Support for Democracy and Mutual Learning

Political Parties of Finland for Democracy, Demo Finland, functions as a co-operative organisation for Finnish parliamentary parties. It seeks to enhance democracy by carrying out and facilitating collaborative projects between Finnish political parties and political movements in the developing countries. The purpose of these collaborative projects is to promote dialogue and mutual learning on different forms of democracy, and the problems and possibilities thereof.

A vote for women – a documentary film

"We know that the guys have their own networks, even in equal societies, there are associations that have existed for hundreds of years and they still do not let us women in. We need to have our own networks supporting each other."Astrid Thors

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The School of Politics strengthens the voice of Tunisian youth

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The 14th of January marked the first birthday of the Tunisian revolution and the fall of former dictator Ben Ali. Since then, Tunisia has taken remarkable steps in its democratization process. The political life is active, dozens of parties and hundreds of civil society organisations have been founded. Also, a governing body for drafting a new constitution was elected in a succesful election last autumn. Nevertheless, many Tunisians are disappointed by the slow pace of democratization. Especially the youth think that they have been forgotten. By a Tunisian request, Demo Finland has launched a co-operative project that aims to enhance the youth's voice in politics.

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New EU program to support political and democratic reform in Southern Mediterranean

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European commission is launching a new program to promote political and democratic reform in Northern Africa. The program, in its first phase, will take place in Morocco and Tunisia and aims at supporting independence and efficiency of the judiciary.

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Joint Youth and Student’s Platform practising leadership in co-operation with UNDP

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UN's development program UNDP organised a three day training for the leaders of the Joint Youth and Student's platform in co-operation with Demo Finland. The training, that took place in mid-December, aimed at developing leadership skills, that value co-operation, fair and equal governance, discussion and justice as tools for good management.

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The second wave of support for good governance

Supporting good governance and democracy demands continuous scrutiny of tools and methods used by the aid providers. Development aid that supports political systems is delicate and heavily bound to areal and cultural contexts. The new report by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace examines the development of perspectives used in governance and democracy support.

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Russian and Belarusian citizens under strictening authoritarian rule

The Arab Spring's positive and eager atmosphere for democracy has been the most evident democracy news of the year. Unfortunately, human rights and democracy activists are not given a level playground all over the world – for example in Russia and Belarus their actions are often suppressed by brutal means. Meanwhile North African countries are voting in their first democratic elections, Russia and Belarus are sinking deeper into authoritarian regimes.

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