Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Today, a number of African countries are moving towards a constitutional order that is not only democratic and legitimate, but also inclusive and popularly accepted.

NIMD’s Africa Regional Programme conference is being hosted by the Ugandan political parties who, on 5 February 2010, launched an interparty dialogue platform known as the Interparty Organisation for Dialogue, (IPOD).

Marieke van Doorn, Senior Programme Coordinator for the Secretariat of the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), discusses recent events in Zimbabwe, and what her organisation has been doing to promote democracy.

This week, NIMD’s Africa Regional Programme (ARP) will facilitate an exchange programme in Nairobi between members of Ghana’s Constitutional Review Committee and constitutional stakeholders from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya.

In July, the Zimbabwe Institute (ZI), set up a number of activities in preparation of the country’s public consultations on constitutional reform, which are taking place until November.

‘If you wanted a revolution in Zimbabwe, you shouldn’t have negotiated’ says Zimbabwe’s PM Morgan Tsvangirai as he starts a tour of Western capitals. Tsvangirai's first stop was The Hague, where he met with the Dutch PM and an NIMD delegation, headed by NIMDs President, dr. B. Bot

On April 24-25, two Zimbabwean Ministers, Elton Mangoma, (Economic Planning and Industry) and Welshman Ncube (Industry and Commerce), visited The Netherlands on their first trip to Europe since the inauguration of the new tripartite government in February this year.

NIMD is hosting Ministers Welshman Ncube and Elton Mangoma In The Hague to discuss the possibility of receiving support for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe with Dutch politicians and aid agencies. The Ministers will also meet with the Dutch Minister for International Cooperation Bert Koenders.

The Zimbabwe Institute's Isaac Maposa conveyed a sobering message at a meeting in press centre Nieuwspoort in The Hague December 2, 2008

A governance monitor finds democratic governance to be steadily improving in 31 out of 48 sub-Saharan African countries.