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News & Updates
Feature
Registering Marginalized Populations to Vote in Nepal
As Nepal undergoes critical electoral and governance changes, IFES Nepal is working with local partners to register Nepalis – including Dalits, youth, Muslim women, freed Kamaiya (those subjected to forced labor) and other historically marginalized groups – to vote. This is part of IFES Nepal’s efforts to ensure that all Nepalis are able to participate actively in Nepal’s evolving political process.
News & Updates
Feature
Improving Access to Citizenship Certificates
As a primary legal document in Nepal, the citizenship certificate is compulsory for banking; accessing formal education and employment; registering on the voter’s roll; and obtaining a variety of benefits, including social security and government allowances for people with disabilities, victims of armed conflict and internally displaced persons. Yet despite its importance, there are significant barriers – including lack of knowledge or supporting documents and issues related to gender, caste and extreme poverty – that hinder access to citizenship certificates, especially for those from Nepal’s more marginalized groups.
Publication
Book
Gender Equality & Election Management Bodies: A Best Practices Guide
The full participation of women and men in a country's political and decision-making processes as voters, candidates, elected officials and electoral management body (EMB) staff is crucial. Yet, despite a set of robust international instruments and many positive developments in recent years, women represent only 21.7 percent of world's parliamentarians and in many countries they continue to be marginalized and underrepresented in political and electoral processes. Clearly, major steps still need to be taken before true gender equality is achieved in this arena.
September 23, 2014
News & Updates
Feature
Empowering Youth in Nepal to Secure their Voting Rights
As part of the USAID-funded “Strengthening Political Parties, Electoral and Legislative Processes” program, IFES Nepal is partnering with subawardees like Youth Initiative (YI) to strengthen the participation of youth, ethnic minorities and historically marginalized groups in Nepal’s electoral process. In support of this objective, IFES Nepal and YI recently launched a new initiative – “Voter Registration, Electoral Participation and Citizenship Certificate Support for Youth” – to ensure that eligible youth are able to register and secure their right to vote.
News & Updates
Feature
IFES Hosts Election Commission of Nepal
On July 14, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) hosted a delegation from the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN), led by Commissioner Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, an interactive learning session at its Washington, D.C. headquarters.
News & Updates
Feature
Marie-Paule Kodjo’s Fight for Women’s Rights in Côte d’Ivoire
So much of the conversation in Washington and in the media on Africa tends to focus on the violent and tragic events transpiring on the continent. And while there is much work to be done by African States, their citizens and the international community to advance human rights and democracy, the work that is being done by inspiring figures all over Africa is often overlooked. Marie-Paule Kodjo, a dogged women’s rights advocate from Côte d’Ivoire, is one such figure. Her story and life’s work evidence many of the challenges women face throughout Africa, yet offers a hopeful prospect for the advancement of their rights.
News & Updates
Press Release
Mandela’s Democracy: A Collective Triumph
A statement from International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) President and CEO Bill Sweeney on the passing of former South African President and equal rights advocate Nelson Mandela.
Election FAQ
Elections in Nepal: November 19 Constituent Assembly Elections
On November 19, Nepalis will elect members to form a Constituent Assembly (CA), which will be charged with drafting a new constitution for the South Asian country. IFES' frequently asked questions (FAQs) Elections in Nepal: November 19 Constituent Assembly Elections shed light on the poll.
News & Updates
Interview/Speech/Testimony
IFES Alumni Goes Back to School, Looks to Level the Global Playing Field
Alexandra Matthews, a graduate student at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, tells us what she learned about empowering the vulnerable while at IFES, and how this work inspired her studies.
News & Updates
Press Release
IFES Supports Women’s Network in Cote d’Ivoire
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is honored to join the Women’s Network in Cote d’Ivoire at the official presentation of recommendations to Ivoirian institutions and government on new opportunities for women’s leadership in political processes. A priority among those recommendations is support for the Ivoirian Parliament to enact a gender quota to increase the participation of women in government.