Month: December 2015

Photo featuring the four Tunisian Democracy Award winners, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and NDI President Kenneth Wollack. Photo by me

 

May she always stay as young and innocent.

Photo by me

Photo by me

Photo by me

Photo by me

Co-authored by Rebecca Reingold and Sandra Majestic

Last month, sexual and reproductive rights activists found a new use for drone technology. The Dutch NGO Women on Waves, in collaboration with other women’s rights organizations, coordinated the first “Abortion Drone”. The unmanned aerial vehicle flew packets of abortion pills from the German town of Frankfurt to the Polish town of Slubice.

The drone delivered mifepristone and misoprostol, which are typically used for medical abortions. In general, the pills can be taken through the 9^th week of a pregnancy. They can be taken without supervision by health professionals and have been demonstrated to be both safe and effective.

Both medications have been on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of essential medicines since 2005. Some of the decline in maternal deaths due to complications of unsafe abortion between 2003 and 2008 (from 66,500 in 2003 to 47,000 in 2008) appears to be from more women using medical abortion pills to terminate pregnancy on their own.

These pills have been approved for use in most European countries. In Poland, however, women can only access an abortion in very limited circumstances. Poland’s restrictive abortion law allows women to obtain an abortion only when:

1. The life or the health of the pregnant woman is in danger;
2. The pregnancy is the result of a criminal act (such as rape or incest); or
3. There are serious fetal abnormalities.

In practice, however, Polish women are often unable to obtain even the abortions to which they are legally entitled. It is estimated that at least 50,000 underground abortionstake place in Poland each year. And the doctors who perform abortions illegally often use outdated tools and procedures.

According to Rebecca Gomperts, the founder of Women on Waves: “In Poland, even women who could have an abortion under Polish law are often denied it because Catholic hospitals don’t help them, even if their life is in danger. Rich people can go to Germany or the UK to have abortions, but it’s the women who don’t have the means or access to information who are suffering.” In coordinating the drone delivery of abortion pills, Women on Waves sought to draw attention to the social injustice caused by Poland’s restrictive abortion laws.

This new strategy for delivering medical abortions to women does not appear to violate national or international law. The drone operation did not require authorization from either country’s government, as it flew through controlled airspace, was not used for commercial purposes and weighed less than 5kg. A doctor prescribed the medications in Germany, where medical abortions are permitted. And since Poland only criminalizes doctors who perform illegal abortions, not women who terminate their own pregnancies, a woman cannot be held liable for taking the medication there. The German police threatened to press charges (presumably against those who flew the drone) but the grounds for such charges remain unclear.

See original blog post here.

Published on July 24, 2015

 

Editor’s Note: The United Nations International Democracy Day (Sept. 15, 2015) is observed every year as a reminder of the universality of democratic values.

To celebrate this year’s Democracy Day, we asked NDI staff, who support democracy worldwide, to share a photograph that best represents the answer to the question: “What does democracy mean to you?” NDI staff are from more than 60 countries, spanning five continents. Over 100 thought-provoking images were submitted by photographers from all around the world, but the following five stood out.

Click here to share via Twitter your answer the question: “What does democracy means to you?” Use hashtag #DemocracyIs.

1. Resilience (Tweet this)

The power was cut, but despite the surrounding darkness a national campaign for education and awareness of citizen involvement training session in Mauritania continued with only the light from cell phones and flashlights. Democracy means resilience. Marie-Ève Bilodeau, NDI’s resident director in Tunisia, took this photo while in Nouadhibou, Mauritania.

2. The freedom to participate (Tweet this)

The intense focus on this individual, captured by Tassos Coulaloglou, senior program officer for NDI’s governance team, at a constituency dialogue in Srey Snam, Cambodia, shows us that democracy means the opportunity to participate. In the faintly blurred crowd, the faces of men, women and children are all represented. These events have allowed thousands of Cambodians to ask questions and voice concerns, as well as learn about their representatives’ responsibilities to constituents.

3. Education for all (Tweet this)

In Afghanistan, literacy and primary school completion rates for young women are far below that of their male counterparts. This photo submitted by Muhammad Akbar Qati, regional manager for Northern Afghanistan inspires hope that the gap could be shrinking. During a class and with smiles on their faces, these Afghan girls freely discuss the concept of democracy. Democracy means education for all.

4. Security and equal representation (Tweet this)

A traditional Mayan ceremony in Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala, celebrates the launch of the “More Inclusion, Less Violence, ” election observation effort to reduce election violence and illegal campaign activity leading up to the September 6 presidential election. The photo, taken by Sara Barker the resident program manager in Guatemala, shows us that democracy means security and equal representation for marginalized groups.

5. The right to vote (Tweet this)

Women in Nasarawa state, Nigeria, line up to show their permanent voter’s cards, waiting to be accredited to vote in the March 2015 national elections. This photo, which was taken by Ryan Dalton, senior program assistant with NDI’s Central and West Africa team, shows that democracy means the right to vote. In a largely peaceful election, Muhammadu Buhari’s victory over incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan marked the country’s first democratic transition of power from one political party to another.

View the Blog in its original form here.

Published on September 15, 2015 

In recognition of International Day of Democracy, NDI partnered with the International Republican Institute (IRI) and International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) to host an online discussion, or TweetTalk.

These three organizations constitute the principal partners in the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), an organization that was founded in 1995 to pool the experience of the premier international organizations dedicated to democratic development.

Kenneth Wollack, president of NDI, Michael D. Svetlik, vice president for programs at IFES, and Tom Garrett, vice president for programs at IRI, answered eight democracy-related questions posed by @CEPPS and other TweetTalk participants. A summary of the TweetTalk is available on Storify.

Using the hashtag #DemTalk, respondents discussed both general shifts in democratic trends across the world and specific examples of programs that create “space for civil society” — the theme of this year’s Democracy Day.

In response to a question about recent democratic successes, Wollack pointed out that there are too many examples to fit into a 140 character tweet, but reminded us that “democratic progress is not linear.” Democratic milestones are not always set in stone and can be reached in different ways. Garrett noted the Nigeria’s first peaceful transition of power between political parties during the country’s March 2015 election. @NDIWomen mentioned the high percentage of female members of parliament in Rwanda and Bolivia. Tunisia, Ghana, Guyana, Ukraine, Indonesia, Nigeria and others were highlighted as countries that have recently experienced democratic growth.

The increasing number of countries that participate in Democracy Day also reflects the growing support for democracy. According to the UN, this year members of parliament in 162 countries promoted International Democracy Day through the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Only 46 countries promoted Democracy Day when it was first celebrated in 2008.

Responding to a question on civil society success stories, Hana Murr, senior program assistant with NDI’s Political Parties team, mentioned the #YouStink movement in Lebanon. After the city landfill in Beirut reached capacity in July, the government started unloading garbage on the coast. Citizens formed the #YouStink movement to protest this problem. Murr credited this movement for encouraging the government consider viable technical alternatives to the city’s trash crisis.

Austin Robles, program officer for Latin American and the Caribbean at NDI, highlighted “persistent, concerted civic pressure” from civil society in Guatemala that forced the resignation and arrest of corrupt officials in the lead up to the September 6 presidential election.

During this TweetTalk there were 531 tweets by 106 users with the potential to reach 216,329 unique users with over 1 million impressions. The majority of the 106 users were from the United States. However, users from Brazil, Uganda, Nigeria, Poland, Canada and India also joined the conversation. Questions and responses were tweeted in English, French and Spanish.

Read this blog in its original form with images here and view my Storify here.

Published on September 24, 2015