Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

As an institution of seven political parties, comprising governing and opposition parties, big and small parties, NIMD has a distinct mandate: to facilitate the development of pluriform political systems, focusing particularly on the institutional development of political parties in young democracies.

The competition is intrinsic to multi-party democracy. However, agreement on the rules of the political game, combined with a shared responsibility to improve the way democratic systems function, is essential for multiparty democracy to succeed and thrive.

We also recognise that the methods used to support democracy are just as important as the results. After all, the essence of democracy is to resolve conflicts of interest through dialogue and to settle disputes by nonviolent means. Dialogue is the best way to drive forward peaceful reform processes. To be effective, it should take place locally, focus on reform agendas, and build on the political will it generates. Through dialogue, trust can grow – between the stakeholders and in the political process itself. And with trust, democracy can become institutionalized.

Political parties need to be invited to take the lead in addressing gaps in democracy – an endeavour in which they should fully engage civil society organisations.

Wherever possible, our programme is implemented in strategic cooperation with political foundations in other countries and with multilateral organisations such as the UNDP, OAS and OSCE/ODIHR. The great value we attach to such collaboration – and our desire to encourage the European Union to play a more active role in supporting democracy around the world – resulted in a study for the European Parliament entitled No lasting Peace and Prosperity without Democracy & Human Rights. This study contains a number of recommendations for a more strategic and forthright approach to building democracy, concluding that democracy support should become a central pillar of the EU’s external policies.

Today, NIMD maintains relations with 152 political parties in fifteen countries on five continents. To consolidate these relationships, representatives of the political parties met in The Hague in June 2005. The foundations of this partnership were expressed in a jointly agreed NIMD Partnership Charter, which forms a milestone in NIMD’s young institutional life.

Later in 2005, the first full external evaluation of NIMD was conducted by the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM). Involving interviews with stakeholders both here and in five of the countries where programmes are running, this produced a positive assessment of our specific approach to democracy assistance and of our contribution to supporting multi-party political systems and political parties.

In close consultation with the Dutch political parties, the NIMD Board accepted the specific recommendations of this evaluation, which it will start to implement in 2006. Among other issues, this will deepen NIMD’s knowledge base and help NIMD to contribute to an international knowledge network that focuses on political systems and political party development.

As the external evaluation confirmed, the encouraging impact of our programmes provides us with important incentives to plan our next multi-annual programme, which will run from 2007 to 2010. We therefore look
forward to deepening relationships with our partners around the world.

By contributing to increasingly stable and secure political systems and institutionalised political parties, we hope to make the links between democracy and development more tangible.

Professor Jos van Kemenade, NIMD President
The Hague, May 2006