E-Newsletter, May 2009, Volume 1, Number 1

The Deployment for Democratic Development Mechanism (DDD) is pleased to launch a new quarterly electronic newsletter. We hope this newsletter will provide timely information about our activities to colleagues, developing country partners, and the general public. We welcome your feedback and invite you to write to us at international@ipac.ca with your questions, suggestions and comments.

What We Do

Matching Canadian expertise with international democratic development needs

Deployment for Democratic Development (DDD) is a four-year program launched in May 2007. It is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and implemented by the Institute of Public Administration (IPAC) in collaboration with Rights & Democracy (International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development.  DDD serves the democratic development needs of CIDA branches and their local partners.  DDD recruits and sends Canadian democratic development experts to Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East in response to requests for assistance from CIDA partner countries.

We have sent Canadians on short-term missions to countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya, Bolivia, Tanzania, Peru, and Ukraine, where they work closely with local partners to contribute to a variety of governance issues. These include among others electoral registration, gender budgeting, establishing a credible and independent judiciary, results-based management, anti-corruption measures and public procurement reforms.

There are Canadians working in Colombia to establish good regulatory practices, technical regulations and standards to support trade, in Niger to help prevent and manage food crises, in Mozambique to ensure information about public services is easily accessible to all citizens, in Ethiopia to improve relations between the judiciary and the prosecution, police and prisons, and in Tanzania to reduce corruption through a revised Code of Ethics that would prohibit public leaders from conducting business while holding office.

The unique design of DDD supports the principles of national and international policies on aid effectiveness by fostering country ownership, building more effective and inclusive partnerships, and achieving development results for which we can account in an open and transparent manner.

Visit our Website

Along with this new E-Newsletter, we are also enhancing our website with many new features and links. Our site carries information about DDD programs in nearly 25 different countries, the areas in which we work, our partners and Canadian experts, as well as relevant resources and links. A new online library of case studies, working papers and articles is also being developed. 

News from the Field

Graph: A breakdown of initiatives by region and sector

Since DDD’s launch in May 2007, six initiatives have been completed and 30 are currently in progress. Here are just a few highlights: 

Bangladesh: Establishing a Credible and Independent Judiciary

Suzanne Labbé assisted the Government of Bangladesh and the Supreme Court on a DDD initiative aimed at adopting appropriate legal and administrative measures to lay the foundation for an independent and impartial judicial service.  Ms. Labbé participated in a needs assessment led by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and contributed to the report, Identification Mission on Need Assessment for the Supreme Court, Bangladesh, in relation to Supporting the Separation of the Judiciary from the Executive Power. 

Indonesia: Strengthening Foreign Affairs Policy and International Relations

Policy expert, William Cowie, assisted the Government of Indonesia in building its capacity for sound policy analysis and development in the area of international relations.  The mission focused on increasing the Department of Foreign Affairs’ capacity for gender sensitive methodologies in collecting and analyzing data; supporting civil society participation in informed policy making; and improving foreign policy formulation.

Ethiopia: Improving the Justice System

Yvon Dandurand and other associates from the International Centre for Criminal Law reform are currently assisting the Government of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Justice with a review of existing criminal policies and procedures to provide recommendations on a new criminal policy that would ensure improved efficiency and access to justice. This initiative involves comprehensive consultations with all stakeholders including the Ministry of Justice, prosecution, police, prison administration and the judiciary. It aims to improve relations among stakeholders and to define priority reforms that all parties can agree upon.

Guinea Bissau:  Monitoring Elections

Canadian experts Alain Gauthier and Jean-Marc Baudot travelled to Guinea Bissau on behalf of DDD to share their expertise during the country’s legislative elections held on November 16, 2008. Their work to help ensure a legitimate electoral process was most favourably received by the Representative of the UN Secretary General and Canadian Embassy in Dakar. The recommendations and lessons learned from DDD’s work in Guinea Bissau will help to inform the international electoral observation initiatives planned for the upcoming presidential elections.

Southern Africa Development Community (SADC): Attracting Development Partners

The SADC works to ensure the economic well-being, improvement in the standards of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice, peace and security for the peoples of Southern Africa.  Frank Schwartz is currently leading a DDD initiative to strengthen the SADC’s capacity to attract potential development partners and manage anticipated increases in funding. In particular, the Development Finance Resource Centre within SADC has identified the need to renew its Five-Year Strategic Business Plan as a key building block in defining the operations and future directions of the organization.

Guyana: Strengthening Media Governance

A DDD initiative just getting under way aims to ensure a well-governed media sector that benefits Guyana society as a whole.  A series of consultations for stakeholders within and beyond the media sector will be designed and delivered during 2009. The objective is to develop fundamental principles, recommendations and a concrete plan of action to improve the state of media governance in the country, based on industry self-regulation and arms-length government oversight.

Jordan: Supporting Educational Reform

The Government of Jordan is working to improve its educational system in order to better prepare Jordanians for the needs of the modern workplace and knowledge-based economy. Over a four-month period, Canadian expert Brenda Cooke provided assistance in implementing an ambitious reform strategy that had outstretched its modest funds. She was responsible for developing a Reform Program Implementation Model, providing guidance in policy, financial management and reporting, as well as human resource management.

Spotlight on our Canadian Experts

Brenda Cooke and representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency

Having previously worked in Jordan, India, Yemen and Sri Lanka on educational reform projects, following an impressive career as a public servant and the president of two colleges in Canada, Brenda Cooke brings more than thirty years of international and Canadian experience to DDD.  She resided in Jordan as the Ministry of Labour’s in-house consultant from May to August 2008.

Stay Informed

We invite you to stay up-to-date on DDD’s latest news and overseas employment opportunities.

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What's New

Sharing Success Stories

Ann Masson, Director of International Programs at IPAC, spoke about IPAC’s international development programs in over 30 countries during the Yukon Capacity Conference: Moving Forward on February 24. Leslie Shimotakahara, DDD Knowledge Sharing Expert, presented the lessons learned from the DDD initiative on Jordan's educational reform to Queen's University on February 13. For a copy of these presentations, please contact Pia Bruni.

DDD Welcomes New Co-Manager

DDD welcomes Kasia Zakowska to its team as Co-Manager.  She comes to us with a background of 16 years of project management experience in international development projects delivered across three continents (Asia, the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe).  Formerly with the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO), Kasia speaks English, French, Polish, Spanish, and Russian. She will be responsible for recruiting Canadian experts on behalf of CIDA partner countries, along with DDD Co-manager Marie Fortier-Balogh.

Call for Papers for the Democratic Development Workshop

On Sunday, August 23, IPAC will be hosting a one-day workshop on democratic development in Fredericton, New Brunswick, preceding the IPAC Annual Conference. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together participants in IPAC International Programs to engage in dialogue, knowledge sharing, networking and celebrating our successes in the field of international development.  We are seeking presentations on the following topics: 1) International Development in the Age of Electronic Networking; 2) Thematic Panels (e.g., gender, human rights, policy framework, performance management); 3) Geographic Panels (presentations focused on specific countries/regions). The deadline for submitting an abstract is June 3rd.  Travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by DDD for selected participants.  For a copy of the complete Call for Papers, please contact Augie Van Biljouw.

Canada and the World: Making a Difference

Rights & Democracy President Rémy Beauregard spoke about the inexorable link between human rights and democratic development at IPAC’s annual conference held in Quebec City on August 23, 2008. Click here to read his speech.

Rights & Democracy’s Network Creates Space on University Campuses for Human Rights Action

Since the Network’s creation in 2003, Rights & Democracy delegations on campuses from Nanaimo to St-Johns have been actively promoting and implementing human rights in their own way. Recently, the Winnipeg delegation hosted former Minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy who addressed human rights and justice, including the International Criminal Court and the situation in Darfur. The Vancouver Island University Delegation presented its annual film award to a student whose human rights film will be premiered at the Nanaimo Global Film Fest. The McGill Delegation held a fundraiser to address a need for resources on human rights and international law at the University of Zimbabwe. For more information about upcoming events, visit the Network's website.

Register your Organization with DDD

DDD recruits Canadians with expertise in democratic governance, freedom and democracy, human rights, rule of law and accountable public institutions.  Although DDD will draw on innovative and experienced practitioners from various sources or networks, it will recruit mainly through organizations with experts in democratic development. Interested organizations can register directly with DDD by using our Institution Registry Form available on our website. Individuals with an interest in DDD work can contact us by email at international@ipac.ca or by regular post c/o Institute of Public Administration of Canada, 1075 Bay Street, Suite 401, Toronto (Ontario) M5S 2B1, Canada.

Worth Reading!

International Assistance to Democratic Development: A Review, by George Perlin, Institute for Research on Public Policy, IRPP Working Paper Series, 2003-04.

Democratic Development 1990-2000: An Overview, by Nancy Thede, International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, April 2002.

UK Public Service Reforms: A Canadian Perspective, by Tony Dean, IPAC New Directions Series, February 2009.

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, by Paul Collier, New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. 

Worth Browsing!

Ideas4Development is an international blog meant to stimulate debate on development issues, offering a forum for interaction between scholars, senior professionals and the general public.

Governance Village is Canada’s knowledge network on governance, providing a forum for knowledge sharing and uniting those working for social development and poverty reduction

Development Data provides easy access to free, reliable developing country data from reputable organizations and research institutions.

Devex is the source for jobs, business opportunities, professional networking, and news for professionals working in international development, global health, and foreign assistance.