Supporting Democratic Reforms: Elections, Constitutions and Political Rights
Democracy Reporting International’s Middle East programme was initially designed to respond to the findings of the 2004 UNDP Arab Development Report, which noted that “Arab legislation in most urgent need of a thorough review includes laws regulating the exercise of political rights, the legislature and its electoral processes, the right to set up civil society organizations, including political parties and their activities and laws on the judicial authority. Legislation should introduce effective mechanisms to ensure fair elections.”
The urgency of these concerns was dramatically highlighted by the overthrow of Tunisian President Ben-Ali in January 2011 and the subsequent events in Egypt and beyond.
DRI supports local civil society partner organisations to collect and analyse relevant information about electoral frameworks, constitutional arrangements and the broader political context. Democracy Reporting International and its partners publish comprehensive reports about these findings, including key recommendations for reform in light of the international obligations that states in the Middle East and North Africa have voluntarily signed up to — most prominently, the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
DRI has field offices in Cairo and Tunis.