights, contains 18 working papers from various Arab States that were submitted during the first democratic forum of Arab women held in Yemen in 2004. These working papers deal with the political participation of Arab women in the various Arab countries by addressing the prevalent political regime, feminist movements, the extent to which women are represented in power and decision-making positions, the mechanism used in order to support the political participation of women, the .obstacles preventing women’s effective and efficient participation in politics, as well as the solutions proposed in order to overcome these obstacles.

The First Democratic Gathering: Women and Yemeni Political Parties [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication, prepared by the Montada Al Shaqeq Al Arabi for Human Rights, discusses the issue of women and political parties in Yemen and sheds light on the general context in which political parties emerged. It also includes a field study aimed at taking stock of women’s experience with political parties, as well as of the expressed roles, expertise, obstacles and ambition, in addition to personal testimonies from women belonging to different political parties who talk about their experience within their respective parties.

The Fourth Democratic Gathering: Women in Yemeni Local Councils [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This study reviews the experience of Yemeni women in local councils in general and focuses on the experience of women during the elections and the mandate of local councils in order to assess the actual performance and identify problems and achievements. The publication also highlights the personal experience of some of the local councils members during elections, and the problems they are faced in the course of their activity as local councils’ members, and includes a legal review and comments on the law on local councils.

The Second and Third Democratic Gatherings: Women and Politics- Religious Insight- Problems and Solutions [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

Within the scope of the women political empowerment project implemented by the Montada Al Shaqeq Al Arabi for Human Rights, three national democratic gatherings and an Arab regional forum were organized which discussed the issue of women political participation and empowerment from different perspectives. This publication includes the studies and researches that were discussed during the second and third gatherings. The second gathering aimed at clarifying the vision of Islam regarding the issue of women political participation in an attempt to fight the ideas claiming that Islam opposes women participation in public life and in public decision-making. The third gathering reviewed all of the studies that were discussed during the first and second gatherings, as well as a series of studies that tackled the issue of women political participation in the international law, in all the stages of the national fight against colonialism, and in the social fabric. It also provided visions and mechanism aimed at strengthening women’s role and overcoming the obstacles they come across.

Women & Elections: Guide to Promoting the Participation of Women in Elections [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This handbook, published by the United Nations Department of Public Information, is intended to provide a quick reference guide to assist different actors working to promote greater participation of women in electoral processes in post conflict countries. Some of the topics discussed are the political participation, voter registration, voter and civil education, election administration and observation.

This guide, published by ARPAC, deals with the challenges of governance in the Arab countries and the role of parliaments in promoting accountability, transparency and participation. It introduces the notion of corruption and enumerates the five main elements to fight corruption: political accountability, institutional regulations on political power, a competitive private sector, public sector governance and civil society participation. It places emphasis on the main role of parliaments which consists in calling for reforms to fight corruption and realizing these reforms by building parliamentary networks and alliances. This guide is supplemented with annexes, namely the United Nations Convention against Corruption, articles from the bill on the fight against corruption in Algiers, as well as case studies from Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Palestine and Jordan.

Role of Arab Parliaments in the Fight against Corruption: Realities and experiences from the Arab World [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers in Africa: Parliaments and Economic Policy Performance [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The report, prepared by the Parliamentary Centre, highlights very critical issues that are central to the success of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) implementation and focuses on the role that Parliaments and civil society groups can play in ensuring greater accountability in PRSP implementation. This review was conducted in four PRSP countries (Ghana, Niger, Tanzania and Malawi) in order to examine the strengths as well as weaknesses so far in the implementation of national PRSPs, and to identify the possible roles that parliaments can play to improve PRSP performance.

The Economic Advancement of Women in Jordan: A Country Gender Assessment [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This study prepared by the World Bank, discusses the women economic advancement in Jordan. It sheds light on the gender issues in human development, and highlights the legal, policy, and institutional frameworks for women's economic advancement and political participation.

Report of the National Council for Human Rights on the Parliamentary Elections, 2005 [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

Report of the National Council for Human Rights on the Presidential Elections [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This report on the presidential elections in Egypt focuses on the following subjects: the preparation phase ahead of the monitoring process, the monitoring process, international attention and the Council’s observations.

Building Democracy in Yemen: Women's Political Participation, Political Party Life and Democratic Elections [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

Funding of political parties and election campaigns in the Americas [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The general objective of this study is to gather, systematise, analyse and disseminate the main characteristics of political funding systems in the 18 countries it covered. Furthermore, it aims to find, on the one hand, points of agreement and differences to better understand this central aspect of the functioning of democracy in Latin America; on the other hand, it aims to identify the major trends of reform and their possible repercussions for political party systems and democratic regimes throughout the region. Political finance in Latin America is examined from three perspectives: a comparative regional analysis based on five thematic approaches –i.e. political funding systems, access to the media, account-rendering and disclosure, controlling entities and system of sanctions, and the gender perspective; a comparative, sub regional analysis (including Central America, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, the Andean sub region, and the Southern Cone); in addition to 18 country case studies.

The Delicate Balance between Political Equity and Freedom of Expression - Political Party and Campaign Financing in Canada and the United States [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication is the result of a joint effort by the Office for the Promotion of Democracy of the Organization of American States (OAS) and by International IDEA, under the framework of the Inter-American Forum on Political Parties. The overall objective of this study was to provide comparative analysis of the 34 member states of the OAS, assessing not only the normative framework of political party and campaign financing, but also how legislation is actually put into practice. The specific themes addressed included Disclosure, Enforcement, Public and Private Financing, Access to the Media and Gender.

From Grassroots to the Airwaves - Paying for Political Parties and Campaigns in the Caribbean [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Executive, Legislative and Judicial Powers, Checks and Balances and Judicial Independence: A Paper Prepared for the UN Project on Constitution Making in Iraq [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This paper, published by NDI, focuses on the parliamentary human rights committees. It examines their power and mandates and their relation to other human rights actors. It discusses the best practices regarding the conduct of investigation and the legislative initiatives they can make. Finally, it suggests possible tools that members of parliament can use to pursue human rights issues.

This study, published by the International National Democratic Institute, sheds light on the freedom of information laws. It discusses the advantages of the freedom of information and the parties benefiting from them and focuses on the means to develop and implement freedom of information laws. The study also publishes a list of the national laws on the freedom of information in force in the Arab countries.

This manual, published by the United Nations Development Fund For Women (UNIFEM), is part of the leading training manuals aimed at building the capacities of the persons working in statistics departments and provides gender indicators in priority areas of concern. Indeed, indicators are an essential means enabling planners and decision-makers to measure gender inequalities. These indicators also provide the necessary information used by gender statistics experts to claim policies that lead to effective gender equality. This manual is intended to train the concerned parties or those who might join working groups commissioned to draw up gender statistics in their countries, introducing statistical saff and users to the various elements constituting gender issues, and training male and female participants to analyze and present gender statistics.

Building Political Parties: Reforming Legal Regulations and Internal Rules [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

This report, prepared by IDEA, is designed to provide an overview of the contemporary literature comparing the role of political parties in good governance and democratization. It discusses the essential functions of parties in a democracy, examines the legal framework regulating the process of nomination, campaigning, and election, and analyzes the formal party rules governing the internal decision-making processes within specific parties.

This paper, prepared by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sheds light on aid provided for political parties. It highlights party troubles, providers of aid, types, goals and core methods of party aid. The paper also suggests several issues for discussion, challenges facing political party reform, and means to strengthening political party systems.

Strengthening Parliamentary Involvement in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) [ English ][ French ]. 2004 [brief description]

Government Institutions Strengthening Component Local Government and Parliament Project Report [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

This report highlights the achievements of the Center for Legislative Development of the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY/CLD) since 1993, in providing technical and administrative assistance to the Government of Lebanon through the Lebanon Relief and Redevelopment Project

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) jointly produced this Guidance Note. The Guidance Note results from a survey carried out among a selection of parliaments, governments and Red Cross National Societies. It is a practical tool aimed at assisting parliaments and other actors in developing an enabling legal environment for volunteerism.

Status of Jordanian Women: Demography, Economic Participation, Political Participation and Violence [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2004 [brief description]

The report was prepared in collaboration with the national Department of Statistics and the Jordanian National Commission for Women, and includes in-depth analysis of gender gaps and disparities. The report is intended to be a tool for policy-makers and practitioners to report on CEDAW and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, as well as facilitate better planning and equitable resource allocation in national budgeting.

Strengthening Parliament Involvement in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - Toolkit 1 [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

"Legislative-Executive Communication on Poverty Reduction Strategies" - The handbook emerged from pilot activities, designed by UNDP in partnership with NDI, to strengthen the capacity of legislatures and civil society to participate in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process (PRSP). This toolkit is intended to provide resources for different stakeholders on legislative involvement in poverty reduction. Some of the topics discussed are: legislative-executive communication on poverty reductions strategies; challenges to smooth legislative - executive communication; cultivating awareness of MDGs and clarifying the PRSP process; information categories and legislative resources on poverty; the communication tools for parliamentary committees; communication tools for the individual MP or party caucus; and media and technology as tools to improve communication.

Strengthening Parliament Involvement in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - Toolkit 2 [ English ][ French ]. 2004 [brief description]

"Parliamentary-Civic Collaboration for Monitoring Poverty Reduction Initiatives" The handbook emerged from pilot activities, designed by UNDP in partnership with NDI, to strengthen the capacity of legislatures and civil society to participate in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process (PRSP). It is intended to provide resources for concerned stakeholders on legislative involvement in poverty reduction. The toolkit sheds light on global initiatives for poverty reduction; assessing the potential for collaboration and identifying partners; building legislative-civic relationships; creating and maintaining monitoring strategies; maintaining a positive relationship through the monitoring process; and the use of monitoring findings.

This IDEA report examines women’s political representation on the African continent, and shows how quotas have contributed to increasing women’s access to political power. It illustrates the different quota types that are being implemented in different political contexts. The report includes 17 regional and country case studies.

Strengthening Parliament Involvement in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Toolkit 3: Legislative Public Outreach on Poverty Issues [ English ][ French ]. 2004 [brief description]

The handbook emerged from pilot activities, designed by UNDP in partnership with NDI, to strengthen the capacity of legislatures and civil society to participate in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process (PRSP). It is intended to provide resources for MPs, parliamentary staff, civic leaders, social networks and the international community on legislative involvement in poverty reduction. It sheds light on legislative public outreach on poverty issues through discussing the relation between poverty, national reforms and constituents; the reasons for conducting a legislative public outreach on poverty; strategies for pro-poor public outreach; institutional public outreach; outreach by committees; outreach by parliamentary party groups; individual efforts to communicate with constituents.

This report is based on the outcome of a project carried out by International IDEA, in cooperation with the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), aimed at discussing democratic reform in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. Some of the main topics discussed are electoral laws and systems, enhancing women’s political participation, political parties, and the challenges and opportunities facing political reform in the Arab world.

Parliament and Access to Information: Working for Transparent Governance [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

This report explains how implementing effective freedom of access to information helps increase the flow of information to the people, improve the performance of parliaments and media outlets in their respective democratic duties and strengthen the societies in which we all live.

This Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)/ United Nations' Children Fund (UNICEF) co-publication, launched at the IPU's 110th International Assembly in April 2004, serves as a catalyst for action, providing examples of parliamentarians' responses to the challenges of child protection and addressing 10 specific protection issues.

Enhancing Women's Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-Conflict Countries [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

The Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) convened an expert group meeting on "Enhancing women’s participation in electoral processes in post-conflict countries,” jointly organized with the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations. The group discussed and analyzed electoral processes in post-conflict countries and the obstacles, lessons learned and good practices in enhancing women’s participation in these processes. This report is the outcome of that meeting.

This report, published by Freedom House, presents the findings of a study on public attitudes towards women's rights in Morocco. These findings reveal a general sense of women's progress in Morocco, broad support for women's educational and political rights, changing views in support of women's right to work, and divided views on women's social and family rights. The report also determines that Moroccans’ understanding of Islam strongly informs their views on women’s freedom.

This report describes the best practices of building successful political coalitions and examines issues that political parties and other organizations should consider when attempting to build a new coalition or strengthen an existing one. It covers topics such as coalition building, maintenance, structure, communication, targeting and outreach, resource management, and electoral strategy.

This paper reflects the diverse voices of women who interpret the Qur'an and engage with it in the context of their lived realities. It describes the many challenges to monolithic, often male-dominated interpretations of the Qur'an and Muslim laws.

Performance Based Budgeting from a Gender Perspective- Egypt [ Arabic ]. 2004 [brief description]

The following resource book, produced by the Public Administration Research and Consultation Centre (PARC) of Cairo University in collaboration with the Egyptian National Council for women, explains performance based budgeting and ways of integrating gender into those budgets. The book also provides a number of examples and practical tools.

Constitutional Provisions and Enhancing Participation of Women in Elections [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Paper published by the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI) discussing the participation of women in post-conflict countries. It examines the obstacles they face in their efforts to participate in elections. The paper also describes the legislative measures taken to enhance the participation of women in several countries, however, it also delineates that the difficulties are hardly experienced at the constitutional level as women generally have the right to vote, but rather at the implementation level.

The Enhancement of Women’s Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-Conflict Countries: The Case of Rwanda [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Paper published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations, and the permanent mission of Norway. It analyzes the progress achieved after Rwanda adopted a new constitution, while also describing Rwanda's political commitment to aspects such as enhancing women participation, the role of women organizations in that regard, in addition to challenges woman face in the electoral process.

Document published by the United Nations Women and Development Unit - ECLAC on democratic governance and gender equality in Latin America and the Caribbean. It tackles numerous dimensions including trends in women participation in the legislature, participation of women in women movements to develop new constitutions, women's participation in state reform, and policies for increasing women participation in representative offices.

Enhancing Women's Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-conflict Countries: Post-election Support [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

A number of papers published by the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI) on the enhancement of women's participation in electoral processes in post-conflict countries.

Strengthening Governance: The Role of Women in Rwanda's Transition, A Summary [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Report published by the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI). It examines and illustrates how women came to play a crucial role in governance and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda, and occupy 49% of seats in parliament. It sheds light on the change in women's self perception and their contributions towards gender progressive policies within the administration, in additions to challenges they face.

Political Parties in Asia: Promoting Reform And Combating Corruption In Eight Countries [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

The report, published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Council for Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), presents research findings on strategies to combact corruption and mechanisms put in place by Asian political parties to limit opportunities for corruption. It focuses on Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Enhancing Women's Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-Conflict Countries: Report of the Expert Group Meeting Jan. 2004 [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Report published by the United Nations Special Office on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI). It includes discussions and recommendations by an expert group from OSAGI in the Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA), jointly with the Department of Political Affairs in the United Nations. The discussions mainly centered around electoral processes in post-conflict countries, while the recommendations mainly focused on incorporating gender perspectives into election phases in post-conflict countries.

The manual, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is designed for trainers and workshops facilitators on gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) and includes materials such as presentations and background information to be used during workshops.

The Presentation published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers recommendations to improve gender sensitivity in electoral processes, outlines legal and institutional frameworks, and lists various means of encouraging political mobilization and participation.

Report published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) examining actions and strategies taken to advance women's participation in power and decision making within parliament structures in seven states in the Caribbean region. Attention is given to the challenges and limitations encountered in efforts to move this issue forward. An overview of institutional changes that have taken place in the region is also provided.

Preparing for Success: Tools, Methods and Strategies for Electoral Campaigns [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

Training manual published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) offering guidelines for the planning of campaign building workshops intended for women candidates. It provides a description of aspects to be articulated in such workshops ranging from initial preparations and research, building a campaign team, to working with the media.

Political Campaign Planning Manual: A Step by Step Guide to Winning Elections [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2003 [brief description]

A step-by-step political campaign planning manual for political parties and candidates published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Includes detailed guidelines for implementation in research, setting goals, targeting voters, developing campaign message, developing a voter contact plan, and making it happen (work plan).

This book combines the proceedings of the 2nd annual conference of the Parliamentary Program of the Faculty of Economics & Political Science- Cairo University that has been held in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Egypt. The topic of the conference was parliamentary reform, various papers were presented on related issues.

Budgeting for Equity: Gender Budget Initiatives Within a Framework of Performance Oriented Budgeting. [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

A Handbook published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) discussing the tools needed to determine the impact of government budgets on both sexes. It provides insight into performance-oriented budgeting from a gender perspective. It also includes a model on the means to attain better gender awareness in budget planning..

What Role can Civil Society and Parliament Play in Strengthening the External Auditing Function? [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

This paper, published by International Budget Project (IBP), advocates that civil society, parliament and the auditor-general cooperate, where possible, as an informal budget oversight coalition. It provides also best practices and examples of increasing cooperation between the auditor-general and legislatures and civil organizations.

The Parliamentary Development Practice Note establishes a policy framework for the services that UNDP provides in parliamentary development. It describes the niche of UNDP as a partner in parliamentary development, provides practical advice and guidance for UNDP governance practitioners and sets out key trends and lessons learned from parliamentary development experiences.

Nominating for Change: Strengthening Women's Position in Political Parties. A Training of Trainers Manual [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

This manual is based on a workshop organized by NDI Indonesia Women’s Program support for the Indonesian Political Women’s Caucus, a cross-party national organization that NDI has been working with since its inception. Both the upcoming national election in 2004 and the legislative push to have a 30% quota of women nominated by their respective parties presented opportunities for women to increase their political presence with parties.

Drafting Gender-Aware Legislation: How to Promote and Protect Gender Equality in CEE and CIS [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

A handbook published by the United Nations Development Programme providing a comparative overview on gender-aware legislation and practice in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth Independent states. The handbook also describes a comprehensive approach to influencing legislation processes and a detailed checklist for the analysis of such processes.

The IDEA Handbook on Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns aims to increase the knowledge about the law and practice of political finance around the world. The focus is on the financing of political parties during and between election campaigns, that is, all funds raised and spent in order to influence the outcome of elections as well as the parties’ routine operations.

This report is issued by the World Bank Institute (WBI) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) that are seeking to urge Parliaments and their Members to champion the protection of the media in support of good governance and democracy.

This IDEA report is the first in a series of reports on regional experiences with quota implementation. It addresses key issues such as the type of quotas in use in some parts of Asia (including legislated and political party quotas); when, where and how quotas have worked; the challenges of implementation and enforcement; and the consequences of the use of quotas. It provides information about the use of gender quotas as an instrument to increase women’s political representation in Asia, and to show that they can and are being applied successfully.

A Training for Trainers Manual. Nominating for Change: Strengthening Women's Position in Political Parties [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

This manual is based on a Training of Trainers workshop “Nominating for Change: Strengthening Women’s Position in Political Parties” delivered by NDI. It aims at supporting other programs, which promote women’s political participation – through the nomination process or otherwise. It was prepared as a Training of Trainers tool to prepare participants to deliver workshops that help increase women’s skills to get themselves nominated by their political parties.

The present note establishes a policy framework for the services that United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provides in parliamentary development. It draws on the UNDP experiences and the expertise available throughout its network of 132 country offices. It will be updated every two years to incorporate new learning and policy advice.

This handbook offers an educational approach to this complex subject and to Convention N° 182, the cornerstone of international action to combat the worst forms of child labour. It provides examples of best practices and gives an overview of what parliamentarians can do to help eradicate the various forms of abuse to which child workers are exposed. It also proposes model instruments and reference material as aids designed to facilitate the work of legislators.

Women's Rights in the New Constitution of Iraq: Perspectives from the Afghan Constitutional Experience [ Arabic ]. 2003 [brief description]

This study published by NDI, discusses women's rights in the new Iraqi constitution. The study takes women's rights in the new Afghani constitution as a case study, and sheds light on women's right in different constitutions as well. It concludes with recommendations on how to embed women's right in the new constitution.

Designing an Effective Campaign Plan - Partners in Participation - Women's Campaign Initiative [ Arabic ]. 2003 [brief description]

This handbook, prepared by NDI, aims at identifying the basic pillars for an electoral campaign and the candidate's role in it such as team building, recruiting volunteers, campaign planning, fundraising, communication, and what is to be done on election day.

Genderware – The Council of Europe and the Participation of Women in Political Life [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

This paper, published by the Council of Europe, provides a historical background on women political participation in Europe, and discusses some major themes such as: gender equality and democracy, equality through law, positive political action, young women political participation, and women's individual voting rights. the paper concludes by highlighting the importance of political parties as necessary vehicles for democracy.

Financing Political Parties and Election Campaigns – Guidelines [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) Handbook on Reconciliation after Violent Conflict presents a range of tools that can be, and have been, employed in the design and implementation of reconciliation processes. Most of them draw on the experience of people grappling with the problems of past violence and injustice. There is no ‘right answer’ to the challenge of reconciliation, and so the Handbook prescribes no single approach. Instead, it presents the options and methods, with their strengths and weaknesses evaluated, so that practitioners and policy-makers can adopt or adapt them, as best suits each specific context. It examines the context of reconciliation, the people involved, the instruments used, and the possible role that international community can play.

This NDI paper reviews the trends in developed democracies and in countries making the transition to democracy, and provides examples of nations seeking to alter and improve the process by which they develop and implement their annual budgets. It examines a range of issues that affect legislature’s ability to play a role in influencing the budget such as: the legislative role in the budget process, the timetable for this process, the procedures and structures for legislative budgeting, legislative resources for budget analysis, and the legislative branch oversight capacity.

Final Report: Political Party Strategies to Combat Corruption Workshop [ English ]. 2002 [brief description]

This report, published by NDI and The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), includes the proceedings of the workshop titled “Political Party Strategies to Combat Corruption.” The workshop consisted of presentations on the environment in which parties function, the advantages and disadvantages of external legislation, and political party reform strategies and discussed various reform tactics.

The IDEA State of Democracy project has developed a comprehensive methodological tool that interested stakeholders can use to assess the functioning of their own democratic systems. The assessments are aimed at raising public awareness, sparking discussions and helping identify areas for reform. The project does not place countries in a ranking order, but rather focuses on progress or setbacks. The methodology was tested in eight pilot countries.

Transparency in Defence Policy, Military Budgeting and Procurement [ English ]. 2002

International Electoral Standards: Guidelines for Reviewing the Legal Framework of Elections [ English ]. 2002 [brief description]

This book, published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) sets out internationally recognized standards applicable across a range of areas of electoral legislation. This will be useful to those engaged in reviewing existing legal frameworks for elections, or formulating new electoral legislation. These standards are intended as benchmarks to assess whether elections are free and fair.

This handbook, published by IDEA, gives a comprehensive overview of the electoral systems in use in more than 200 states and territories. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different electoral systems, the factors to consider when modifying or designing an electoral system and provides insights into why certain countries choose particular systems. It also describes which electoral systems have proven advantageous for specific cultural, social and economic conditions and how electoral systems can increase participation, reach out to minorities and facilitate representation of women.

The Women's Movement in Egypt with Selected References to Turkey [ English ]. 2002 [brief description]

This report ,published by UNRISD, discusses the historical backgrounds and contemporary contexts of women’s movements in Egypt and Turkey. It describes the potential of women’s movements to become a force for democratization in the contemporary Middle East and a champion of women’s rights.

Media Monitoring to Promote Democratic Elections: An NDI Handbook for Citizen Organizations [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2002 [brief description]

This handbook was prepared by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) to assist civic organizations, journalist associations, political parties and others worldwide who are working to support freedom of the press, to ensure that political competitors are able to communicate their messages to the public through the mass communications media and to guarantee citizens the information necessary to make informed political choices. This handbook takes a step-by-step approach to organizing a media monitoring project. It covers considerations in deciding whether to initiate a project, the project’s planning and organization, as well as media monitoring methodologies for various media and political subjects. The reader will find specific instructions for monitors in the text and discussion of reporting the findings of monitors. The appendices present examples of monitoring forms, non-partisanship pledges and codes of conduct, relevant international human rights provisions and sample reports from several media monitoring projects.

This Handbook was drafted by the Women’s Learning Partnership For Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP), the Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM), BOABAB for Women’s Human Rights of and the Staff for Palestinian Women Issues. The Handbook deals with a new form of vertical leadership and democracy which contributes to women empowerment and discusses many important topics, particularly: developing the self for leadership capacities, communicating with other and building learning partnerships.

Access to Aerial Waves: Principles on the Freedom of Speech and Broadcasting Laws [ Arabic ]. 2002 [brief description]

Within the scope of the international campaign for freedom of speech, this publication presents a series of principles and criteria on the means to strengthen and protect independent broadcasting, and put such broadcasting at the service of public interest. These principles also deal with the means to organize work so as to serve the public interest and thus, prevent such work from becoming a controlling tool between the hands of government. Moreover, this publication tackles the need expressed by organizers to prevent commercial interests from predominating in the broadcasting system and guarantee the realization of the public interest. It also sets out criteria related to the media coverage of elections.

Overview of the commitments by the South African Development Community (SADC) relating to the inclusion of women in decision making and women's representation in parliament and government. The main commitment consists in attaining a 30% quota for women in parliament in SADC countries as a means to guarantee social justice in society at large.

Report on the Status of Women in Yemen Five Years After Beijing 1995 [ English ]. 2002 [brief description]

The report published by The United Nations Development Fund for Women - Arab States evaluates the status of women in Yemen five years after the signing of the Beijing Platform for Action. It reviews women's involvement in a number of areas including their involvement in decision-making processes.

The Quick Count and Election Observation: An NDI Handbook for Civic Organizations and Political Parties [ English ]. 2002 [brief description]

Handbook published by the National Democratic Institute providing an overview of how quick counts in elections are conducted throughout the world. It also provides a step-by-step explanation of methods to organize and plan election observations.

Women in Local Governments in Asia and the Pacific: A Comparative Analysis of Thirteen Countries [ English ]. 2001 [brief description]

The presentation, published by the Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics, includes a comparative analysis of 13 countries in Asia and the Pacific on women in local government. It highlights regional and country-level strategies for increasing women's involvement.

Guidebook on Strengthening the Representative Capacity of Legislatures [ English ]. 2001 [brief description]

Guidebook, prepared for a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) training staff seminar and published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), that represents a practical guide for those designing programs to strengthen the representative capacity of legislatures. It surveys various programme options on the issue and potential difficulties that may be encountered during programme implementation.

The Role and Practice of Legislative Hearings in Democracies: Examples from Germany and the United States [ English ]. 2001 [brief description]

The paper, Published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), is based on seminars that took place in China on legislative public hearings to provide Chinese participants with first-hand accounts on the context and functioning of such hearings in the United States and Germany.

Gender Budget Initiatives: Strategies, Concepts and Experiences [ English ]. 2001 [brief description]

This paper, published by UNIFEM, brings together the insights and analysis from the 2001 International Conference on Gender Budget Initiatives in Belgium. It presents the collective experience, analysis and evaluation of more than a dozen international experts on concepts and tools as well as country level experiences..

Building Confidence in the Voter Registration Process: An NDI Monitoring Guide for Political Parties and Civic Organizations [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2001 [brief description]

This guide addresses ways that political parties and civic organizations can monitor and promote improvements to the voter registration process. This guide serves as a roadmap for political parties and civic organizations to monitor the voter registration process. It focuses on issues related to national elections, but most of the information contained within it is also applicable to voter registration processes in sub-national polls. The guide is divided into four parts. The first part identifies issues that should be considered when approaching the voter registration process. Techniques for monitoring the voter registration process are presented in the second part, while the third part offers practical suggestions for organizing, planning, recruitment, training, reporting and advocacy. The final part comprises appendices with sample forms that can be useful in monitoring the voter registration process, as well as sample monitoring reports by domestic organizations.

Handbook for Parliamentarians Refugee Protection: A Guide to International Refugee Law [ English ][ French ]. 2001 [brief description]

This handbook features a comprehensive and educational presentation of international refugee law and its development over the 50-year period following the adoption of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. It gives an overview of the issues and explains what parliamentarians can do to help provide protection to refugees and displaced persons. It also proposes model instruments and reference materials to facilitate the work of legislators.

Political Parties and the Transition to Democracy: A Primer in Democratic Party-Building for Leaders, Organizers and Activists [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2001 [brief description]

This paper, prepared by NDI, discusses some basic organizational and procedural elements necessary for the daily operation of a party, and emphasizes the need to develop a party's capacity at the local level. It examines several factors that sustain parties and make them more effective, such as: the need for democratic organizing principles within a party; examples of how a democratic party is organized and structured; the need for a clearly articulated policy agenda and message; the importance of effective communication inside and outside of the party; some basic fundraising strategies.

This National Democratic Institute (NDI) paper outlines the foundations of legislative- executive relations in parliamentary and presidential systems. The paper also highlights some of the tools and mechanisms that are used by legislatures in both established and emerging democracies to assert their legitimate rights and exercise their prerogatives in the policymaking and oversight spheres.

A Guide to Legislative Research on the Internet: An Introduction to Parliamentary and Policy Oriented Web Sites [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

A guide published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) providing information on methods to use the internet for legislative research. It provides a list of search engines and websites on a diverse set of topics including constitutions, legislature, general research, ethics, and international treaties.

This Guidebook is intended to assist staff implementing legislative programs in developing democracies. Some of the topics discussed are: the training methods; training the members of the legislature in effective committees, oversight and relations with the executive, and dealing with the public. It also sheds light on the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) experience in legislative drafting, institutional assistance such as staff training, libraries and publications, and information technology.

This document presents the summary of results from a nation-wide regional Survey and a national conference conducted by the National Council of Namibia and National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 2000. The survey aimed to poll the people on Mechanisms topics concerning Namibia’s Legislative Process, communication between Parliament and the regions, enhancing communication between the regions and the public and enhancing information flow between Parliament, the regions and the public.

Controlling Corruption: A Parliamentarian's Handbook. Second Edition. [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

This handbook, produced jointly by the Parliamentary Centre of Canada and the World Bank, provides a practical referance tool to parliamentarians, members of civil society, and other interested individuals on the issue of globalized corruption and the role of parliaments and parliamentarians in controlling it.

Women's Political Participation and Good Governance: 21st Century Challenges [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

The present report focuses on a number of issues including progress made in women’s political participation since Beijing, the Indian experiment with constitutional amendments mandating the reservation of one third of local government-elected representation to women, and the wider connection between gender, poverty and governance.

A UNDP-MAGNET technical series publication. The report discusses the legislative needs assessment, what should it do for decision-makers? When should UNDP respond to a request for assistance? From whom should requests for assistance come? What should an assessment review? How well does the legislature perform its lawmaking and oversight functions? And who should conduct the assessment? Sample Terms of Reference for Legislative Needs Assessment

A UNDP-MAGNET technical series publication. The report discusses the importance of legislative constituency relations, the key issues and challenges faced by legislatures in developing countries with regard to the legislative-constituency relations and the activities and structures to enhance these relations, such as reforming the electoral systems, opening the legislature to the public, public hearings, strengthening civil society groups, civic education, etc.

Governing Systems and Executive-Legislative Relations (Presidential, Parliamentary and Hybrid Systems) [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

A UNDP-MAGNET technical series publication. The report examines three aspects of executive-legislative relations, the separation of powers, the removal from office and the structure of legislative parties and leadership.

Democracy in the Arab World: Challenges, Achievements and Prospects [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

Based on a roundtable discussion organized by IDEA, this is a review of democracy in the Arab World Region during the nineties looking at the main challenges in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen. It analyses issues such as the role of religion in politics, the participation of women, globalization, elections, democratic institutions and the freedom of association.

This Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) study analyzes the political experience of some 200 women from all over the world. It highlights women's specific contribution to the political process and the changes to which their presence on the political scene has led to in the prevailing political culture and environment, as well as in parties, parliaments and governments. It reports on their successes, their difficulties and their expectations. Statistics and records of personal experience enliven the text and sharpen its focus.

Subtitled "An assessment of developments in national parliaments, political parties, government and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, five years after the Fourth World Conference on Women", the study published by IPU analyses answers received from parliaments and political parties to the surveys undertaken since October 1998 on follow-up to Beijing.

This book tells many inspiring stories of women who have actively negotiated peace amidst their countries' conflicts. "Women at the Peace Table" describes the obstacles faced by women who wanted to get involved in peace negotiations and the strategies they adopted to make a pos itive impact on peace negotiations.

Strengthening Democracy Through Women's Political Participation [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

Seminar organized and published by The Asia Foundation which took place after the economic crisis in numerous Asian countries in the late 1990s. The objective of the seminar was to formulate strategies for democratic development, economic progress, and stable international relations in the Asia Pacific. The cornerstones it focuses on to achieve such results include human rights and legal reform, the participation of women in politics and other sectors, governance reforms, and security issues.

The Participation of Women in South Africa's First Democratic Election [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Paper published by the Electoral Institute of South Africa (EISA) providing an overview on the participation of women in South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. It deals with aspects such as the intimidation of women voters, role of voter education, attitudes of various political parties towards women, and election results in terms of women's representation in parliament. The paper concludes with a series of useful recommendations for the inclusion of women's needs into the electoral process.

Issues in Women's Political Empowerment in the Asia-Pacific Region [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Paper published by the Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics. The paper is divided into three sections: obstacles to women empowerment including institutional barriers, opportunities to women's empowerment including greater interest in advancing democratic governance, and future directions including creating an enabling environment for women's political empowerment.

Lessons Learned And Challenges Facing International Election Monitoring [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Paper published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) highlighting the importance of transparency and monitoring in ensuring fair and free elections. It explains aspects to be addressed during monitoring elections and challenges faced by the international community in electoral assessments.

The handbook provides examples of best legislative and regulatory practices gathered from around the world. Best practices are given for each of the twelve guidelines contained in the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights published in 1998 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). It also presents concrete measures that legislators can take to protect human rights and promote public health in responding to the epidemic.

Code of Conduct for Political Parties - Campaigning in Democratic Elections [ English ][ French ]. 1999 [brief description]

This IDEA publication aims at outlining a code of conduct for political parties while campaigning in democratic elections. It highlights its development, reasons for using it, negotiating it, and prescriptions generally accepted as applicable to the behavior of political parties during a democratic election campaign.

Guidelines on the Rights and Duties of the Opposition in Parliament [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

The representatives of African Parliaments meeting in Libreville from 17 to 19 May 1999 on the occasion of the Parliamentary Seminar on Relations Between Majority and Minority Parties in African Parliaments adopted these guidelines for the rights and duties of the opposition in parliament. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in co-operation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized the seminar at the invitation of the Parliament of Gabon.

Developing a Parliamentary Research Service, the Experience of Egypt [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Strengthening the Role of Women Parliamentarians in the Arab Region: Challenges and Options [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Women’s Political Participation: Meeting on Women and Political Participation - 21st Century Challenges [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Report of the Second Tri-Partite Meeting on Follow-Up of the World Summit for Social Development [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

This National Democratic Institute (NDI) publication discusses the role of legislatures in fighting corruption. It emphasizes the need for an effective ethics regime and compares the ethic regimes in 20 countries. It sheds light on the code of conduct practiced in some countries. It further discusses the financial disclosure requirements, and the conflict of interest restrictions, and different institutional designs and enforcement mechanisms.

This document is a report of a workshop held by NDI in Morocco in 1998 titled “Workshop on The Role of The Groupe Parlementaire”. The workshop covered the following topics: relations between governing and opposition parties, the party caucus, developing strategies for the work of the caucus in parliament, and outreach by caucus.

Report of The Workshop on Coalition Building Among Political Parties in the Moroccan Legislature [ English ]. 1998 [brief description]

This document is a report of a workshop held by NDI in Morocco in 1998 titled “Workshop on Coalition Building Among Political Parties in the Moroccan Legislature”. It examined methods of building coalitions, and ways of maintaining them as well as the importance of information sharing within coalitions.

The handbook, published by IDEA, provides practical advice on how to broker peace in countries emerging from deep-rooted conflict and outlines options negotiators can draw upon when trying to build or rebuild democracy. The handbook provides a thorough overview of democratic levers - such as power-sharing formulas, questions of federalism and autonomy, options for minority rights, constitutional safeguards and many others.

Article published by UNDP discussing the significance of gender in formulating macroeconomic policies. It explains the effects of gender-biased policies in producing gender inequalities at the micro level which in turn results in macroeconomic implications. It also highlights UNDP's efforts in the area of gender and macroeconomics.

How to Do a Gender - Sensitive Budget Analysis: Contemporary Research and Practice [ Arabic ]. 1998 [brief description]

This paper, published by USAID and the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with NDI, provides an introduction to gender-sensitive budgets. Government budgets discuss and review gender-sensitive budget analysis tools. They also discuss mainstreaming care in economy and the means to prepare a gender-sensitive budget.

This National Democratic Institute (NDI) handbook discusses the simple techniques that parliamentarians can use to better understand proposed legislations. In particular, these methods focus on determining the major issues of policy contained in a bill; identifying the problems or issues that a bill addresses; and analyzing the solutions it proposes.

Promoting Women's Political Participation: Women Representatives Training (WRT) Program Trainer's Manual [ English ]. 1997 [brief description]

Training manual including a detailed description of a training session for women leaders in Nepal. The manual was published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and covers topics relating to women's empowerment and their advancement within political parties, in addition to community needs identification and the functions of local government.

Code of Conduct for the Ethical and Professional Observation of Elections [ English ]. 1997 [brief description]

Handbook published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) setting forth a universal code of conduct for the ethical and professional discharge of election observation activities, while also outlining the behavior and practice expected of observers.

Consultations with Moroccan Political Parties and Civic Organizations: Trip Report [ English ]. 1997 [brief description]

This Report covers the series of consultations conducted by NDI, with political leaders and representatives from Moroccan NGOs. The consultations aimed at providing political actors with information on election monitoring and assessing opportunities for future democratic institution building

English abstract of the monograph "The 1992-1996 Lebanese Parliament" published originally in Arabic by the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. The research focused on the performance of the Lebanese Parliament as the legislative branch of the government.

Constituency Relations: A Two-Way Street, A Workshop for Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council [ English ][ Arabic ]. 1997 [brief description]

This document is a report of the workshop held by NDI in Palestine in 1996 titled "Constituency Relations: A Two - Way Street". The goal of the workshop was to discuss the different methods and tactics available to develop effective relations with the public despite shortages in resources.

Organization of the Parliamentary Session: Balancing Democracy and Efficiency [ English ][ Arabic ]. 1997 [brief description]

This document is a report of the workshop held by NDI in Palestine in 1997 titled "Organization of the Parliamentary Session: Balancing Democracy and Efficiency". The goal of the workshop was to discuss methods of increasing the efficiency of the plenary procedures, organizing the plenary in the absence of party mechanisms.

Legislative-Executive Relations: Governing in Partnership, A Workshop for Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council [ English ]. 1997 [brief description]

This is a report of the workshop organized by NDI in collaboration with Associates in Rural Development and the Center for Palestine Research and Studies, titled “Legislative – Executive Relations: Governing in Partnership”.

This handbook, prepared by NDI, explains the concept importance and mechanism of pollwatching. It highlights the importance of the role political parties play in poll watching, and outlines a strategy that political parties can use on election day.

This study, published by National Democratic Institute (NDI), sheds light on the general models of the presiding authority of legislature bodies. The study suggests three main models: the Westminster model, the U.S. Congress model, and the French Bureau model.

The paper published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) highlights the importance and responsibilities of legislative committees. It also describes the various types of legislative committees and the regulations governing each.

One Chamber or Two? Deciding Between a Unicameral And Bicameral Legislature [ English ]. 1996 [brief description]

This research paper, published by the National democratic Institute (NDI), highlights the structure of legislative chambers and discusses the question of cameral selection. Its sheds light on the unicameral and bicameral legislatures, patterns of legislative structures and legislatures in practice. It discusses methods of reconciliation in a bicameral system as well as cameral change.

This report published by NDI is an assessment of the Palestinian Legislative Council. It provides a snapshot of the PLC in its early weeks. Some of the issues covered are: the role of parties and factions in the PLC, the formal powers of the Palestinian council and constraints on it and its members, organization of the Council and its meetings. it also covered the Council structure, the legislative process, and the legislative executive relations.

Fact Sheet on Women in Government as at January 1996. The UN Division for the Advancement of Women has created a statistical database on women in the executive branch of governments. Data for 187 countries was extracted form information published in the 1996 Edition of the Worldwide Government Directory (Worldwide Government Directories, Inc.).

The International Republican Institute (IRI) has conducted a survey of the development of popular governmental participation and the Majlis Ash'Shura (Consultative Assembly) in the Sultanate of Oman, one of the world's last remaining monarchies. This report provides an examination of these Omani political reforms and offers insight into their future.

This handbook, published by the World Bank Institute in collaboration with the Parliamentary Centre, examines the interplay between governance challenge, and the policy efforts being made to highlight action against poverty. It considers the most basic steps in poverty reduction strategies as well as the role of parliament in supporting poverty reduction via budget cycle. It also focuses on broader accountability of the executive and examines the constituency side of the parliamentarian's job. Finally, it discusses parliamentary capacity building to work against poverty.

Parliamentary Accountability and Good Governance: A Parliamentarian's Handbook [ English ]. [brief description]

This handbook contains a collection of essays that focus on parliamentary accountability, the role of parliament as an important link in the chain of accountability between government and citizens. Each of the chapters focuses on some aspect of the challenge that parliaments must confront if they are to serve as institutions of accountability, one of the global requirements of good governance.

Democracy and Political Party Assistance in Post-Conflict Societies [ English ]. [brief description]

Paper published by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, NIMD Knowledge Centre, providing a brief overview of lessons learned in the field of democracy assistance in post-conflict societies in general and political party assistance in particular. The paper aims to contribute to the debate and provide some practical guidelines for engagement in post-conflict situations.

Statistics on voter turnout by gender provided by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). The statistics reveal that the "gender gap" in voter turnout, whereby more men than women vote on election day, is nearing a point of being "inverted". The statistics cover: Barbados, Chile, Iceland, India, Finland, Guatemala, Malta, Puerto Rico, and Sweden.

Joining Forces: A Guide for Forming, Joining and Building Political Coalitions [ English ]. [brief description]

A guide published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) offering a series of questions to be considered by political parties intending to form or enter coalitions with like-minded parties or organizations. It also offers a description of successful and unsuccessful coalitions, challenges faced by coalitions, and the means for maintaining a coalition.

Resource Kit published by the United Nations Development Programme and Asian-Pacific Gender Equality Network-APGEN providing tools for increasing knowledge on issues surrounding the campaign for gender balance in government and politics in general.The resource kit includes strategies to attain gender balance on issues concerning quota systems, campaign finance reform, proportional representation, and political leadership training and support services.

A presentation, published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) explaining the importance of effective communication within political parties and how to maintain such communication within and outside the party. It also explains the significance of effective communication in evaluating progress and the efficient use of human resources, to assess programmes for the future development of the party, and to avoid information overload.

A handbook published by the International Republic Institute (IRI) describing a training course for women and youth candidates. It includes aspects ranging from the leadership qualities and attributes of candidates to aspects such as securing campaign funding and finances, membership mobilization, and media relations.

Women are Citizens Too: The Laws of the States, the Lives of Women [ English ]. [brief description]

Paper published by the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States discussing gender equality within the broader context of citizenship. It provides an analysis and understanding of the tremendous challenges and resistance faced concerning gender equality in the Arab region. The main areas of focus are related to the family, social security, and nationality laws.

The Convention Against Corruption in the Middle East and North Africa Region: The Role of Civil Society in Ensuring the Success of International Conventions [ Arabic ]. [brief description]

This manual focuses on the United Nations Convention against Corruption, as well as on civil society's role in ensuring its success in the MENA region. The manual explains the purpose of the Convention, describes the means to encourage the process of national ratification and the mechanism of such ratification, dissociates implementation from monitoring between governments, and discusses the ways for civil society to handle the monitoring process.

This study stresses on the importance of women access to the legislature with particular emphasis on the experience of Jordanian women in this regard. It also analyzes the reasons behind women's failure and sets out the required measures for strengthening their capacity to access parliament.