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The Third Regional Dialogue on Access to Elections in Jakarta
In January 2015, the third Regional Dialogue on Access to Elections was successfully hosted by the General Election Commission of Indonesia (KPU), the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), and the General Election Network on Disability Access (AGENDA), a Southeast Asian coalition of disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs), election monitoring groups, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), that is supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). At the conference, more than 200 representatives from DPOs, election management bodies, governments, media, and international organizations attended from 28 countries across Southeast Asia and beyond, such as Egypt, Georgia, India, Libya, and the Republic of Korea. Discussions and panels addressed the emerging need to reach youth with disabilities, how to collaborate with media for greater representation in election coverage, and strategies for improved implementation of key international and regional policies, such as the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real.”
News & Updates
Feature
Registering Marginalized Populations to Vote in Nepal
As Nepal undergoes critical electoral and governance changes, IFES Nepal is working with local partners to register Nepalis – including Dalits, youth, Muslim women, freed Kamaiya (those subjected to forced labor) and other historically marginalized groups – to vote. This is part of IFES Nepal’s efforts to ensure that all Nepalis are able to participate actively in Nepal’s evolving political process.
News & Updates
Feature
Improving Access to Citizenship Certificates
As a primary legal document in Nepal, the citizenship certificate is compulsory for banking; accessing formal education and employment; registering on the voter’s roll; and obtaining a variety of benefits, including social security and government allowances for people with disabilities, victims of armed conflict and internally displaced persons. Yet despite its importance, there are significant barriers – including lack of knowledge or supporting documents and issues related to gender, caste and extreme poverty – that hinder access to citizenship certificates, especially for those from Nepal’s more marginalized groups.
Publication
Book
Gender Equality & Election Management Bodies: A Best Practices Guide
The full participation of women and men in a country's political and decision-making processes as voters, candidates, elected officials and electoral management body (EMB) staff is crucial. Yet, despite a set of robust international instruments and many positive developments in recent years, women represent only 21.7 percent of world's parliamentarians and in many countries they continue to be marginalized and underrepresented in political and electoral processes. Clearly, major steps still need to be taken before true gender equality is achieved in this arena.
September 23, 2014
News & Updates
Feature
Empowering Youth in Nepal to Secure their Voting Rights
As part of the USAID-funded “Strengthening Political Parties, Electoral and Legislative Processes” program, IFES Nepal is partnering with subawardees like Youth Initiative (YI) to strengthen the participation of youth, ethnic minorities and historically marginalized groups in Nepal’s electoral process. In support of this objective, IFES Nepal and YI recently launched a new initiative – “Voter Registration, Electoral Participation and Citizenship Certificate Support for Youth” – to ensure that eligible youth are able to register and secure their right to vote.
News & Updates
Feature
Indonesians Elect a new President
On July 22, 2014 at 9:10 p.m. the General Election Commission of Indonesia (Komisi Pemilihan Umum, KPU) declared Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla winners of the July 9, 2014 presidential election. Of the 135 million votes cast Jokowi received 71 million, taking 53.15% of the valid votes and winning by a 6.3% margin.
The photo gallery highlights some of the key events on that day. You can also view the images on our Flickr profile.
The photo gallery highlights some of the key events on that day. You can also view the images on our Flickr profile.
News & Updates
Feature
IFES Hosts Election Commission of Nepal
On July 14, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) hosted a delegation from the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN), led by Commissioner Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, an interactive learning session at its Washington, D.C. headquarters.
News & Updates
Feature
IFES President Visits Medan, Indonesia, to Support Women’s Leadership Program
Following Indonesia’s July 9 presidential election, IFES President and CEO Bill Sweeney travelled to Medan in North Sumatra to meet with some of the participants of IFES’ women’s leadership program. The program, implemented in partnership with the Center for Political Studies, Department of Political Science (Puskapol) at the University of Indonesia, aims to address the lack of representation in the field of electoral administration in Indonesia and prepare women to serve in different positions in electoral administration.
News & Updates
Feature
2014 Indonesia Presidential Election
Indonesia held one of the world’s largest single day elections on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 to determine its next president. More than 190 million registered voters were eligible to vote at 480 thousand polling stations across the country. Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and third largest democracy. It is also the Southeast Asia region’s largest economy and home to the world’s largest Muslim population. Official results from the race are due to be released by Indonesia’s General Election Commission (KPU) on Tuesday, July 22, 2014.
News & Updates
Feature
Indonesia Presidential Election Visit Program
On July 9, 2014, as part of the IFES Indonesia Presidential Election Visit Program, IFES Indonesia Program Officer Marti Yusnida and I visited Rutan Pondok Women’s Prison in Jakarta with a group of female diplomats. In Indonesia, unlike many other countries, prisoners serving a custodial sentence have the right to vote.