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*private contributions
*private contributions


==Current activities==
==Areas of activity==


*'''Strengthening Electoral Processes:''' IFES provides technical assistance to governments, political parties and civil society organizations in election planning and administration, electoral law development, and voter education.<ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2006/Jul/13-323205.html Democracy Dialogues on International Electoral Systems and Laws- U.S. Department Of State<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <ref>AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AT RISK:
*'''Electoral Processes:''' - IFES provides technical assistance to governments, political parties and civil society organizations in election planning and administration, electoral law development, and voter education.<ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2006/Jul/13-323205.html Democracy Dialogues on International Electoral Systems and Laws- U.S. Department Of State<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <ref>AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AT RISK:
AGENDA FOR RENEWAL AND REPAIR, http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=4323</ref>
AGENDA FOR RENEWAL AND REPAIR, http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=4323</ref>
*'''[[Civil Society]]'''- IFES states that civil society, which contains two parts: citizens understanding the rights and all citizens being included in the govermental proces, is integral to their operations. In puruit of this they encourage the growth and establishment of organizations tha promote these ideas.<ref> http://www.ifes.org/civil.html</ref>
*'''Building the Capacity of Civil Society:''' IFES works to mobilize citizens to participate in democratic politics in a constructive and effective manner.
*'''[[Rule of Law]]''' - IFES states "Every citizen of every country deserves the opportunity to live under the Rule of Law, and every country has an obligation to enforce the law fairly and effectively."<ref name = "Rule of Law">http://www.ifes.org/rol.html</ref> They propose to do this through the establishment of judicial independence, judicial enforcement, transparency, accountability, open government, access to information, whistle blowing, coalition building and human rights.<ref name = "Rule of Law" />
*'''Bolstering the Rule of Law:'''<ref>[http://www.electionaccess.org/ Global Initiative to Enfranchise People with Disabilities - www.electionaccess.org<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> IFES encourages the development of an independent judiciary, an independent media, and an informed and engaged civil society as means to achieve the rule of law in developing democracies.<ref>[[CNN]],Building credibility without a constitution:Helping poll workers,Nigerian National Assembly and presidential elections, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/nigerian.elections/stories/boda.essay/</ref>
*'''Good Governance''' - IFES states that "Good governance prevails when government officials manage public institutions in an efficient, transparent manner that is responsive to citizens’ concerns. It also requires that citizens work collaboratively with officials in the pursuit of common social, political, economic and cultural goals."<ref name = "Governance"> http://www.ifes.org/governance.html</ref> They propose to increase good governance in their realms of activity by "(1) fostering dialogue among government agencies, political parties and civil society organizations; (2) designing programs to increase public participation in the decision-making process; (3) offering government institutions research-based public policy guidelines; and (4) promoting responsive, transparent and accountable governance at the national, regional and local levels."</ref>
*'''Encouraging Good Governance:''' IFES works to improve the transparency and efficiency of government institutions by building the management capacity, independence and professionalism of public officials in order to enable them to better serve their constituents.<ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2006/Jul/13-323205.html Democracy Dialogues on International Electoral Systems and Laws- U.S. Department Of State<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


==Voters rights==
==Voters rights==

Revision as of 17:04, 24 June 2009

IFES, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, is an international, non-profit, Washington, DC-based organization that "supports the building of democratic societies". Founded in 1987, IFES has 200 employees with field offices in more than 21 countries throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. IFES participates in technical assistance projects for international and bilateral donor organizations such as USAID, the UN [1][2], DFID, the OSCE and others. Since 1987, IFES has worked with election assistance and democratic development in over 100 countries.

The president of IFES is Jean-Pierre Kingsley.[3] The Director for Communications and Advocacy at IFES is Jamie Dettmer.[4]

IFES receives funding from the following governments/organizations:

  • the US government
  • Canadian International Development Agency
  • Swedish International Development Agency
  • Finnish International Development Agency
  • British Department for International Development
  • private contributions

Areas of activity

  • Electoral Processes: - IFES provides technical assistance to governments, political parties and civil society organizations in election planning and administration, electoral law development, and voter education.[5] [6]
  • Civil Society- IFES states that civil society, which contains two parts: citizens understanding the rights and all citizens being included in the govermental proces, is integral to their operations. In puruit of this they encourage the growth and establishment of organizations tha promote these ideas.[7]
  • Rule of Law - IFES states "Every citizen of every country deserves the opportunity to live under the Rule of Law, and every country has an obligation to enforce the law fairly and effectively."[8] They propose to do this through the establishment of judicial independence, judicial enforcement, transparency, accountability, open government, access to information, whistle blowing, coalition building and human rights.[8]
  • Good Governance - IFES states that "Good governance prevails when government officials manage public institutions in an efficient, transparent manner that is responsive to citizens’ concerns. It also requires that citizens work collaboratively with officials in the pursuit of common social, political, economic and cultural goals."[9] They propose to increase good governance in their realms of activity by "(1) fostering dialogue among government agencies, political parties and civil society organizations; (2) designing programs to increase public participation in the decision-making process; (3) offering government institutions research-based public policy guidelines; and (4) promoting responsive, transparent and accountable governance at the national, regional and local levels."</ref>

Voters rights

The International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) is committed to extending the reach of democracy through technical assistance and support to governmental and nongovernmental organizations in new and emerging democracies[10] by providing professional advice and technical assistance in promoting democracy and serves as an information clearinghouse on elections, rule of law, governance, and civil society.[11]

Voters Rights:[12]
  • My Right to be heard by my government
  • My Right to vote for the first time[13]
  • My Right to run for office
  • My Right to equal access[14][15]
  • My Right to choose without fear[16]
  • My Right to a better future

Sources

  • International Foundation for Election Systems. Official website. [1]
  • "Group Watch: International Foundation for Electoral Systems" Right Web Program of the Interhemispheric Resource Center. December 1989.[17]
  • Network for Good profile.[18]

References

  1. ^ UNDP-POGAR: Programme on Governance in the Arab Region: Democratic Governance: Web Links
  2. ^ ENHANCING WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN ELECTORAL PROCESSES IN POST-CONFLICT COUNTRIES, UN OSAGI, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/meetings/2004/EGMelectoral/aidememoire.html
  3. ^ Kingsley to take international election monitoring post. CBC News. Retrieved 31 January, 2007.
  4. ^ http://www.ifes.org/staffBio.html?staffid=dettmer
  5. ^ Democracy Dialogues on International Electoral Systems and Laws- U.S. Department Of State
  6. ^ AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AT RISK: AGENDA FOR RENEWAL AND REPAIR, http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=4323
  7. ^ http://www.ifes.org/civil.html
  8. ^ a b http://www.ifes.org/rol.html
  9. ^ http://www.ifes.org/governance.html
  10. ^ Global Initiative to Enfranchise People with Disabilities - www.electionaccess.org
  11. ^ University of Minnesota Human Rights Library,STUDY GUIDE: The Right to Vote, http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/studyguides/votingrights.html
  12. ^ IFES - An international nonprofit organization that supports the building of democratic societies
  13. ^ CNN,Building credibility without a constitution:Helping poll workers,Nigerian National Assembly and presidential elections, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/nigerian.elections/stories/boda.essay/
  14. ^ For Voters with Disabilities, http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=int&document=pre&dir=bil&lang=e&textonly=false
  15. ^ ENHANCING WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN ELECTORAL PROCESSES IN POST-CONFLICT COUNTRIES, UN OSAGI, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/meetings/2004/EGMelectoral/aidememoire.html
  16. ^ CNN,Building credibility without a constitution:Helping poll workers,Nigerian National Assembly and presidential elections, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/nigerian.elections/stories/boda.essay/
  17. ^ http://rightweb.irc-online.org/groupwatch/ifes.php
  18. ^ http://www.guidestar.org/networkforgood/controller/searchResults.gs?action_gsReport=1&npoId=307498


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