The European Commission has just launched an interesting website on capacity development that aims at stimulating the debate on the reform of technical cooperation. It has an interesting section on governance assistance with includes links to relevant research on corruption in developing countries, governance assessments and state-building.
On April 22nd, the Democratization and Governance Working Group at SIPA co-organized with the European Students Association (ESA) a discussion on “The Promotion of Rule of Law by The European Union”. The lecture was delivered by Mr. Lambert Schmidt, from the Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security at the European Commission, who is also at present an “Émile Noël Governance Fellow” at the NYU School of Law.
Mr. Schmidt provided a general picture of the current challenges faced by the EU in the promotion of rule of law both within Europe and in other parts of the world. The topics discussed included the encompassing character of the “rule of law” notion and the different mechanisms used by the EU in its advancement. Some of the issues raised by the audience during the Q&A session also included the challenge of coordination of the different rule of law donors or questions about the strategy developed by the EU in the case of specific countries.
On April 15th, the Democratization and Governance Working Group at SIPA hosted its first panel to discuss the 2004 local elections in Sierra Leone. Beginning with a short video from Sierra Leone shot by SIPA alumni Steve Vigil, the purpose of the event was to illustrate the complexity of implementing elections in a post-conflict context, both from an operational and political perspective. Steve Vigil was the Logistics Coordination Officer for United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone. His video detailed the day-to-day activities of electoral officers in the field.
The panelists included Adrian Morrice, the United Nation Mission in Sierra Leone’s Senior Electoral Officer for the 2004 local elections. Mr. Morrice provided a background of the Electoral Assistance Division’s work in the country, along with a candid portrayal of the unique challenges faced while implementing the elections. Mr. Morrice is currently part of the Policy Planning Unit of the UN Department of Political Affairs working on peacebuilding issues.
Final comments were provided by Lincoln Mitchell, Arnold A. Saltzman Assistant Professor in the Practice of International Politics at Columbia University. A practitioner of political development, Dr. Mitchell focused on the role elections play in the broader process of democratic transition. Dr. Mitchell has worked in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, along with advising and managing domestic political campaigns.
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