From eisa at lists.sn.apc.org Wed Jul 11 11:49:23 2007 From: eisa at lists.sn.apc.org (eisa@lists.sn.apc.org) Date: Wed Jul 11 11:59:04 2007 Subject: [Eisa] Annual Symposium 2007: Call for Papers Message-ID: <984C0E7445FEA14886A140D1DD957EAE4AE8B4@xena.eisamail.eisa.org.za> In Search of Sustainable Democratic Governance for Africa: Does Democracy Work for Developing Countries? The Second Annual EISA Symposium, 20-24 October 2007, Johannesburg, South Africa The 2007 EISA Annual Symposium follows the inaugural Symposium (November 2006, Johannesburg) that focused on the theme Challenges for Democratic Governance and Human Development in Africa. The theme of the second symposium is In Search of Sustainable Democratic Governance for Africa: Does Democracy Work for Developing Countries? Read more about the theme and contextual background to this year's Symposium on our web site at http://www.eisa.org.za/events/symp2007.htm Goal and Objectives of the Symposium While the principal goal of the inaugural Symposium of 2006 was to provide a broad situational analysis of the interface between democracy and development and how these two challenges are compounded by conflict in the African continent, the primary goal of the 2007 Symposium is to investigate how democracies lead to development of social policies that redress the scourge of poverty. We aim to establish the extent to which democratic governance in Africa is sustainable or reversible. Specific objectives of Symposium * Deliberate on current models of democratisation in Africa and policy challenges facing sustainable democratic governance * Investigate whether poor countries can sustain democracy organically and reach their developmental goals * Demonstrate how participatory democracy could enhance policy interventions aimed at poverty reduction through citizen participation, accountability, responsiveness and transparency * Make specific recommendations regarding possible institutional and policy reforms that African countries could embark upon in order to strive towards sustainable democratic governance Selected Topics EISA invites contributors to send abstracts on the following topics * Democratisation in Africa: State of the Art * Structural Adjustment Programmes and Democratic Governance * Gender Dimension of Poverty * HIV/AIDS and Democracy * Trade, Investment and Democracy * The Politics of Poverty and Poverty Reduction Strategies * Political Conditionality of Aid and its Impact on Democratic Governance * The Significance of a Developmental State in Africa * The Significance of Leadership for Sustainable Democracy * Developing a Political Culture for Democratic Governance * China's Foreign Policy Towards Africa and Implications for Democratic Governance and * Democratisation in emerging Middle Powers, (e.g. India, Brazil etc) and Lessons for Africa Submission Details Authors are invited to submit their abstracts of not more than 250 words with a short bio by the 25 July 2007. Authours whose abstracts are selected will be informed by the 31 July 2007 and full papers are to be submitted by the 31 September 2007. All submissions or queries should be addressed to Bertha Chiroro and Kedibone Tyeda T +27 11 482 5495 F +27 11 482 6163 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.sn.apc.org/pipermail/eisa/attachments/20070711/e0389b9b/attachment.htm From eisa at lists.sn.apc.org Mon Sep 10 16:04:59 2007 From: eisa at lists.sn.apc.org (eisa@lists.sn.apc.org) Date: Tue Sep 11 10:25:27 2007 Subject: [Eisa] Technical Team to the Madagascar 2007 Parliamentary Elections Message-ID: <984C0E7445FEA14886A140D1DD957EAE57751E@xena.eisamail.eisa.org.za> EISA Technical Team to the Madagascar 2007 Parliamentary Elections 10 September 2007 EISA is deploying a Technical Team for the upcoming Parliamentary Elections due to be held in Madagascar on 23 September 2007. The team will be composed of six members. The mission is expected to arrive in Antananarivo on September 16 in order to hold a series of meetings with election stakeholders, including the Madagascar Electoral Commission (CNE), political parties, CSOs and academics, ahead of election day. The team will remain in the country until 26 September after observing the voting and counting processes as well as post-polling activities. The team will cover selected rural and urban areas around Madagascar. EISA is a regional non-governmental organisation established in 1996, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its mission is to strive for excellence in the promotion of credible elections, participatory democracy, human rights culture and the strengthening of governance institutions for the consolidation of democracy in Africa. It services governments, electoral commissions, political parties, civil society organisations and other institutions operating in the democracy and governance fields in the SADC region and beyond. http://www.eisa.org.za/EISA/pr20070910.htm Alka Larkan-Grobler Senior Programme Officer, ICT http://www.eisa.org.za tel +27 11 482 54 95 fax +27 (0)86 604 18 61 EISA - Promoting credible elections and democratic governance in Africa -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.sn.apc.org/pipermail/eisa/attachments/20070910/71ca4165/attachment.htm From eisa at lists.sn.apc.org Tue Sep 11 09:39:13 2007 From: eisa at lists.sn.apc.org (eisa@lists.sn.apc.org) Date: Tue Sep 11 10:25:28 2007 Subject: [Eisa] Democracy Seminar and Book Launch Message-ID: <984C0E7445FEA14886A140D1DD957EAE577585@xena.eisamail.eisa.org.za> EISA Democracy Seminar Series & Book Launch EISA frequently hosts an open democracy seminar. A topic is presented and then opened to the floor. EISA invites visitors to participate in these seminars. Wednesday 12 September February 2007, 10h00 - 13h00 at EISA House, 14 Park Road, Richmond, Johannesburg http://www.eisa.org.za/EISA/researchdss.htm Sierra Leone General Elections Speaker: James Gadin, Programme Officer, Elections & Political Processes, EISA With the first round of Parliamentary & Presidential elections in Sierra Leone on the 11th August 2007 returning a result in favour of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC), the country has witnessed scenes of politically motivated violence and unrest. With the second round of elections in the troubled West African democracy taking place on 8th September 2007, EISA's James Gadin examines the context in which these elections have taken place, analyses the results of the first round, and suggest measures that could be put in place to curb the present political violence and establish lasting peace and stability in Sierra Leone. Book Launch: The Impact of Floor Crossing on Party Systems & Representative Democracy Speaker: Victor Shale, Programme Officer, Governance Unit, EISA On 3 September 2007, South Africa once again entered a floor-crossing period in Parliament, Provincial and local legislatures. This highly controversial practice has been challenged by opposition parties and some CSOs as undermining the strength and stability of South Africa's democracy, and there have been repeated calls for the legislation permitting this practice to be scrapped. The issue of floor-crossing in South Africa has elicited a great deal of debate in the media and public domain, and as the practice has tended to enrich the dominant ruling party at the expense of smaller minority groups in opposition, floor crossing continues to elicit strong emotional responses throughout South Africa. EISA, in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, is proud to launch its latest publication, titled The Impact of Floor Crossing on Party Systems & Representative Democracy, edited by Khabele Matlosa & Victor Shale. This publication examines the floor-crossing issue in detail and outlines the views of political parties such as the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party, African Christian Democratic Party, the Independent Democrats and others on this controversial issue. Alka Larkan-Grobler Senior Programme Officer, ICT http://www.eisa.org.za > tel +27 11 482 54 95 fax +27 (0)86 604 18 61 EISA - Promoting credible elections and democratic governance in Africa -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.sn.apc.org/pipermail/eisa/attachments/20070911/5e69a371/attachment.html From eisa at lists.sn.apc.org Tue Sep 11 09:56:28 2007 From: eisa at lists.sn.apc.org (eisa@lists.sn.apc.org) Date: Tue Sep 11 10:25:28 2007 Subject: [Eisa] Lesotho Regional Conference: Challenges & prospects for the constructive management of post election disputes Message-ID: <984C0E7445FEA14886A140D1DD957EAE577591@xena.eisamail.eisa.org.za> Regional Conference: Lesotho's 2007 General Election: Challenges & prospects for the constructive management of post election disputes 25 - 27 September, Maseru Sun, Maseru, Lesotho http://www.eisa.org.za/events/les2007conf.htm Objectives The primary goal of this conference is to promote regional dialogue on election related disputes and share experiences across countries in terms of best practice in managing them. Specifically, the main objectives of the conference are as follows: * To contribute to the on-going dialogue on the causes of and sustainable solutions to election disputes in Lesotho following its 2007 poll; * To provide a regional forum for a lessons-learning exercise on strategies and methodologies for managing election-related disputes constructively among a group of selected SADC member-states; * To explore the significance of the synergistic linkages (cooperation) between external and internal actors in the management of such conflicts; * To review the MMP system as it has been applied in Lesotho and use the lessons of the 2007 elections to inform ongoing electoral reforms in the region; and * To review the practice of party alliances and coalitions with a view to reducing intra-party and inter-party conflicts during elections in Lesotho and drawing lessons for other SADC countries. This regional conference will aim to build on various earlier initiatives by extending the debate around Lesotho's electoral disputes and post-election political crisis to relevant stakeholders from selected Southern African countries (especially, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe). Alka Larkan-Grobler Senior Programme Officer, ICT http://www.eisa.org.za > tel +27 11 482 54 95 fax +27 (0)86 604 18 61 EISA - Promoting credible elections and democratic governance in Africa -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.sn.apc.org/pipermail/eisa/attachments/20070911/4577f365/attachment.htm