World e-Parliament Report 2010 now available
The United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union just released the World e-Parliament Report 2010. The Report, prepared by the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, intends to help legislatures to harness the potential benefits of ICT for their work and establish key goals and priorities for exploiting this valuable resource. The Report suggests ways to overcome some of the obstacles to the effective use of technology in parliamentary settings. The NID's Listen Loud campaign conducted in 2009 in partnership with UNICEF and SADC PF is presented as a case study in the report.
Download Report here

NID participates in ACSS Senior Leader Seminar, 13-25 June 2010, Lisbon, Portugal
NID Regional Director Theunis Keulder participated in the Africa Center for Strategic Studies Senior Leader Seminar held from 13 - 25 June 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal. 90 decision-makers from 40 African countries debated issues relating to current trends, the role of external actors, security challenges and strategic approaches to address these. National and sub-regional integrated strategies for effectively and democratically addressing Africa's security challenges were also discussed.

Peter Katjavivi elected as NID Chairman
At the 18th AGM of the NID, Prof. Peter Katjavivi was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Prof. Katjavivi is succeeding the late Mr Hans-Erik Staby, who has passed away in December 2009. From 2008 to 2010, Prof. Katjavivi was the Director General of the National Planning Commission (NPC). He was appointed as Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union in 2003 and was assigned as Namibia's Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany from 2006 to 2008. Previously, he served as Vice Chancellor of the University of Namibia (UNAM). Long-serving Board Member Dr Hetty Rose-Junius was re-elected as Vice Chairperson.

Southern Africa: Vision 2020 - May 2010
In the world media Africa is often portrayed in terms of crisis and emergency. Yet, in many parts of Southern Africa there are notable success stories: Politically stable nation-states with growing economies and functioning democracies. One of these countries is Namibia, the location for a conference held in August 2009 to consider topics on economic development, healthcare, democracy and governance and legal and civil rights. The conference was co-presented by the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London, the UNAM Faculty of Law, the NID and IPPR. This volume is based on the conference and contains a chapter co-authored by the NID's Justine Hunter and Theunis Keulder on civil society in Namibia.

Study on political finance launched
A study on how political parties finance themselves, jointly conducted by the NID, Transparency International and the IPPR, was launched on 5th March 2010 in Windhoek. The study forms part of a regional study simultaneously conducted in 5 Southern African countries. Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Calle Schlettwein, in his official launch speech stressed the importance of public financing in a vibrant democracy, but said it was crucial that such funding should be regulated and rule-based.
More information and media coverage (150kb)

Understanding Democracy - March 2010
The NID has released a new publication entitled “Understanding Democracy – A Guide to the Principles of Democracy”. This 45-page booklet covers basic democratic principles and concepts, the Rule of Law, Elections, Individual Rights and their defence, the role of Civil Society and the Political System in Namibia. This publication may serve as a resource for the development of a civic education curriculum in schools, as well as be used as manual for formal and informal civic education programs in institutions of learning, by civil society organisations and within society as a whole.
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Actual Instances of Corruption - February 2010
This research report is based on findings of a survey that focused on actual instances of corruption as reported on in the Namibian print media between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009. The report aims to identify trends in the occurrence of corruption and in the print media's reporting on actual cases. It follows on four previous studies which focused on the periods 1990-20004; 2004-2006; 2006-2007; and 2007-2008. The NID therefore has now data on the print media's reporting on corruption for the first 19 years of Namibia's independence.
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Guide to Civil Society in Namibia - Feb. 2010
In order to further strengthen civil society in Namibia and support the interaction between government and civil society, the NID compiled this guide to provide an overview of the mandate of NGOs and CSOs in Namibia, together with contact details and the sectors in which they are active. Organisations who responded to a questionnaire that was distributed and announced in the media are included. It is hoped that the guide will serve as reference tool to local and international development institutions and NGOs requiring information on the activities of civil society or looking for partners for specific programs in Namibia.
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FairVote09 #5 - December 2009
The two-days voting period on 27 and 28 November 2009 might have been peaceful and the winners (including opposition parties that got a seat or two after decades without success) are celebrating their victory, but the fairness and transparency of the entire elections process seem to now be in question before, during and after voting, if some of the parties managed to prove their point. The main complaint from the opposition parties and some observers is that the voters register was unreliable – so unreliable, in fact, that the ECN had three different numbers about potential voters.
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"Listen Loud" Campaign - December 2009
In view of the popularity of mobile phones amongst the youth, which provide great opportunities for young people to contribute their voices and opinions about what they see as important in their lives today as active participants and citizens of Namibia, a mobile based platform was set up to gather opinions of the youth on a range of matters affecting them. Implemented by the NID in partnership with UNICEF and the SADC-PF, this project sought to gather views of the "born-free" generation of Namibia on issues such as HIV/AIDS, education, child protection and health issues.
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Guide to Elections in Namibia
Elections are an instrument of civic participation in governance. As Namibians go to the polls to elect members of the National Assembly and their President, it is important that each voter can make his or her choice in an informed manner. Therefore this guide has been published by the NID as part of a domestic civil society elections observation program to ensure that each voter has the necessary information to vote, but can also observe the process of preparing for the elections and conducting such to ensure the freedom and fairness of the process with aresult accpeted by all.
Download PDF file here (3Mb)

Country-led Governance Assessments:
Sharing Experiences and Increasing Political Accountability
The NID, the InWEnt Centre for Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics and the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre jointly presented a training workshop aimed at "Sharing Experiences of Governance Assessments and Increasing Political Accountability". 77 participants from UN agencies, government bodies, statistical offices, academic institutions and civil society assembled in Windhoek to share their knowledge and experiences. Participants represented more than 20 African countries as well as Europe, the USA, Australia and Palestine.