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News & Updates
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An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election
On September 23, 2014, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) hosted a conversation between IFES President and CEO Bill Sweeney and the former Chief Election Commissioner of the Election Commission of India (ECI), S.Y. Quraishi. Sweeney and Quraishi discussed Quraishi’s book An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election, a first-person account of the recent electoral history of India and a must-read for those interested in understanding how the world's largest democracy works. Quraishi was also presented with the IFES’ prestigious Hutar Award, which honors those who express a commitment to improving democratic practices.
During the event, Sweeney marveled at the immense technical undertaking of elections in India, noting that as the Chief Electoral Commissioner of India, Quraishi oversaw elections that involved over 11 million Indian government personnel. Indeed, elections in India generate both wonder and interest globally. Polls have been held at regular intervals in the country since independence, and on an unprecedented scale, surmounting the massive challenges posed by the geography of the land and the diversity of the Indian populace.
During the event, Sweeney marveled at the immense technical undertaking of elections in India, noting that as the Chief Electoral Commissioner of India, Quraishi oversaw elections that involved over 11 million Indian government personnel. Indeed, elections in India generate both wonder and interest globally. Polls have been held at regular intervals in the country since independence, and on an unprecedented scale, surmounting the massive challenges posed by the geography of the land and the diversity of the Indian populace.
News & Updates
Feature
An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election
On September 23, 2014, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) hosted a conversation between IFES President and CEO Bill Sweeney and the former Chief Election Commissioner of the Election Commission of India (ECI), S.Y. Quraishi. Sweeney and Quraishi discussed Quraishi’s book An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election, a first-person account of the recent electoral history of India and a must-read for those interested in understanding how the world's largest democracy works. Quraishi was also presented with the IFES’ prestigious Hutar Award, which honors those who express a commitment to improving democratic practices.
News & Updates
Feature
IFES Winter and Summer Democracy Camps Empower High-School Students in Kyrgyzstan
Since 2000, with the support of USAID, IFES has conducted over 20 Democracy Camps across Kyrgyzstan. Ninth- and tenth-grade participants learn democratic values, leadership skills, teamwork, their role as citizens, and how to advocate for change in their society. In 2009, over 2,600 students applied to take part in the camps. The goal of this project is to build civic mindedness and engagement among the young generation, and to instill in them a belief in their capacity as individuals to improve their country and communities. This is a necessary step in building a more democratic culture in Kyrgyzstan.
News & Updates
Feature
Dignity for Indian Girls
Female feticide, infanticide and neglect of girls has been widely practiced in India with alarming implications on the rate of missing girls. By 2005, India’s ratio of girls to boys had declined so steeply that there were fewer than 900 Indian girls born for every 1,000 boys – one of the lowest rates worldwide.
News & Updates
Press Release
IFES Announces Winners of 2016 Photography Contest
Two compelling photographs depicting insightful moments of Election Day in India and voter registration in Nepal have won the top prizes of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems’ (IFES) 2016 Photography Contest. They were part of 10 photographs selected as finalists among the more than 100 images that were submitted to the democracy-themed competition.
News & Updates
Feature
Youth Engagement, IFES Democracy Camp
When IFES first encountered Azamat Karabotoev in the summer of 2013, he was a quiet teenager from the Talas region of Kyrgyzstan. Like over 2,000 other Kyrgyzstani youth before him, Azamat participated in an IFES Democracy Camp.
News & Updates
Feature
IFES CEO Presents Youth Engagement Strategies at Indian Election Commission Conference
On January 24, the Election Commission of India hosted an international conference in New Delhi focused on sharing successful strategies to empower young and future voters throughout the country. During the conference, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) President and CEO William R. Sweeney, Jr. presented IFES’ approach to engaging young people, as well as some of the organization’s programmatic methods.
News & Updates
Feature
IFES Celebrates International Youth Day
The United Nation’s International Youth Day 2017 is dedicated to “Youth Building Peace.” As a global leader in democracy promotion, IFES recognizes the importance of cultivating the next generation of leaders. On International Youth Day, we celebrate the contributions of young people to peace and justice.
News & Updates
Feature
Photo Gallery: 2017 Kyrgyz Republic Presidential Elections
On October 15, the Kyrgyz Republic held presidential elections. This was a historic vote; the first “regular” transition of power from a sitting president who has completed a constitutionally defined term of office to an elected successor. Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov, who is backed by outgoing President Almazbek Atambayev’s Social Democratic party, won the election with 54.3 percent of the about 1.7 million votes cast.
News & Updates
Feature
India’s 37 Million “Missing Women”
As part of its U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Women’s Legal Rights Initiative in India, IFES launched the “Dignity of the Girl Child” campaign to address sex selection, infanticide and neglect of the girl-child. IFES’ campaign combined research and advocacy with targeted community-based interventions to sensitize and mobilize district and local administrators, the legal community, civil society, and the public on the need to value the life of the girl-child. It also engaged men as program allies and key decision makers.