Subject: News from NDI: Open Data Initiative Makes Election Information More Accessible
From: "National Democratic Institute" <[email-masked]>
To: "R. Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2015 15:55:30 -0400

-------------------------

 		 [1]

 		NDI Launches Open Election Data Initiative [2]

-------------------------

 		June 2015

 [3] 

NDI launched a global initiative this month to ensure that voters and
citizen groups have access to detailed election data that will give a true
picture of an entire election process. ​That includ​es how candidates
are certified, how and which voters are registered, what happens on
election day and how complaints are resolved. ​ 

Not only does access to election data and information vary widely from
country to country, it is frequently released in formats that make it
difficult to use. 

The Open Election Data Initiative, openelectiondata.net [4], supported by
Google, adapts open data principles that were designed to enhance
government transparency in other areas, such as service delivery, to
elections. The initiative encourages governments to be more accountable and
citizens to take a more participatory role. Read more » [5] 

-------------------------

NDI Releases White Paper on Women and Urbanization [6] [7] 

Two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities by 2050. This
demographic shift provides new social, political and economic opportunities
for migrants - and women are the largest group. 

But the benefits have not been evenly distributed and if the growing
inequality of urban environments - which particularly impacts women and
historically marginalized groups - is to be reversed, urban governance will
have to adapt. 

In recognition of the impact of cities, NDI, with funding from the Kate
Spade Foundation, commissioned the Institute for Women's Policy Research to
develop a White Paper on Gender, Urbanization and Democratic Governance.
Read more » [8] 

NDI Partners with African Union to Increase Youth Political Involvement [9]
[10] 

NDI and the African Union (AU) Commission, the executive branch of the
African Union, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, this month to increase youth involvement in democratic processes
on the continent. 

The MOU builds on an existing partnership between NDI and the AU. Since
2013, NDI has partnered with the AU's Department of Political Affairs
(DPA), responsible for democracy and governance initiatives, to create
opportunities to engage young leaders in ongoing regional dialogues on
democracy, elections and governance. Read more » [11] 

Guatemalan Groups Launch Election Observations Amid Political Crisis [12]
[13] 

​Guatemalan citizens will go to the polls on Sept. 6​ ​amid a
deepening political crisis that has seen the vice president and other key
administration officials resign after being accused of corruption. 

To help safeguard the integrity of the elections, two electoral observation
coalitions, with NDI support, will monitor the pre-election environment as
well as the voting and tabulation of results. Read more » [14] 

Momentum Builds for Women in Georgia Politics [15] [16] 

Georgia lags behind many countries when it comes to women's political
participation. 

But developments and growing support among elected officials, political
parties and Georgian citizens over the last year have put women in politics
at the top of the issues list. 

NDI's recent Win with Women conference in Tbilisi built on this momentum by
bringing together Georgian political parties, government institutions and
citizen groups to identify ways for women to get more involved in politics.
Read more » [17] 

NDI's Rinor Beka on Democratic Progress in Kosovo [18] [19] 

Since 2006, NDI's Rinor Beka of Kosovo has been at the center of his
country's democratic transition. 

In an interview with NDI, Beka talks about working with elected officials
to advance transparency and accountability in Kosovo's parliament, getting
more women and youth involved in the political process and the progress
that has been made to overcome a history of inter-ethnic conflict in the
region. Watch the interview » [20] 

Newly Elected Officials Bridge Gap Between Government and Citizens in
Georgia [21] [22] 

In Georgia, communication between elected officials and their constituents
is often weak. But recent steps taken by local elected officials, in
partnership with NDI, are offering new opportunities for interaction
between leaders and the public. 

"We are going to stay on this path and make public participation more
intense and our work more transparent," said Merab Kvaraia, local council
chair in the municipality of Zugdidi on its recent push for more government
transparency and accountability. Read more » [23] 

Pakistani Women Inspired to be Policy Makers [24] [25] 

Historically, women in Pakistan have been involved in election campaigns,
but few have taken part in their political party's policy making process. 

That is changing through the Political Party Development Program that over
the last four years has included 16,609 grassroots party members, of which
44 percent have been women. 

The program has given women a chance to participate fully in the policy
development process and improve both policy making and leadership skills.
Read more » [26] 

Advancing Women's Leadership in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia [27]
[28] 

​"Every day I struggle against stereotypes. We need to take steps to
dismantle these stereotypes about women's participation in politics," said
Zorana Mihajlovic, deputy prime minister of the Republic of Serbia, at
NDI's Regional Forum on Women's Leadership held recently in Belgrade. 

Mihajlovic and others are leading the conversation on advancing women's
political leadership in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Read more
» [29] 

NDI's Peter Manikas Testifies on Democracy in Asia [30] 

 [31] 

NDI's regional director for Asia programs, Peter Manikas, provided an
overview of recent political developments in Hong Kong, Myanmar/Burma and
Thailand in congressional testimony earlier this month. 

Manikas concluded that recent developments "are pivotal in the sense that
they will largely determine the trajectory of democratic development in
these countries in the months, and perhaps years ahead. The course of
democracy in these countries also may affect the advance of democracy in
the region as a whole." Read more » [32] 

-------------------------

 		DEMWORKS RECENT BLOG POSTS

DemocracyWorks is a blog written by staff members of the National
Democratic Institute. 

 		 [33]

 		Testing City Limits: Women and Urban Governance [34]

 		 [35]

 Retreat or Revival: The State of Democracy in Asia
 ​ 

 		 [36]

 		Kosovo Assembly Endorses the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness [37]

 		 [38]

 		The Open Data Community Comes Together to Talk Data, Power, Politics
[39]

More Posts on DemWorks.org » [40] 

-------------------------

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