The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD; Dutch: Nederlands Instituut voor Meerpartijendemocratie) works to promote peaceful, just and inclusive politics worldwide. NIMD's approach is characterized by dialogue, which it facilitates for actors across the political spectrum at the local, national and regional level. The organization's values are based on inclusiveness, pluralism and equality, and it supports joint initiatives of political parties and other stakeholders to improve the functioning of multiparty democracies around the world.
The institute was founded in 2000 by seven parties across the Dutch political spectrum (CDA, PvdA, VVD, GL, D66, CU and SGP). Former Ambassador of the Netherlands Ed Kronenburg is Chair of the Supervisory Council of NIMD, replacing former DutchMinister of DefenceEimert van Middelkoop.
Activities
NIMD currently works with over 150 political parties from more than 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, the MENA region, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.[1] The Institute promotes interparty dialogue between politicians, providing the opportunity to build trust and create mutual relationship among political parties. Moreover, interparty dialogue can create consensus and help to find solutions to challenges. NIMD also uses dialogue to create a safe meeting space for politicians and parties to meet and adopt policies to reform their nations.[2]
A core part of NIMD's work is its Democracy Schools. The organization sets up Democracy Schools around the world, which run courses for young and aspiring politicians who want to gain knowledge and skills on democratic theory and governance. The schools also provide specialized training for established politicians seeking learn about areas such as legislative drafting, debate techniques and internal party democratization.[3] Some alumni of NIMD's Democracy School programmes have later entered public office and passed legislation in areas such as campaign finance transparency and the prevention of violence against women.[4]
Through all its programmes, NIMD aims to promote the political participation of youth and women. NIMD strives to give these and other marginalized groups a seat at the table by, for example, promoting gender parity in its activities, and helping parties to break down internal barriers to the participation of minorities.[5]
NIMD established a Democracy School in Venezuela in 2022. Mariana Vahlis, the director of NIMD, said "we hope to strengthen the capacities of women so they can become leaders in conflict resolution and transformation processes, always with a gender perspective".[6]
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network of organizations that was founded in 1990 to provide communication infrastructure, including Internet-based applications, to groups and individuals who work for peace, human rights, protection of the environment, and sustainability. Pioneering the use of ICTs for civil society, especially in developing countries, APC were often the first providers of Internet in their member countries.
Thijs Berman is a Dutch former journalist. Between 2004 and 2014, he was a Dutch politician and a Member of the European Parliament.
The Zambian National Women's Lobby is a Zambian organization whose mission is to "bridge the gender gap in political decision making by advocating for increased women's participation and representation". The Lobby was created following Zambia's transition from a one-party state to a multi-party democracy in 1990. At the time, only seven women served in the Parliament of Zambia out of 150 seats, and only three women served on the Central Committee, the equivalent of today's Presidential Cabinet. The official motto of ZNWL is "WIZER" which stands for "Women in Zambia for Equality Representation".
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance is an intergovernmental organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world, to develop sustainable, effective and legitimate democracies. It has regional offices in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, Africa and West Asia, and North America. The organization is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Community of Democracies (C.O.D), established in 2000, is an intergovernmental coalition of states. Its aim is to bring together governments, civil society and the private sector in the pursuit of the common goal of supporting democratic rules, expanding political participation, advancing and protecting democratic freedoms, and strengthening democratic norms and institutions around the world. The Warsaw Declaration had outlined the task of promoting democracy. It is disputed if the coalition qualifies as an International Organization in the legal sense.
The Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) is a Tbilisi-based think-tank founded in 1992. It is headed by the Georgian political scientist Ghia Nodia. Its main areas of research are: conflict prevention and resolution ; political parties; media, especially regional media; security studies and civil-military relations; local self-government development in Georgia, religious minority and education.
The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics is an online workspace designed to serve the needs of elected officials, candidates, political party leaders and members, researchers, students and other practitioners interested in advancing women in politics.
The Global Greens (GG) is an international network of political parties and movements which work to implement the Global Greens Charter. It consists of various national green political parties, partner networks, and other organizations associated with green politics.
A women's wing, sometimes also known as a women's group or women's branch, is an auxiliary or independent front or faction within a larger organization, typically a political party, that consists of that organization's female membership or acts to promote women within a party. These wings vary widely in type, form, and affiliation. Membership may be either optional or automatic for all female members within the organization. The most common intention is to encourage women to join formal power structures, but different women’s wings serve different purposes depending on variable circumstances.
Types of democracy refers to pluralism of governing structures such as governments and other constructs like workplaces, families, community associations, and so forth. Types of democracy can cluster around values. Some such types promote equal and direct participation in political acts.
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Ghana, is a public policy think tank based in Accra, Ghana. It is known to be Ghana's premier public policy institute. It was founded by a Ghanaian economist, Dr. Charles Mensa in 1989 at a time when the country was governed by a military regime. The IEA was set up as an independent, non-government institution dedicated to the establishment and strengthening of a market economy and a democratic, free and open society. The IEA supports research, promotes and publishes studies on economic, socio-political and legal issues in order to enhance understanding of public policy.
The International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) is an independent NGO, founded in 1994 which aims to promote public policy concepts and practice and apply them to influential policy research that affects both the public and private sectors in Ukraine.
A party political foundation in Germany is a state-subsidised political foundation that's affiliated to a political party. There are seven foundations at the federal level: one for each party represented in the federal parliament (Bundestag). The major characteristics of all such organizations is that they do party related work like general information about the ideological cause, training of volunteers, publication of pamphlets and international aid for democracy building.
In the Netherlands, feminism began as part of the first-wave feminism movement during the 19th century. Later, the struggles of second-wave feminism in the Netherlands mirrored developments in the women's rights movement in other Western countries. Women in the Netherlands still have an open discussion about how to improve remaining imbalances and injustices they face as women.
Anita M. Vandenbeld is a Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Ottawa West—Nepean for the Liberal Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 Canadian federal election. She was re-elected in the same riding in 2019, and re-elected in 2021.
The European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) is a membership-based network of not-for-profit organisations that describes its aim as "supporting democracy around the world".
Zahra' Langhi is a feminist, Libyan exile, human rights activist, peace activist, and expert on gender, conflict resolution, and peace building.
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Niemat Kuku is a Sudanese activist, development expert and a director and co-founder of The Gender Centre for Research and Training (GCRT) in Sudan. Kuku studies and supports women's rights and gender equality in Sudan and was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow.
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