Background to the Study
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Mauritania Legislative and Municipal Elections, 19
DELEGATION OF OBSERVERS MUNICIPAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN MAURITANIA (19 November 2006) Report by Alain Hutchinson, Head of Delegation Annexes: I. Programme II. Joint press release III Preliminary statement by the EU Election Observation Mission 17 January 2007 PR\649046EN.doc PE 373.825 EN EN On 28 September 2006 the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents decided on the basis of a recommendation by the election coordination group to send a delegation to Mauritania for the municipal and parliamentary elections on 19 and 26 November 2006. Parliament’s political groups followed their internal rules in appointing the following Members for the first round of elections: · Alain Hutchinson (PSE, Belgium) · Milan Horáček (Verts, Germany) · Ryszard Czarnecki (Europe des Nations, Poland) After some hesitation, the second round of elections was set for 3 December. The political groups had not appointed enough Members to send a delegation for the second round. The delegation met for the first time on 18 October 2006 in Brussels and appointed Alain Hutchinson as its head. It discussed the mission programme and had a meeting with a Commission representative and the Mauritanian ambassador in Brussels. The delegation visited Mauritania from 16 to 22 November 2006. It worked closely with the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM), particularly the Chief of Mission, Marie Anne Isler Béguin. The delegation met Mrs Isler Béguin on several occasions and her suggestions were duly incorporated into the preliminary statement. At the press conference after the first round of elections, the Head of Delegation published a joint press release with the EOM (Annex II). -
GPPS III Evaluation Report FINAL 07 June 2011 %282%29.Pdf
Global Programme for Parliamentary Strengthening III Evaluation Report Prepared by: Tim Baker May 2011 The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of UNDP or its implementing partners Contents Executive summary .................................................................................1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 8 Section One: Country reports ...................................................... 12 1. Algeria ........................................................................ 15 2. Lebanon ...................................................................... 25 3. Mauritania ................................................................... 32 4. Niger ........................................................................... 41 Section Two: Regional Activities ................................................... 49 5. Arab States Region: PDIAR and BCPR ..................... 51 6. West Africa ................................................................. 60 Section Three: Global Activities .................................................... 63 Section Four: General GPPS III Programme, Administration, Operational Issues & Overall Recommendations ....................... 73 Appendix One: Evaluation Considerations & Constraints ........ 84 Appendix Two: Terms of Reference for the Evaluation ............. 87 Appendix Three: Evaluation Matrix & Questions ...................... 95 Appendix Four: Evaluation -
Mauritania's Campaign of Terror: State-Sponsored Repression of Black Africans
MAURITANIA'S CAMPAIGN OF TERROR State-Sponsored Repression of Black Africans Human Rights Watch/Africa (formerly Africa Watch) Human Rights Watch New York $ Washington $ Los Angeles $ London Copyright 8 April 1994 by Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 94-75822 ISBN: 1-56432-133-9 Human Rights Watch/Africa (formerly Africa Watch) Human Rights Watch/Africa is a non-governmental organization established in 1988 to monitor promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in Africa. Abdullahi An- Na'im is the director; Janet Fleischman is the Washington representative; Karen Sorensen, Alex Vines, and Berhane Woldegabriel are research associates; Kimberly Mazyck and Urmi Shah are associates; Bronwen Manby is a consultant. William Carmichael is the chair of the advisory committee and Alice Brown is the vice-chair. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was written by Janet Fleischman, Washington representative of Human Rights Watch/Africa. It is based on three fact-finding missions to Senegal - - in May-June 1990, February-March 1991, and October-November 1993 -- as well as numerous interviews conducted in Paris, New York, and Washington. Human Rights Watch/Africa gratefully acknowledges the following staff members who assisted with editing and producing this report: Abdullahi An-Na'im; Karen Sorensen; and Kim Mazyck. In addition, we would like to thank Rakiya Omaar and Alex de Waal for their contributions. Most importantly, we express our sincere thanks to the many Mauritanians, most of whom must remain nameless for their own protection and that of their families, who provided invaluable assistance throughout this project. -
Mauritania: the Military's Presence in 'Democracy'
MAURITANIA: THE MILITARY’S PRESENCE IN ‘DEMOCRACY’ By Yasmine Akrimi, North Africa Research Assistant POLICY BRIEF DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT May Barth SEPTEMBER 2019 North Africa Research Assistant SERIES INTRODUCTION: has witnessed five coups or attempts of coups Report At A Glance since Moktar Ould Daddah was overthrown in 1978. The 2019 presidential elections in Mauritania were an occasion for the Brussels International Center’s This instability has led to a de facto constant mili- (BIC) North Africa department to focus on a coun- tary rule, through which democratic promises are try that is rarely considered in geo-political stud- successively deceived. This also led to a worsening ies. We attempted to understand the country’s representativity of Mauritania’s non-Arab commu- history and present; from its independence in nities. We analyzed the concept of “personal tran- 1960, to the latest elections in 2019. sition”, whereby the military junta maintains itself in power by organizing seemingly democratic elec- We collected information in Arabic, English and tions and presenting, or backing, a military candi- French, and conducted interviews with Maurita- date that is systematically elected or re-elected. nian and non-Mauritanian experts, journalists, and professors as to acQuire a comprehensive under- The second chapter, pertaining to the 2019 elec- standing of the country’s political and social con- tions, traced the multiple deficiencies that the struction. campaigning and voting processes have wit- nessed. Although these elections raised unprece- We then decided to organize the paper into two dented hopes for a true democratic transition, and chapters: the first is a historical review of the albeit the fact that some candidates including the country’s milestones from independence to 2019. -
Mauritania – the Other Apartheid?
MAURITANIA – THE OTHER APARTHEID? GARBA DIALLO Written 1993 Contents Abbreviations 4 Mauritania 5 Acknowledgements 6 The Present Crisis 7 The 1989 clamp-down Elections in 1992 The History of Mauritania 12 Arab arrival Population 14 Minority nightmare The ethnic division Racism in Economic Life 18 Concentration on the North The Land Ownership Issue 20 The Organisation of Senegal River Valley (OMVS) Understanding the Mauritanian Crisis 22 Mauritania compared to the Sudan Mauritania and South Africa – a comparison Better than South Africa? Worse than South Africa? Apartheid practice in Mauritania Features of Apartheid? The Origin of Racism in Mauritania 28 Mauritania as a buffer state The Ould DaDdah Regime The Armed Forces 31 Cultural Discrimination in Mauritania 33 Distorted education 2 Slavery 35 Abolition of Slavery Slavery continues Slave Militia Mauritanian Refegees in Senegal and Mali 38 Democracy à la apartheid? 40 The African Liberation Forces of Mauritania (FLAM) 41 The implications of the Situation in Mauritania 42 Mauritania Chronology 43 US Congress Condemns Human Rights 46 Violations in Mauritania. 3 Abbreviations CMSNS Comité Militaire du Salut National (Military Committee for National Salvation) FLAM Forces de Libération Africaine de de Mauritanie (African Liberation Forces of Mauritania) FURAM Le Front Uni pour la Résistance Armée en Mauritanie (The United Front for Armed Resistance in Mauritania) OAU Organisation of African Unity OCAM L‟Organisation Commune Africaine et Malgache (Organisation of the Afro-Malagasy Community) -
General Secretariat To: Delegations Subject : CFSP Instruments (Declarations, Demarches, Heads of Mission Reports and Political Dialogue Meetings) - 2009
COUNCIL OF Brussels, 20 December 2010 THE EUROPEAN UNION 18171/10 PESC 1676 FIN 764 NOTE from : General Secretariat to: Delegations Subject : CFSP Instruments (Declarations, Demarches, Heads of Mission reports and Political Dialogue meetings) - 2009 Delegations will find enclosed for 2009: List of CFSP Declarations (ANNEX I) List of CFSP Demarches (ANNEX II) List of political dialogue meetings with Third Countries (ANNEX III) List of CFSP Reports of Heads of Mission (ANNEX IV) _______________ 18171/10 SV/aa 1 DG E Coord EN ANNEX I LIST OF CFSP DECLARATIONS 2009 1 P/EU Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union EU Declaration by the European Union EC Declaration by the European Council 2 The countries that can take part in the alignment-process are : . The Candidate Countries: Croatia, fYROM and Turkey . The Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and potential candidates: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM), Montenegro and Serbia . The EFTA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area . Ukraine, The Republic of Moldova . Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia Decl. Decl. Country SUBJECT Date Nr. by …1 concerned 1 P/EU Russia-Ukraine Interruption of Russian gas supply through Ukraine 02.01.09 2 P/EU Ghana Concerning the elections in Ghana 08.01.09 The fourth anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for 3 P/EU Sudan Sudan on 9 January 2009 09.01.09 4 P/EU Middle East On the latest developments in the Middle East 09.01.09 5 P/EU Bangladesh concerning elections in Bangladesh 09.01.09 18171/10 SV/aa 2 ANNEX I DG E Coord EN Decl. -
Security Council Distr.: General 28 December 2018
United Nations S/2018/1175 Security Council Distr.: General 28 December 2018 Original: English Activities of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel Report of the Secretary-General I. Introduction 1. The present report covers the period from 1 July to 31 December 2018 and provides an overview of developments and trends in West Africa and the Sahel. It also outlines the activities of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and progress made in the implementation of the United Nations integrated strategy for the Sahel. In addition, it provides an update on the situation in the Lake Chad basin, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2349 (2017). II. Developments and trends in West Africa and the Sahel 2. Since my last report (S/2018/649), the political situation in West Africa and the Sahel has remained stable despite significant security challenges, in particular in Burkina Faso, the Niger and Nigeria, with an increase in the cross-border activities of terrorist groups and a retreat of State authorities from peripheral zones where populations continue to live precariously. Countries of the subregion have been working together to address the complex political, security and development challenges at the root of the growing insecurity. 3. During the reporting period, a presidential election was held in Mali, regional and parliamentary elections in Mauritania and local elections in Côte d’Ivoire. The next cycle of electoral processes is causing simmering tensions across the region. A. Political and governance trends 4. In Burkina Faso, on 30 July, the National Assembly approved the reform of the electoral code, thus paving the way for the Congres pour la democratie et le progres of former President Blaise Compaore to participate in the 2020 presidential election. -
Guide to Risk Factors for Elections in the G5 Sahel Region Factors External to the Electoral Process Guide to Risk Factors for Elections in the G5 Sahel Region
Guide to Risk Factors for Elections in the G5 Sahel Region Factors External to the Electoral Process Guide to Risk Factors for Elections in the G5 Sahel Region Factors External to the Electoral Process Sead Alihodzic, Maurice Mboula Jean-Claude Didier Enguélégué, Idayat Hassan and Robin Watts © 2020 International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance International IDEA publications are independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA, its Board or its Council members. The electronic version of this publication is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) licence. You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the publication as well as to remix and adapt it, provided it is only for non-commercial purposes, that you appropriately attribute the publication, and that you distribute it under an identical licence. For more information visit the Creative Commons website: <http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/>. International IDEA Strömsborg SE–103 34 Stockholm Sweden Telephone: +46 8 698 37 00 Email: [email protected] Website: <https://www.idea.int> DOI: <https://doi.org/10.31752/idea.2020.35> ISBN: 978-91-7671-322-8 (PDF) Created with Booktype: <https://www.booktype.pro> International IDEA Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 5 1. Changing power dynamics -
The Statesmanls Yearbook 2020
The Statesman’s Yearbook 2020 The Statesman’s Yearbook 2020 The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World Springer Nature Limited Published annually since 1864 The Statesman’s Yearbook 2020 ISBN 978-1-349-95939-6 ISBN 978-1-349-95940-2 (eBook) ISBN 978-1-349-95941-9 (Bundle) https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95940-2 © Springer Nature Limited 2020 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. -
Women‟S Political Participation
Women‟s Political Participation Marilyn Waring The Institute of Public Policy, Auckland University of Technology 2010 This paper is one of a series of reports supported by the UK‟s Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). However, the views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDRC, its Board of Governors, or DFID. Contents Executive Summary: Women and Political Participation ............................................................... 4 1. Women‟s Political Participation: the Recent Numbers ........................................................... 6 2. Central and South America and the Caribbean ...................................................................... 14 3. The Middle East and North Africa ........................................................................................ 19 4. Key further questions that arise in this review ...................................................................... 29 5. Other Emergent Issues for New Research ............................................................................. 37 2 If the legislature was a husband, every woman Member of Parliament would have the right to a protection order. Background: This paper is one of a number commissioned by IDRC in 2009 in the context of the new global initiative “Democratic Governance, Women‟s Rights, and Gender Equality: Building Partnerships for a New Global Research Initiative. The initiative will investigate the -
Sub-Saharan Africa Marco Massoni
Sub-Saharan Africa Marco Massoni EXECUTIVE SUMMARY While China is making Africa the new centre of world production, those who are driving the Continental revival are an unexpected group of countries, in particular Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia and a South Africa that is no more in the vanguard. If Africa turns out to be the last global frontier from an economic point of view, in perspective it will turn out to be a frontier from a political point of view too, possibly becoming the battleground for world-wide proxy wars rather than producing mere regional outburst, as it was in the past. Actually, compared to the past, the Euro-Atlantic block is closing ranks again in the African continent. On the one hand, Paris and London (on behalf of the entire EU) are vying for a blank check over African issues, with the peculiar intention of making sure their respective national agendas coincide with the European ones and not vice versa. On the other hand, Washington has clearly understood the need to operate systemically through both public and private sector synergies, in order to catch up with China and penetrate thoroughly Africa. Therefore any co-operation scenario among external players (such as the European, the American and the Asian powers) is becoming increasingly less credible in Africa. The African continental institutions are growing in terms of technical skills, capacities and effectiveness of action, mainly due to the diversification of partnerships with emerging economies, though too slowly in regards to the Peace & Security pillar. Although the number of wars has decreased dramatically compared to just a few years ago, the continuation of endemic armed conflict with the worrying proliferation of non-state players across all crises is still an area of concern. -
Democratic Electoral Systems Around the World, 1946-2011
Electoral Studies 32 (2013) 360–369 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Electoral Studies journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/electstud Democratic Electoral Systems around the world, 1946–2011 Nils-Christian Bormann a, Matt Golder b,* a Center for Comparative and International Studies, ETH Zurich, Haldeneggsteig 4, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland b Pennsylvania State University, Department of Political Science, 306 Pond Laboratory, University Park, PA 16801, USA article info abstract Article history: This research note describes an update to Golder’s (2005) Democratic Electoral Systems Received 15 September 2012 (DES) dataset. We extend the temporal scope of the original dataset by including all leg- Received in revised form 24 January 2013 islative and presidential elections that took place in democratic states from 2001 to 2011. Accepted 25 January 2013 In addition to significantly expanding the size of the DES dataset, we offer a simplified classification scheme for electoral systems. We also provide more detailed information Keywords: about all democratic elections since 1946, including the dates for each round of elections as Electoral systems well as the rules used in different electoral tiers. A brief temporal and geographic overview Party systems Data of the data is presented. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction competing in elections, and (iv) an alternation under identical electoral rules has taken place. A regime is clas- Elections are central to the very nature of contemporary sified as a dictatorship if any of these four conditions do not democratic rule. They provide the primary means for hold (Przeworski et al., 2000). Countries are coded based on ensuring that governments remain responsive and account- the regime that existed at the end of a given year.