Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

As of June 1 Mr Bot will succeed Prof. Dr Jos van Kemenade, who has served as President of the NIMD board for five years.

A long-time diplomat, Mr Bot started his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1963. From 1986-1989 he was Ambassador of the Netherlands to Turkey and served ten years in Brussels as Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the European Union until 2003, when he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.

NIMD is an organization of political parties in The Netherlands for political parties in young democracies. NIMD supports joint initiatives of parties to improve the democratic system in their country. NIMD also supports the institutional development of political parties, helps them develop party programmes and assists them in efforts to enhance relations with civil society organizations and the media.

NIMD was founded in 2000 by seven Dutch political parties: CDA, PvdA, VVD, Groenlinks, D66, Christen Unie en SGP. The NIMD currently works with more than 150 political parties from 17 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe.