More women in politics for complete democracy-IDEA

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Friday February 26, 2010 00:00

International IDEA secretary general Vidar Helgesen said his organisation is committed to addressing this challenge where women are not adequately represented in spheres of power.

He said that he was impressed that Rwanda, which came from a fierce war, made a good example as their women campaigned for political power and now occupy a significant number of seats in the country's legislature. In the country's 2008 elections Rwanda set a new world record for female representation in Parliament as women took 56 percent of contested seats in Rwanda's parliament.

IDEA is in Botswana to discuss the audit report on Botswana's general elections held last year.

Helgesen met opposition politicians and ruling party politicians with a view to strengthening cooperation between Botswana and IDEA and discuss the African Union Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. 

The IDEA secretary general will specifically discuss how Botswana could strengthen her democratic tradition, looking at how IDEA could help through its mandates such as the 'State of Democracy Programme, Political Parties Programme and the Democracy Gender Programme,' he said.

The state of Democracy Programme focuses on providing capacity to local democracy institutions, such that they are able to analyse and assess democratic trends and influence the agenda for democracy building and reforms.

The audit of the 2009 elections is expected to focus on reviewing the legal and strategic document and target set by the Independent Electoral Commission. It also focuses on the engagement of IEC staff and external stakeholders to assess their views on the IEC's readiness to preside over the elections.

Helgesen  said his organisation is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1995 to support sustainable democracy worldwide. Its primary mandate, he said, is to support sustainable democratic change by providing comparative knowledge, assistance in democratic reform, influencing policies and politics. International IDEA works through activity areas in the fields of elections, constitution building, political parties, women's political empowerment and democracy self-assessments.

'These include providing comparative knowledge derived from practical experience on democracy building processes from diverse contexts around the world, assisting political actors in reforming democratic institutions and processes and engaging in political processes when invited to do so,' he said.

Of the 25 member countries of the International IDEA, Botswana is one of only six African countries that are members of the electoral organisation.