This week we feature USAID Kenya as Mission of the Week. Read more >>
Tag archives for Elections
Timor-Leste Administers Own Elections
On July 7, I went to the polls—along with my fellow citizens of Timor-Leste—to participate in a notable election: not only did we elect a new parliament for the second time in our young country’s history, but we also voted in general elections that for the first time were managed and run entirely by Timorese institutions. Read more >>
Celebrating Media’s Impact on Development on World Press Freedom Day
May 3 is World Press Freedom Day – a day established by the UN General Assembly in 1993 to celebrate the principles of press freedom and bring attention to the threats to media independence around the world. USAID celebrates World Press Freedom Day and welcomes the opportunity to salute the professionalism and bravery of media [...]
Standing with the Egyptian People at an Historical Moment
I recently returned from a trip to Cairo and Sohag, a town in rural “Upper Egypt” along the Nile. I have traveled to Egypt before, but this time my visit fell during the lead-up to the first-round of Egypt’s historic parliamentary elections and fresh tensions and unrest in Tahrir Square. The air was electric, and [...]
Observing the Brave in Vilnius
by Sarah Mendelson, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance We’re Together, Even When We Are Not The Arab Spring has left many activists at the Community of Democracies hopeful—perhaps none more so than Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. She wasn’t physically in attendance but virtually and spiritually, her presence was [...]
Haiti: First Impressions on the Runoff Election
Submitted by Ben Edwards, USAID/Haiti Like most days in Port-au-Prince, Haitians began to fill the streets at sunrise. On this Sunday, however, they were headed to the polls, eager to exercise their democratic right in the presidential runoff and parliamentary elections. Voters at many polling stations waited calmly in line for their turn to vote. [...]
Helping the First Elections to Succeed
by Diman Simanjuntak Today I work at USAID/Indonesia as a development specialist in the Office of Democratic Governance. But during the popular uprising that led to the downfall of Suharto and the return of democratic government to Indonesia I was a student activist. After the popular, student led uprising in Indonesia – similar to what [...]
The Role of Teachers and Textbooks in a Democracy
Submitted by: Diana Harper “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.” —James Madison, 1788 This month’s historic referendum will determine southern Sudan’s future, either as an independent country of part of a unified Sudan. Voting ends on Saturday, January [...]
The “Stuff” of Democracy – USAID Supports the Southern Sudan Referendum
Submitted by Diana Harper Two hands clasped together, or one hand alone? This is the choice that southern Sudanese voters will face in less than one week, when they choose either to remain part of a unified Sudan or to secede and form an independent country. Several democratic milestones have paved the way for Sudan [...]
Sudan Takes Another Step in Its Peace Process
Submitted by Diana Harper Last week we reported on the successful and peaceful close of voter registration in Sudan for January’s referendum on southern independence. In another promising development, this month Blue Nile state began popular consultations, a political process guaranteed by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Sudan’s violent, 22-year civil war. [...]
