A crackdown on Uganda’s civil society and independent media in response to a new anti-corruption campaign has prompted protests from democracy advocates and human rights groups.
The government’s clampdown followed the launch of a Return Our Money Campaign with an open letter accusing the Ugandan government of numerous instances of corruption, including the payment of Ushs 20 million (approx. US$8650) in [READ MORE]
The continuing unrest in the Maghreb coincides with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presence in the region on a tour that is partly designed to stress the Obama administration’s support for empowering civil society.
“We have been very focused on building a system…and making clear that civil society in every country needs to be part of [READ MORE]
With the assassination of Punjab governor Salman Taseer (right), Pakistan has lost one of its principal defenders of secularism and democracy.
Civil society groups protested the killing, but many of the country’s democrats are feeling beleaguered and vulnerable.
The governor’s slaying has exposed a deep fissure in Pakistan society between [READ MORE]
Why are we supporting repression in Ethiopia? William Easterly and Laura Freschi want to know.
Foreign assistance is frequently used to subsidize and support sub-Saharan Africa’s most autocratic regimes, they note. But a new report on Ethiopia confirms a direct link between aid and political repression.
It details prime minister Meles Zenawi’s [READ MORE]
The outcome of this week’s parliamentary elections in Egypt is a foregone conclusion, analysts suggest.
The ruling National Democratic Party has engineered the results in advance, conceding just enough seats to opposition parties to create a semblance of pluralism and to marginalize the Muslim Brotherhood.
But while many liberal democratic groups have been co-opted [READ MORE]
While we’re on the subject of good governance, transparency and all that, why not join the Center for Global Development and Foreign Policy magazine in honoring Publish What You Pay, the 2010 winner of the Commitment to Development Award?
The award recognizes individual and groups that make a “significant contribution to changing attitudes and policies [READ MORE]
The world’s oldest and largest democracies should advance democratic values and human rights throughout the world, US President Barack Obama said today. While India has hitherto been reluctant to promote democracy, the country’s civil society could have a “profound” impact by sharing innovative best practices, a senior US official suggested.
The US supports India’s bid for a permanent seat on the [READ MORE]
The United States has condemned Sudan’s detention of several civil society activists from Darfur. The special US envoy to the region today expressed the administration’s concerns directly in a meeting with senior Sudanese officials in Khartoum.
The activists were arrested in the capital last weekend following after a meeting of youth groups at the [READ MORE]
It’s good to see that the UN Democracy Fund is inviting civil society groups to apply for a fresh round of funding projects ranging from media to rule of law.
But human rights and democracy advocates are indignant that the fund’s ultimate overseer – UN General Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – is [READ MORE]
Got a democracy project that needs funding? Does it concern tools for democratization, community development, rule of law and human rights, women, youth or media?
If so, check out the United Nations Democracy Fund which is inviting civil society groups to submit new project proposals during a window of 15 November-31 December 2010.
Since [READ MORE]