Promotion of Democracy

Educational seminar of the Aurat Foundation in Pakistan
Educational seminar of the Aurat Foundation in Pakistan

Introduction

Promotion of Democracy and Work on Development and Peace

Democracy promotion represents one of the main areas of the international activities of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and it is dealt with as an independent subject and a cross-sectional task. Therewith our work aims primarily at the legitimacy of policy makers and decision-making processes as well as the application of democratic principles in other areas such as climate and gender policy.

Our work in the field of Democracy Promotion is taking the specific context of each county into account and varies in relation to its needs and scope of actions. We are working in strong cooperation with partners from different levels of interest, the civil society and state actors. However, civil society has a continuously important role for the successful implementation of our projects worldwide.

Promoting gender equality is another important goal of our work. Our programs on conflict management, reconciliation and reconstruction of democratic institutions are characterized by a gender-sensitive approach. Since 2007, the Heinrich Böll Foundation is a member of FriEnt (Working Group on Development and Peace). The foundation takes an active part in building competence and contributes its experience in the political management of conflicts and in dealing with civil society and state actors.

Beside the focus on climate change and its consequences for democracy we are supporting human rights activities.

Thus, we are promoting projects concerning the empowerment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersexual (LGBTI) people and acting as a network- and a co-operation partner of different group of interests.

Human Rights

women who were demonstrating with banners in Pakistan

Publication

Gender Politics Makes A Difference: experiences of the Heinrich Böll Foundation across the world

April 15, 2011 - In this publication, the Heinrich Böll Foundation presents some of its experiences, both setbacks and successes. It is just a small sample of HBS' work all over the world.  HBS is very much aware that its political and financial contributions are often only part of a larger network; yet its work does make a difference – for more gender justice. Barbara Unmüßig more»
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Publication Series Ecology, Volume 6

Climate Change Violates Human Rights

- November 11, 2009 - It is mainly the inhabitants of the global South who suffer from the effects of climate change. This publication uses case examples to illustrate the dangers faced by indigenous peoples in particular, as well as the tools the UN human rights system gives them to support their struggle for just climate policies. By Theodor Rathgeber more»
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Democracy as a Challenge

Peter Burnell

Democratization and Climate Politics: Should they go hand in hand?

August 30, 2011 - Are democracies are more environmentally conscious than non-democratic countries? Ideally, progress toward stable democracy and tackling climate change should proceed together. But sometimes political experimentation could retard the bold and urgent action now needed against climate change. Peter Burnell more»
Cover: Sudan - No Easy Ways Ahead

Publication series democracy, Volume 18

Sudan – No Easy Ways Ahead

- As the six-year transitional period defined in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement draws to a close, Sudan is sliding into another crisis. The Heinrich Böll Foundation, which has been working both with civil society partners in Sudan and on Sudan-related issues in the German context for several years, has put together this publication in order to reflect on such scenarios. With contributions by Alex de Waal, Atta El-Battahani, Marina Peter, John Yoh, Roland Marchal, and Peter Schumann. more»
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Grenzübergang mit rot-weißer Schranke

Publication Series Democracy

Twenty Years After

- October 19, 2009 - In the words of the Polish journalist and dissident, Adam Michnik, 1989 was Europe's annus mirabilis. The peaceful revolution of that year was a miracle effected by the people in central and eastern Europe. more»
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LGBTI

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Publication

Shadow report on the Violations of the Rights of LGBT in Serbia

- In March 2009, the Serbian National Assembly narrowly passed the Anti-Discrimination Law despite immense opposition from religious leaders and right-wing political parties. Nevertheless, breaches of Human Rights of LGBT are still common in Serbia today. This Shadow Report evaluates the law’s application and provides recommendations of how to improve implementation and thus the Human Rights situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Inter* individuals in Serbia. more»
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Democracy Promotion Worldwide

Publication series democracy, Volume 31

Afghanistan’s Transition in the Making

November 29, 2012 - Perceptions and Policy Strategies of Women Parliamentarians
The present study by Andrea Fleschenberg shows that in national and international debates about the transition process in Afghanistan women’s voices are seldom present, or taken into consideration. Andrea Fleschenberg more»
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Perspectives Middle East

Syria's Revolution: Society, Power, Ideology

- February 8, 2012 - It is almost a year ago that Syrian citizens, inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, courageously took to the streets in protest against the decades-long denial of their basic rights by the Assad regime. But Syria as a topic for research has long been marginalized in cultural, social, and political studies. This publication written by authors from the region wants to give new perspectives on Syria. more»
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Syria: "There Must Be a Freedom Square, And We Have Set the Date"

- November 21, 2011 - As the Syrian popular uprising continues, so does the brutal response by the regime. A recount of daily confrontations with arrest, torture and disappearance of family members, friends and fellow activists. Through the cracks of repression, though, shimmers an undaunted dream of freedom. Razan Zaitouneh more»

Interview

New constitution: Kenyan Member of Parliament awarded with German Prize

- October 26, 2011 - Last year the people of Kenya approved a new democratic constitution. The Member of Parliament Abdikadir Mohamed Hussein was awarded this year's German Africa Prize for his great contribution to the document. In an audio interview, he talks about the benefits of the new constitution, the Kenyan bill of rights and his countries role in the international community. Maria Kind more»

Comment

WikiLeaks' Promise to Democracy

- February 1, 2011 -

Having power does something to people. They get full of hubris; they forget who they are supposed to represent; they start exercising their power behind closed doors and they become arrogant in a way that is both unbecoming and potentially dangerous. This is one of the things that WikiLeaks counteracts. A comment by

Christian Engström more»

Publication

Shadow report on the Violations of the Rights of LGBT in Serbia

- In March 2009, the Serbian National Assembly narrowly passed the Anti-Discrimination Law despite immense opposition from religious leaders and right-wing political parties. Nevertheless, breaches of Human Rights of LGBT are still common in Serbia today. This Shadow Report evaluates the law’s application and provides recommendations of how to improve implementation and thus the Human Rights situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Inter* individuals in Serbia. more»
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Peter Burnell

Democratization and Climate Politics: Should they go hand in hand?

- August 30, 2011 - Are democracies are more environmentally conscious than non-democratic countries? Ideally, progress toward stable democracy and tackling climate change should proceed together. But sometimes political experimentation could retard the bold and urgent action now needed against climate change. Peter Burnell more»
Cover: Protesting Woman with sign

Perspectives #2 Mai 2011

People's Power: The Arab World in Revolt

- May 6, 2011 - The 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests seemed unexpected, but were they really that unexpected? This publication addresses many questions, among them: First, what has happened? And second, what has invested these regimes with such long-lasting resilience? Layla Al-Zubaidi, Doreen Khoury, Anbara Abu-Ayyash, Joachim Paul more»
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The 2010 Myanmar elections

- January 4, 2011 - In November 2010 Myanmar went to the polls for the first time in 20 years. While the elections have been written off by the west and welcomed in Asia, the issues around this seminal event are far more complex on a closer look. This article will aim to shed some light on the background to the elections, what changes the new structure is likely to engender and what Myanmar’s main future challenges will be. By Marie Lall more»
The numbers 141520-112

Report

Control and Censorship of Online Media in Thailand

- December 21, 2010 - In the three years since its enforcement, the Thai Computer Crime Act has led to 117 court orders to block access to 74,686 Internet URLs. A situational report supported by our Southeast Asia office concludes, that "no one can deny that the Thai people’s right to freedom of expression and opinion in the online world is in crisis." more»

Heinrich Böll Stiftung India with partners at the Asia Europe People’s Forum

- December 7, 2010 - During the official Asia Europe Meeting in Brussels in October, our office in Delhi joined organizing the Asia Europe People’s Forum. This civil society forum strives to advance people’s voice in shaping Asia Europe relations and questions the neo-liberal ASEM agenda on grounds of citizen’s rights, economic, social, political and environmental justice. A report By Shalini Yog more»
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Publication series democracy, Volume 14

Import/Export Democracy

- March 9, 2010 - After 1989 in Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the Caucasus, two aspects played and still play a key role in determining whether a political system exhibits merely a democratic façade or a truly democratic constitution: civil society and political culture, on the one hand, and the influence of ethnic conflicts, on the other. This publication illuminates the successes and failures, the instruments and institutions, and the concepts behind two decades of external democracy promotion. more»
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Publication Series Democracy, Volume 15

Actors without Society

- November 27, 2009 - Twenty years after the epoch-making change in 1989, which affected the post-Yugoslavian space in a way entirely different from other former “real-socialist” European countries, this study is an effort toward an analytical view on the past two decades of development of civil society in the western Balkans. The study shows: Without civic engagement, there will be no changes. By Srđan Dvornik more»
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