International IDEA and UNDP extends partnership to support global democracy

Other key areas of collaboration will include disinformation, climate and democracy, gender equality and women’s political participation and parliamentary support.

 The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) extended their longstanding partnership and collaboration by signing an extension of their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at UNDP HQ in New York today.

The two organizations agreed to continue cooperation and in particular share knowledge, and expertise on key areas such as governance, democratic processes and institutions and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, with a focus on #SDG16. Other key areas of collaboration will include disinformation, climate and democracy, gender equality and women’s political participation and parliamentary support.

“Governance continues to be a priority which underpins all UNDP’s development work, for people and planet. We will continue to engage in our partner countries on issues of democratic principles, to support inclusive national and subnational political processes across all regions, to allow peoples voices to be heard. UNDP is delighted to deepen its partnership with IDEA as a close and invaluable partner in this effort” said Haoliang Xu, UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support signing the memorandum on behalf of UNDP. 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy (GSoD) has identified a global trend of democratic backsliding, highlighting the urgency to support democratic processes and institutions. A critical element of this is digitalisation which profoundly affects people’s experience of democratic governance and civic engagement. Supporting an inclusive public sphere through digital platforms, integrating assistance on civic engagement, minimizing the effect of disinformation while increasing access to information and independent media, civic space and supporting inclusion of more youth voices will be key for this partnership.

“It is more critical than ever that we join forces to defend and strengthen democracy and put it at the center of the global agenda. This agreement will further International IDEA’s mission and our collaboration with the UNDP over nearly 30 years shows what we can achieve together. Whether it is the issue of clean elections, or gender, or climate change, democracy is central to our planet’s future - said Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General International IDEA. 

International IDEA and UNDP signed their first MOU in 1996 with collaboration and cooperation at all levels (global, regional, country). At global level, there are several well established and long running partnership platforms that include ACE (the Electoral Knowledge Network), which  is one of the largest on-line repositories of electoral information; the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) Network which is the most comprehensive training curriculum for electoral officials; and, iKnow Politics which is a joint project established in 2007 partnership between UNDP, IDEA, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women to provide a one-stop shop and platform for experts in the area of women’s political participation, that facilitates exchange, dialogue and advocacy.