Country Snapshot: Mali and The Democratic Governance Team
The Democratic
Governance Team in partnership with International
Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) provides technical
assistance to the Ministry of Territorial Administration
and Local Collectivities (MATCL) in elections management,
training and technical assistance to the steering
Committee, the commissions and the Cellule d’Appui
au Processus Electoral (CAPE) in order to improve the management
and organization of the 2004 local elections.
To increase
voter turn out, IFES has developed and carried
out, through women’s
NGOs, a program of voter education targeted to women.
Small grants were given to 10 local women’s organizations
to carry out voter education activities across
the country.
This activity served to build the capacity of women’s
organizations to carry out voter education activities
and simultaneously raise the awareness of local women
regarding their roles and responsibilities as citizens
and the importance of political participation.
The Democratic Governance Team with its partner National
Democratic Institute (NDI) specifically seeks to increase
women’s political participation
in local elections through work with women party members
and women's civic associations to build political
alliances, sensitize parties’ hierarchies to
include women on parties’ lists, to
provide advocacy, leadership, fund raising and communication
skills to women candidates and to strengthen women’s
political bases.
