Post Election Democracy Project (PEDP)

The Iraq Foundation has been awarded a grant from the US Department fo State Democracy Human Rights, and Labor office to implement a three year project to meet the need for good governance in Iraq during the period following the elections for a new Council of Representatives (anticipated in March 2010).

The programs in the project will seek to improve capacity and performance of parliamentarians in the new CoR, raise the responsiveness and accountability of the government by empowering civil society, and expand civic awareness and participati0on in the democratic process, especially among youth.

The Iraq Foundation will work with a consortium to achieve the following objectives: (1) To strengthen the national parliament and its credibility in resolving disputes, especially by building the capacity of incoming women parliamentarians. Activities will include: training new women parliamentarians in legislative skills, negotiation skills, issues-based alliances, constituency relationships, outreach and advocacy; facilitating exchanges with regional women parliamentarians; peer networking; and reporting on experiences of women in CoR. The Iraq Foundation will work with The Woodrow Wilson International Center to achieve this objective.

In collaboration with Freedom House, objective (2) seeks to improve government accountability by empowering civil society to act as monitors of government performance. Activities will include collaboration with Freedom House in training civic leaders as a watchdog group on methodologies and techniques for monitoring and reporting on good governance, government policies, and the state of freedoms; publication of reports on governance; meetings with government officials; and television talk shows.

Objective (3) will focus on developing Iraqi youth’s understanding of democratic processes, civic awareness, and means of peaceful resolution of differences. Activities will encompass summer courses at the American University of Iraq-Suleimaniya, using eDemocracy materials developed by Freedom House; small grants for national reconciliation projects; internships with the watchdog groups; and awards for short videos on civic relations. A web site for the project will be created to carry all training materials. The consortium of the Iraq Foundation, Freedom House, the Woodrow Wilson International Center, and American University in Iraq-Suleimaniya, combines outstanding expertise and capacity to develop and reinforce democratization in Iraq.

Our focus on new women parliamentarians will lead to improvement in the performance of the legislature, where many of Iraq’s disputes are debated or deadlocked. Providing tools and confidence to civic leaders to monitor, engage with, and report on the workings of the government according to internationally recognized standards will provide high motivation for state institutions to become more responsive and accountable. The youth program looks towards Iraq’s future leaders, inculcates democratic principles, and encourages national cohesion. The program will establish a curriculum and an educational track record that will be offered to the AUI-S and other universities in Iraq.