The Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) takes a rights-based approach to poverty alleviation–the organization’s mission is to “promote local democracy in developing countries in accordance with Sweden’s global development policies.” The ICLD aims to empower people to influence their own lives and development by strengthening local institutions, and promoting decentralization and citizens’ influence. The…
Guatemala, May 23, 8 participants, Organizer: Acción Ciudadana (Citizen Action) The meeting was a space where members of civil society organizations could share their experiences of participatory democracy. Women could express their perceptions of women’s inclusion in local government policies and participation to formulate plans. Maya organizations explained how the State and local governments open…
Tajikistan, May 20, 8 participants, Organizer: Center for Civic Initiative The focus group participants reacted to this friendly survey and actively participated in the discussions, as the questionnaire raised important questions that are associated with the participation of citizens in public life. The participants also noted that such a survey should be conducted in all regions…
More and more focus group meetings have taken place all over the world, giving a further push towards our Participatory Democracy Report 2014. Over the last days, civil society actors from Azerbaijan, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Liberia, Malaysia, Mauritius and Tajikistan came together to exchange views about the state of participatory local democracy in…
Liberia, May 15, 13 participants, Organizer: Youth Partnership for Peace and Development (YPPD) YPPD Liberia had a very fruitful first Focus Group Meeting on Participatory Local Democracy with 10 participants from Liberian Civil Society Organizations. There were members and volunteers of YPPD Liberia in attendance. The people attending the focus group, showed a genuine interest on the…
Indonesia, May 14, 8 participants, Organizer: Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia (Indonesian Women’s Coalition) The survey questions given by The Hunger Project can be an inspiration to participants in the discussion, because Indonesia already has an Indonesian Democracy Index, but is only see 3 -dimensional, while the standard democracy index includes 5 dimensions. The results show that in the legal…
Internal displacement often implies that people are left without a home, work and income, and the opportunity to an education. Since 2000, due to various government policies and actions, many Zimbabweans have been facing that situation. Although some progress was made by the government by acknowledging the problem of internal displacement, many displaced Zimbabweans are still…
