The Programme
Democracy Reporting International launched its Tunisia programme at the end of February 2011. Designed to support civil society organisations (CSOs) active in the field of electoral reforms and democratic governance, the objectives of the programme are to:
*Increase local capacity to respond to the transition in the area of electoral reforms
- Increase local capacity to engage on constitutional reforms related to democratic governance
- Support organisational development, especially for identifying central missions and goals, as well as building skills for management, fund raising and public outreach
CSOs are crucial to the Tunisian transition because they can contribute to:
- Greater public understanding of fundamental political and legal/electoral issues through non-partisan awareness raising and education
- Domestic observation of constituent assembly (CA) elections and other elections, such as a possible constitutional referendum, and presidential, parliamentary and local elections). Domestic election observation practices should be based on key international methodologies and best practices, including focused attention to gender issues
- Monitoring and understanding political and technical issues related to the future CA
- Input to the work of the CA, as well as analysis of the draft constitution
- Increased awareness of gender issues and opportunities for women to engage in the political reform process
- Accountability through advocacy and awareness raising on political reform efforts by public institutions
- Analysis of lessons learned after each election in order to determine further electoral reform needs
Working in close cooperation with local Tunisian CSOs, the DRI programme offers:
Trainings on constitutional, electoral and general organisational capacity-building issues to ensure long-term organisational development and stability.
Workshops and other awareness raising activities to enhance communication and help create platforms and opportunities for synergies and cooperation, avoiding duplication of efforts and providing a forum to share experiences.
Expertise throughout the electoral cycle, as well as on constitutional reforms related to democratic governance.
Key information for CSOs and the broader public, including resource documents on domestic election observation, overviews of key legal instruments and periodic briefing papers on relevant topics.
The programme was launched thanks to the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Government of Germany and is also funded by the European Union and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.