The UN and UNDP in Brussels

Democratic Governance

To consolidate and deepen democracy, free and fair elections must go hand in hand with efforts to ensure that all people have full opportunities to participate in the decisions affecting their lives. UNDP brings people together within nations and around the world, building partnerships and sharing ways to promote participation, accountability and effectiveness at all levels. The general challenges of consolidating and deepening democracy apply to developed as well as developing countries. They are most urgent in states emerging from conflict, where violence has contaminated the reservoir of social trust needed for social cohesion and mutual tolerance. Local, regional and national governments need the capacity and resources to deliver effective economic and social policies that promote human development and manage the public services that citizens expect. Moreover governance needs to be grounded in the principles of human rights, transparency and general probity, as well as gender equality. UNDP's core services to support national processes of democratic transitions, focus on: (1) Policy advice and technical support; (2) Strengthening capacity of institutions and individuals (3) Advocacy, communications, and public information; (4) Promoting and brokering dialogue; and (5) Knowledge networking and sharing of good practices.

Actions undertaken by UNDP with the European Commission

In the area of governance, the cooperation between UNDP and the EC aims to help countries develop institutions, policies and capacities that help to eradicate poverty and to foster economic systems that enforce clear and predictable rules as well as provide adequate budgetary support for social and priority areas in promoting development. The EC and UNDP recognize that democratic governance is valuable in its own right and the way they have approached the democratic governance agenda acknowledges that it can advance human development and the achievement of the MDGs. This is because when more than economic growth is considered, democracy can work to put in a political dynamic to respond to the social and economic priorities of people and contribute to reducing poverty and promoting human development; that democracies contribute to political stability and thus to human security because open space for political contests allows for more peaceful resolution and management of conflict; that democratic institutions and processes that give voice to people, and hold rulers accountable, as well as open competition for power, make politicians more likely to respond to the needs of ordinary people. This includes fostering political systems that respect human rights, ensuring participation during and outside elections, decentralizing power, offering equal access to the justice, removing gender and minority discrimination.

In concrete terms, the EC and UNDP have worked around the World to help advance regional and national policies that support good governance, have allowed greater access of citizens to judicial systems, have allowed for reforms in policing and in combating trafficking and corruption, have provided parliamentary strengthening and have worked more closely than ever in the domain of establishing free and fair multiparty elections. Indeed, in April 2006, UNDP and the European Commission - both of which have considerable experience in the electoral domain - prepared and adopted joint operational guidelines  for electoral assistance. The biggest operation in this respect has been the preparation and observation of elections in the DR Congo, which held its first democratic elections in 40 years on 30th July, 2006.

Did you know?

Working together in Nigeria, the EC and the UN provided extensive support to the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2007, including: the publication of 75,000 copies of a manual for voter registration officials; the dissemination of tens of thousands of copies of the Electoral Act to enhance electoral education; the distribution of hundreds of thousands of copies of Guidelines and a Code of Conduct for the police; the delivery of extensive training for the police and other security forces on election-related security operations and human rights protection activities. As a consequence of extensive voter education, a record 60 million people registered to cast their vote in the elections. In Sierra Leone, which held its second general elections in 2007 after a devastating war, the EC-UN partnership was key to the successful conduct of what is widely regarded as the most credible elections in the country’s history.

Sub-areas

• Border Management
• Decentralization,Local Governance, Urban and Rural Development
• Human Rights
• Justice and Rule of Law
• Parliamentary Development
• Women's Empowerment