 Thank you, and you put it a little bit, yeah. Good morning to you all and thank you for, thank you for being, for being here. Order guests, members, table, representatives, partners, colleagues and friends. I want to welcome you to International Ideas 25th Anniversary Conference. We are here today to celebrate our achievements, both most of all, to launch a conversation about the future of democracy and the role of international idea. I would like to thank all the speakers that have accepted to be part of this global conversation. Our member states and especially our current chair in host country, Sweden, which has made democracy a priority of its foreign policy. 25 years ago, 14 countries signed the founding declaration of international idea. In 1995, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the first post-departite election in South Africa, and the spread of democracy all over Latin America, made the expansion of democracy seen irresistible and irreversible. However, the founders of our institute understood that the progress of democracy was not inevitable. They understood that they had a collective responsibility to nurture it, protect it and advance it. They understood the need for multilateral action and support. They understood the need for comparative knowledge about the fundamentals of democracy, about elections, constitutions and political participation. Those insights have defined our mission essence. Today, international idea encompasses 33 member states from all regions. In the past 25 years, we have played a decisive role in activating regional and global networks of practitioners and activists. We have contributed through publications, databases, events and advice to global debates, regional collaborations and national elections. We have supported dozens of electoral, constitutional and political reform processes all over the world. Where our evidence-based advice has made a difference to our partners on the ground. It is a record that our member states, our donors and partners and our wonderfully talented staff can be proud. And we are proud, but not satisfied. The challenges to democracy are greater today than they were in 1995. Democracy was facing severe headwinds even before the COVID-19 pandemic. From our global state of democracy report, we know that while the number of democracies kept increasing, the quality of democracy was decreasing. In many democracies, checks and balances were becoming weaker. Civic spaces were shrinking and freedom of expression was under sustained assault. These challenges have been accentuated by the pandemic. Over the past few months, we have seen many cases where emergency powers have been invoked to do things that have nothing to do with the pandemic and everything to do with the intention of shutting down critical voices, limiting civic spaces and harassing minorities. And there are also the problematical political consequences that stem from the global economic crisis, which are only now beginning to be felt. If there is a moment to monitor the health of democratic systems, it is now. And this is precisely what international idea has been doing through our global state of democracy report. And more recently, through our global monitor on the impact of COVID-19 on democracy and human rights supported by the European Union. We need trustworthy information about democracy more than ever. Yet, this times also demand that we use our voice in defense of democracy. Last June, together with our partners from around the world, we launched a call to defend democracy, where we argue that the pandemic threatens the future of liberal democracy. This open letter enlisted the support of over 70 pro-democracy organizations and more than 500 global leaders. This is the task in our hands. We must build the global coalitions needed to protect democracy, but we must also strive to revitalize it. Now is the time to help democracies return to the drawing board and renegotiate their social contract. Now is the time to act against the spread of disinformation, an existential threat for democracy. Now is the time to protect the ability of democracies to hold free, fair and safe elections. Now is the time to discuss how best to equip democracy to tackle intergenerational challenges, such as the fourth industrial revolution, the sustainable development goals, and especially the climate crisis. Above all, now is the time to be unapologetic in defense of democratic values. The good news is that the case for democracy remains strong. To a much greater degree than any other political system, democracy protects our agency and inherent dignity, allows for the correction of policies, and makes a difference for a key tenant of sustainable development, particularly for gender equality. Sustainable development requires sustainable democracy, making sure that democracy can reform and revitalize itself is the cause that international idea pledges to take forward for the next 25 years. We will do this by teasing out the lessons from democratic experience from all over the world, by leveraging that knowledge and putting it in the hands of leaders and activists, by continuously monitoring the health of political systems, by accompanying democracy-building processes and lending our impartial advice, by building regional and global coalitions of practitioners, activists, and academics, by speaking out in defense of democratic values, by insisting that democracy is a global public good that requires multilateral action, by working closely with member states and ours. This, my friends, is her pledge to you. It is a pledge to infuse with the hope that the sacrifices made by millions of people in the quest for democracy, from Soweto to Santiago, from Prague to Jakarta, from Yangon to Hartoom, from Hong Kong to Minsk, will have not been in vain. Our collective responsibility is to ensure that the memory of those struggles to advance the democratic cause is honored and preserved for generations to come. That is the challenge of our time, and we at International Aedia intend to meet it in full. Thank you very much. Okay, thank you very much indeed. Thank you very much, Secretary-General, Participants, colleagues, colleague Miguel is having a bit of connection issues from out of Maputo, so I will step him in the meantime on his behalf to moderate this. And we've had a very rousing call to defend democracy from the Secretary-General of International Aedia, Kevin Casas-Zamura, as well as a very strong pledge on behalf of the Institute, on the occasion of this silver jubilee, determination of the Institute to play its role in the defense of democracy, full sum. His emphasis on the way in which the COVID-19 pandemic has been managed in some parts of the world to feed into a generalized assault on democracy that we have been witnessing in the last few years is also something which is noted and which I hope will also keep in mind as we go forward. It now gives me great pleasure to invite the foreign minister of our... Mohammed, I think what Prof. Adebayo was saying is that we will now be playing the video of the foreign minister. Yes, yes. I was going on the phone, sorry, yes. Thank you. 25 years ago, representatives of 14 countries met here in Stockholm for the first council meeting of the newly founded International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, or International Idea. Following the developments around 1990, countries needed an international forum to exchange and learn from others how to shape their form of democracy. Because democracy cannot be exported, it has to grow from within a society, but there are lessons to be learned and experiences to be drawn and the International Idea was to be the place for countries to do just that. International Idea has faced a chair of challenges, but is today steadily forging its role as a center of excellence for the advancement of democracy worldwide as a universal human aspiration and an enabler of sustainable development through supporting the building, strengthening and safeguarding of democratic political institutions and processes, quoting from its mission statement. While the conviction that democracy was the way forward seemed to be uncontested in the 1990s, things have since changed. Democratic backsliding challenges to human rights and the undermining of the rule of law are trends we have witnessed for several years. Idea is a global state of democracy report, a reference point when it comes to monitoring the development of democracy around the world, provides an invaluable evidence base in this regard. The most recent addition to Idea's toolbox, the global monitor of COVID-19's impact on democracy and human rights, clearly shows how this negative global trend has been further accentuated the pandemic. Dear friends, we need to act against and formulate a counter narrative to these negative trends. We know that authoritarianism is not the answer to today's challenges. We are as convinced today as we were in 1995 that democracy is the best form of governance for stability and development, but we need to make the case again. Democracy provides political accountability and therefore a mechanism to correct mistakes and do better. Democracy ensures transparency and access to information without which there can be no progress. While the fear of COVID-19 has understandably triggered dramatic measures, we need to remain vigilant. The current pandemic must not be allowed to become an excuse for governmental overreach to undermine democracy or its institutions. It takes times, sometimes generations, to build up stable and impartial democratic institutions, but they can be dismantled very quickly. Any limitations to the enjoyment of human rights must be in accordance with international law. The response to the pandemic must be based on gender equality, human rights, democracy and the rule of law, because only that can ensure the confidence and credibility in societies to make it sustainable. Democracy allows for civil society to mobilize for inequalities to be confronted, for policy issues to be openly debated, for trustworthy information to freely flow and governments to be accountable to citizens, all essential tools for successfully dealing with the current public health, emergency and its consequences. Precisely for this purpose, the Swedish government last year initiated the campaign Drive for Democracy. Through diplomatic activity and a series of events and democracy talks, it aims to promote and strengthen democracy and the aspects that in our view must be part of a sustainable democracy, equality, participation, sustainable development, inclusive growth, governance, human rights and security. We have particularly focused on supporting civil society actors, human rights defenders and trade union leaders as their role is central to upholding democracy and holding governments to account. This includes strengthening free and independent media and the safety of journalists and media workers. But we must also build global coalitions. In connection with this year's virtual United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting, we launch as a follow-up to our Drive for Democracy a cross-regional partnership, together with a core group of countries called the Friends in Defense of Democracy. With two exceptions, the countries in this partnership are also members of International IDEA and the IC IDEA and its Member State as a platform and partner in this continued struggle of narratives. Dear friends, Sweden is proud to be an initiator, founding member, host country and this year's Chair of the Council of Member States of International IDEA and I want to congratulate its current Secretary-General, Mr. Casa Samora and all its dedicated staff around the world on this special occasion. The current circumstances show the absolute necessity of multilateralism and the continued pursuit of rules-based international order. International IDEA will continue to be a central partner in this world and we look forward to the next 25 years of democracy promotion. So thank you very much Minister Linde for your very inspiring and kind words. My name is Miguel de Brito, I'm the International IDEA head of office in Maputo and now that I've sort of managed to resolve my own connectivity issues, I'm taking over as the host for this morning for the next hour or so that is left on this session. I'm coming through you by audio only. Let's see if my video can now work as well. Yes, there it is. So once again on behalf of the Maputo office of International IDEA, good morning and welcome. This morning's session is about democracy building and development in the Southern African region through a panel of three very distinguished presenters who will give us their specific perspectives on the tone setting keynote address which will be eloquently delivered by Marc Grasse-Machel on the theme of putting citizens at the center of democracy building in Southern Africa in the next 25 years. I'll come back later to properly introduce our speakers and their respective topics. Having heard the welcoming words of our Secretary-General Kevin Casasamora and Swedish Foreign Minister and Linde, we can now move to the substantive part of our session. As indicated in our program, we have a keynote speaker and three panelists and before I give the floor to our keynote speaker, Marc Grasse-Machel, I would like to highlight some aspects of our life and career as an internationally renowned global advocate for women's and children's rights, human rights, African development, and good governance. I know it's very difficult to summarize Marc Grasse-Machel's life in a few words in the little time that we have in this session, but I'll try to highlight some that I think really sums up what this amazing woman stands for. I'll start by saying that in 1973 she left the comfort of her life in Mozambique to join Freeliem on the struggle for the independence of Mozambique as a freedom fighter and as a teacher and two years later when Mozambique became independent, Marc Grasse-Machel was appointed the country's first education and culture minister at the very tender age of 29, a position she held for 14 years from 1975 to 1989. During a tenure as education minister in a country that inherited a 95% illiteracy rate and was going through a devastating war, the number of students enrolled in primary and secondary education rose from a very sorry. As I was saying, during a tenure as minister of education, primary and secondary school education rose from about 40% of our school age children to 90% for males and 75% for females. In 1994 she founded the Mozambique, in Mozambique the foundation for community development, which she still leads today and in the same year she was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as the independent expert in charge of producing the groundbreaking United Nations report on the impact of armed conflict on children. A decade ago, Marc Grasse also founded the Grasse-Machel Trust, an institution that advocates for the rights of women, children on the other as well as good governance and democracy. She's also the co-founder of the elders and a group that she currently called deputy chairs since 2018. As an educator, I think it's also worth highlighting the fact that she was chancellor of the University of Cape Town for 20 years from 1999 to 2019, has been the president of the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London since 2012. So it's my big honor and pleasure to invite Marc Grasse-Machel to deliver a keynote address on putting citizens at the center of democracy and building in southern Africa in the next 25 years. Marc Grasse-Machel, over to you now. Thank you. Thank you very, very much, Miguel. I failed to instruct you, not democratically, but to instruct you not to go through who I am. I would have preferred just to be introduced as an activist. But I'm very honored to be the introducer, not necessarily a keynote speaker, but to introduce our discussions this morning. And I'll begin by reminding all of us as southern Africa, what it is. We are a sub-region of about 15 countries in which you find all kinds of systems. We have monarchies. We have very conservative states. We have most of the liberation movements who in the 60s were at the front line, and now they are liberation movements in power. So we are quite a mix of the kind of states and the kind of systems when we talk of democracy. I'd like to recapture what southern Africa represented for the continent of Africa and for the world indeed, that in the 60s, 70s, 80s until early 90s, southern Africa was at the front line of fighting to the victory. The last bastions of colonialism, the illegal and racist regime of Rhodesia and apartheid in South Africa. So when finally southern Africa removed all these oppressive regimes, that's when Africa as a whole could say free at last. Despite the diversity of regimes which I mentioned, during those glorious years, all states, regardless of its foundations, joined the liberation movement for freedom. So freedom was the main issue for all, whether you are conservative, whether you are monarch. And it's important to recall that while countries like Tanzania and Zambia were hosting liberation movements, those who could not formally host them, like Botswana, Swaziland, they also opened the borders discreetly and openly in some cases to make sure that the freedom fighters would carry on the programs and plans having a strong and safe rearguard. And we have to remember that despite the diversity of systems, really it was a moment in which the whole of the region, of course, supported by the rest of the international community, was united in a way which we believe it is a reference which I'll be going to talk about much later. But the results of removal of these oppressive regimes had its power in social mobilization and people's participation. It was everyone from, yes, liberation movements themselves, they were driving the course, but unions, religious organizations, women's organizations, youth organizations, especially students, everyone participated consciously and selflessness with selflessness to make sure that our region would be free. So people's centered movement is something which is in our DNA. It is something which we develop from within our own needs, our own aspirations, and we transform the power of the collective of the common goal as what would move obstacles which could have been considered unsurmountable. Indeed, when apartheid fell and it was dismantled in South Africa, the whole of human race and human family could say, yes, we removed the institutionalized system of racism. Now, we are most of states here, democratic. We have formalized institutions to allow participation of everyone, including, as anyone else, we have constitutions which are the mother law to guide how to establish institutions and which institutions, how institutions should relate amongst themselves, how they should relate to the public, and how the public would be allowed now to engage with institutions. But now we have a transition which has not been very smooth in our region, is that from that history of engaging and participation of everyone, now with the formalization of institutions which are democratic by nature, we lost, I mean the ability of keeping everyone engaged. We lost that and I would like to ask you to think about this because I will raise it much later. Yes, we have formal institutions. We run elections regularly, but we lost the power of the citizen to be the one which drives political, economic, social, and cultural agendas. You say, we'll see that now in our region, some of our countries are considered to be the most unequal in the world, which means there are millions and millions of citizens who cannot benefit from the fruits of our labor and for the resources which belong to all of us. And we have, yes, more and more issues with the transition which I may call, it's a sort of a syndrome of a liberation movement. The syndrome of liberation movement, I mean, is to try to control everything and not open space for other players to exercise their responsibilities and to exercise their rights. So of that period, which was really like a beacon of Africa, now we are witnessing warring trends in Southern Africa, increasing levels of intolerance, intolerance against just diversity of opinion. Any society will have groups or individuals who will express themselves in a different way from what is established and even if it has been, I mean, seconded by elections, but people have the right to have different opinions, not necessarily destructive opinions, but simply different ones. We struggle to manage the participation of those political parties who are in power because they've been elected with opposition parties. Opposition parties in our region are struggling and because of that, most of them, most of our countries have a very, weak opposition. And when opposition is weak, it means then that you are sliding into a situation where you can have autocracy. As a result of this intolerance, we realize that there is shrinking of the democratic space. Political parties, as I mentioned, they struggle just to affirm themselves and even to make a meaningful contribution where they have constructive alternative of proposals to manage our resources or to manage our political life. This region had in the past very strong union movements, but union movements in Southern Africa now are really weak, except perhaps in South Africa, where we can still feel that they still, but even the old days of Kursato are not the Kursato of today. Civil society organizations are struggling to engage meaningfully with political institutions. I mean, really, with parliament, with the judiciary, media, we realize that more and more the media is finding it difficult to be and to the extent that in certain countries, the house medias were really shut down. We do know very clear reason, simply because they were not aligned with the mainstream thinking. So we are going through a period in which I think it's important to go back and learn from the lessons of the past to say what and how we did, which can help us to reinvent, reinvent the ability of participation of everyone in national affairs. It has been already identified that COVID-19 has offered, in certain cases, had offered space for incumbent to make decisions which are autocratic, I might say, to change the calendars of elections because of COVID. And in some cases, even to make it difficult for those who are to run for elections, just to hold the rallies, you can have a campaign with respect to the COVID protocols, but it not additional kind of police repression against citizens who are exercising their rights, including the right of protesting where there is a reason to protest. So there is a heavy hand which has been strengthened because of COVID. And it is in this context which I think Southern Africa is to reinvent itself, to go back and drink for the experience of the past, to come back to the reins of democracy. I'm happy to say they are positive signs, particularly among civil society organizations because this place is not so easy and they have to struggle even more. They are coming together and they are strategizing together and they are trying to find ways through which they really, despite the difficulties they engage ministers, they engage summits of heads of states, they engage committees of parliament. Not all countries are doing this, but particularly those ones who came from the liberation movement experience, they are doing this in a way which I believe it's very, very encouraging. For instance, women's organizations I think are the ones who have been much more visible and much more loud in terms of breaking the walls of oppression, if I can call it, which is growing. Youth organizations, yes they are, but I believe they, given the numbers and given the energy of young people, I would say we need to invest much more in supporting young people to be as organized as you could see women's organizations, organizations, I mean youth organizations engaging in a bold way governments, parliaments, judiciary, business, and building the space they deserve to be players who are given even their majority. They should be the ones who drive the redefining of agendas in our region. This is not happening yet, although I'm glad to say that there are other institutions led but perhaps by some senior members of our society who are supporting what we could call African youth network movement, which is out there, it's in every sub-region of our continent and here in southern Africa as well it is alive and it is defining its own priorities of how they would like to engage with the public institutions and private institutions, but particularly to take a center stage in definition of policies, a center stage when it comes to drive economic initiatives, a center stage in demanding accountability and making sure that with their numbers they also strengthen democracy. If you look at our parliaments you will be amazed to see that we have very very few people who are young and it is an indictment against, I mean the background I just referred. Unions, I mentioned already that perhaps in southern Africa it's where you still have union movements who are still strong, although you cannot compare with what it used to be like 10 years ago, but in the region unions need to be much more strengthened to strengthen themselves but to be strengthened to be the voice of the workers, the voice which counter the neoliberal policies which are focusing on profit, they don't have the face of the people to serve the people to meet the needs and aspirations of people in development. That's why we are southern Africa, we are one of the sub-regions where inequality is extremely extremely high. Having said this, so what should we do in the next 20-25 years? Let me start by saying because now we are in a period where we are rethinking and we are restructuring, we are redefining, we are even I mean trying to see to learn from the lessons of the past how we got to the state we were even before COVID. So this post-COVID period should be taken as an opportunity really to come back to where we have been in those glorious years I'm talking about where the people were the center not only of definition of what to do but was the execution of all our plans. We have it in our DNA so we know we can do it because it is in our experience which we didn't import, we on the contrary we offered experience and relevance to other regions on the continent and the world. So I think we need to work very strongly to make sure that our constitutions, our laws are really exproporously implemented and respected so that we don't have governments which have decided to change and to go ahead with changing constitutions because it doesn't suit them for these or that reason. Constitution has to be considered sacred and to be respected by all public, private, citizens and to rule our life in our countries according to the principles of the rule of law and protection of human rights. This is a chapel but when we come now to redefine our policies we would like to see much more participation of the citizens particularly through the organized way through the organizations which represent them be them students be them unions be them entrepreneurs be them those who are activists in the environment activists in different fields to be part of redefine policy and to have a stake in the implementation of policy and to have a stake in the monitoring of how policies are being driven and to have spaces where they can account about what they're doing but they keep governments and public institutions to account. I must say in our region mechanisms and systems of accountability if they do exist they are not life they are not being used and I think there is a space to define and to strengthen and to implement mutual accountability. I see for instance women's movement playing a leadership role in restructuring our social fabric. We have an experience of women's leadership in Southern Africa but today in numbers you can say in public life yes they are there but we don't have for instance what I would call a feminist agenda to make sure that public private social academia we put women at the center as leading not as a favor but leading our institutions and our public and private and social life and you would see for instance when it comes to economy the face of poverty in our region is women and we need to redefine how women can take a clear stake in all sectors of economy whether it's extractive energy infrastructure agriculture finance and I'm mentioning those who have been much less attracting women science in academia because we lose the brain power of women when they are marginalized they are not present in those institutions. I spoke already of youth movements and be them not only in terms of politics but also in entrepreneurship creative industries in all aspects of our life. Students have played a big role in Southern Africa to influence even to change policy we need them to be much more vocal much more strong unions but I want I would like also to stop a bit and talk about the independence of judiciary. In our region the judiciary in many countries is hijacked perhaps I would say South Africa, Botswana could be best examples of judiciary which is independent but most of us I mean judiciary parliament they sing the song of the government and they don't exercise the absolute responsibility of checks and balances which are required to make sure that one the constitutional laws are implemented but protection of all citizens by this institution. We need to support the vibrancy of media to be independent media because it's a powerful tool also to raise issues but also to promote accountability. I'd like to touch very quickly in the reform of electoral systems although we do run elections regularly every five years but in electoral systems have been let me say hijacked it's my language which is not the political but it's my language is activist and you see that in some cases you have political parties represented in electoral organs no we need impartial independent professional independent electoral organs and our laws electoral packages of laws that it must give equal opportunity to whoever wants to run elections and opportunities space of campaigning resource aspects to resources and so I think the reform of electoral system in southern Africa is a big issue but of course all this will not be achieved if we don't invest seriously in equality education and I don't mean only education in schools and development skills which is absolutely necessary but civic education to build the consciousness of the citizens of who they are and as our constant constitution say I mean sovereignty resides in people it means people have to have the conscious of really exercising the sovereignty which the constitution gives them and it pledged them. Civil society organization need to strengthen the ability to research to understand issues to engage in a professional way in a convincing way so that they're not making noises but they are making cases which are irrefutable because they are proven to be expressing the realities or expressing the will and the aspirations of the citizens they represent in essence I think really we can because we have done it and we have the ability now to bring citizens to be the ones who drive our genus so I will say one of the secrets in future of let's say the 25 years is citizen citizens movement according to causes they they like more and they are able to defend those causes but in a articulated way citizens and civil society organizations don't like to be coordinated but in a certain aspect it's important that there is a common agenda which is transformative which is profoundly multiplier of other aspects of democracy like for instance if we have to talk of electoral systems I believe citizens regardless of the issue which is of your own you should be campaigning to reform electoral systems because it's important for us to allow our voice to be relevant our voice to be taken into account regardless of the cause you defend and I will end this talking about social contracts I think we need to develop a process in which any government which is elected then have to sign a social contract with society what you have promised and what you have been voted for it has to be transformed in a plan in which citizens have a very clear space of how they are going to be engaging in the implementation and how they are going to be engaged in monitoring and demanding accountability in which this social contract would be defining responsibilities of each one of us it's not like the citizens are going to be only monitoring but they also have responsibility so that all of us will be players all of us will be builders all of us will be the ones who take responsibility for the transformation of our lives in particular in which they are no those who value more and those who value less to value exactly human dignity and in human dignity also the aspirations of organized groups which are protecting human dignity I wish in 25 years this can be again a sub region which will become a beacon in which we can say all the challenges which Africa is facing southern Africa is a beacon is an example of how you can deal with them we have all the conditions we have the capacity and we have in our history proven we can do it thank you very much thank you very much Magrassa Michelle for your very inspiring and insightful words they have indeed performed the role that we were expecting for a keynote intervention they really laid the ground for the following panel that is coming after you once again thank you very much for your wisdom and for your time we'll now move on to our panel of three presenters very quickly the first panelist will be Matthew Moape from Zambia she will discuss how we can build the next generation of democratic leaders in southern Africa based on the proofs of today the second panelist is Aline Lomona and she will discuss how to achieve full democratic citizenship for women as a grand equality perspective on democracy building in southern Africa the third and last panelist is Erin McAuntless and she will discuss the building of institutions and the strengthening of social cohesion for the next 25 years of democracy building in southern Africa so each panelist will have 10 minutes I know that it's very short but that's the time we have left so coming back to a slightly more detailed introduction of the panelists our first and next presenter Maggie Moape from Zambia as over 10 years of experience in community development environmental monitoring and strategic background assessments she is currently the founder and executive director of the Zambian Center for Environment Justice which was established 10 years ago Maggie is also the co-chair of the Southern Africa Youth Forum and she's a Mandela Washington Fellow and a leader in the youth sector in our region and so to speak about how can the youth of today become the democratic leaders of tomorrow I'll give the floor to Maggie Moape. Hi, can you hear me? Yes, we can. Thank you so much for the introduction I'll just speak a little bit about what SAAF is Southern Africa Youth Forum is a regional platform in the SAAF region that was created to amplify the youth voices in the SAAF region and that we are currently in all the 16 SAAF countries so with the topic that I have been given what next in the next 25 years in promoting democracy and what the role of young people could be from what we have seen so far in the region is that 60 percent of the population in the SAAF region comprises of the young people and this already informs us of what role we can do and the potential of what young people can do in the next 25 years however the current challenge that we have seen in promoting democracy in our region is that young people are now being used as tools of violence by different political parties in their countries and for it for us this is a major concern because we believe that we are part of stakeholders and we are part of having a win-win solution in finding solutions of what is affecting us in the region we are not interested to be tools of violence for us we are interested in being partners that are going to contribute positively to social and economic issues at national level and also at the regional level secondly the other thing is that when you look at what is happening in the region young people we are interested in politics but the challenge that we are having is that we are not having or maybe our political countries political leaders are not creating an enabling environment for us to participate actively in politics because what is happening is that if you cannot have enough resources to engage into politics as much as you have the capacity and you have the capability to participate actively we are being left out so what would love to see in the next 25 years is that we would want to see that young people are adopted and nominated to contest as members of parliament as councillors and also supported for them even to contest for presidential elections because we do have a number of young people in the region that has the capacity to get into the political realm and contribute positively the other challenge is that when you look at the issues of environment and nature would also want to see in next 25 years that we are going to have political leaders that are going to support and fund nature restoration initiatives because environment is also politics climate change are politics food securities are politics so it's not only about governance issues but also we need to ensure that we look into different sectors that contributes positively to our economy development the other issue that we have noted is that we want to see the next 25 years where we'll be corrupt free as nations what we have noticed is that government initiatives maybe for example in infrastructure we are seeing a situation whereby prices are inflated and when you look at a project when it's completed and the figures which have been mentioned are totally different so we want to have leaders that are going to be elected to leaders the leaders to be elected they should have a priority to save the people and not to enrich themselves secondly would want to have leaders in the region and at national level that are going to prioritize the needs of the young people because if young people are not prioritized what we are going to see is that they will be getting involved in issues to do with violence they will be getting in issues to do with terrorism if not we'll be seeing young people that are graduates migrate to go to other you know live their nations to go for greener pastures so we still need the skills of these young people to still benefit the countries but if we cannot be given a priority or opportunity for us to share the ideas and the skills and the innovations that is becoming a challenge the other thing that would want to see in the next 25 years is a situation whereby our political leaders we need to begin having sincere dialogues and conversations we have seen that when when when leaders are elected into office they are so excited yes it is nice to be in leadership and making the decisions but if they are running a term of five years the first four years they will not do much and when they are getting towards elections we see them now procuring different materials for the communities to entice them to be voted again that's not what we want to see we have seen a situation whereby when when a leader's time is coming to an end they begin to work around constitutions to feed them we do not want to see that in the next five years the other point that I needed to mention is that we have a number of young people in the region in southern Africa that are coming up with different innovations the challenge is support so how best can we have our governments and different stakeholders and donor agencies to support these young people to ensure that their innovations do not only benefit a small community but it can also go globally so for us what we love to see is to be given in summer is to be given an opportunity to participate actively in politics and get the necessary support that we can get secondly we want to we do not want to have leaders that prioritize themselves before the nation or the citizens that voted for them would want to have different stakeholders that are going to have an interest in supporting the initiatives of the young people in the next 25 years there's need for us to uphold the democracy principles because when we are getting towards elections prior and during elections there's just too much violence in the southern Africa my card will be going to to the polls next year and already before we even have elections we're having violence so now we are anticipating of having more cases as we get to the elections we would want to see peaceful elections during and after we want to see leaders be ready to hand over power when they are voted out that is what we want to see I think those are the comments I'll be able to respond to the questions thank you thank you so very much Maggie for this this cry for change in our region from a young voice and hopefully everything that you said and requested that happens in the next 25 years to fruition let's move on to our second presenter now our second presenter Colleen Low Bonner is a feminist and gender equality leader in our continent that needs no introduction she's the founder and CEO of gender links as a South African born in Zimbabwe she began a career as a journalist she then joined the Commonwealth in 1991 subsequently she was the founding CEO of the South African Commission on Gender Equality and she has written extensively on gender issues in southern Africa and it's our pleasure to also share that which is currently the editor of the first African women's political participation marometer which is being produced by international idea Colleen has got a PowerPoint presentation and so which is already on our screens so please Colleen the floor is yours thank you very much Miguel for this opportunity to speak on this key subject that many speakers before me have touched on and that is the issue of gender equality as being absolutely central to our vision for democracy in this region in the next 25 years I would like to begin with a quote by the former speaker of the parliament of Botswana Dr. Margaret Nasha in her book Mr. Speaker Sir where she begins by reminding us that democracy is democracy by the people for the people not by men or men which is what it has largely been sadly not only in our region but across the globe I'd also like to share with you very quickly as a conceptual framework developed by Tenju Om Tinso first chair of the South African Commission on Gender Equality where she reminds us that it is crucial for women not just to have access to political decision-making but also to be able to effectively participate in those structures because it is only then that we will begin to see real change change at the personal level in our institutions but crucially in our policies laws and services in other words we are not just looking for numbers for jobs for the girls but we are looking for gender equality for our regions through the political participation of women so by this measure our region said that and the whole world for short our parliaments our councils should be a mirror image of our societies half of the population of women yet in most countries less than a quarter are in elective office since the Beijing conference which was 25 years ago there has been one small shift in the past we were talking about 30 percent women now we're talking about gender parity which is what it should be however the progress towards that has been incredibly slow and like those women in Eswatini climbing that steep mountain it seems like we are moving ever so slowly towards that objective there's a tracking in our southern African barometer of women in parliament in our region over the last 10 years and if we just focus for a moment on the regional average we've gone up in our region from about 25 percent women to 29 percent women and if we do the math in 25 years time if we were to continue on that trajectory we would still only be at 41 percent women in parliament whereas in fact our target is gender parity no later than 2030 which is the death deadline for sbd i don't say that you cannot be what you cannot see and here we have a picture of our one and only woman head of state in the saddock region honorable um Joyce banda with a little girl dressed in her likeness and to the right there's my granddaughter holding a picture of kamala harris whom we hope will become the first vice president in the united states one of the richest and oldest democracies in the world and it's just a little reminder that for the next generation we need to begin to see women in decision-making so that they can aspire to something very different so what is keeping women out of politics they are a host of what we might call informal factors that really may be summed up in one word and that is patriarchy the patriarchal traditions cultures customs and so forth that permeate all of our societies and it will take us a very long time to chip away and to change that there we have someone marching she couldn't satisfy her husband she won't satisfy america no prizes for guessing who that was in reference to from our own region you see women who try to contest in parliament being called prostitutes and other things and it'll take us a very long time generations perhaps to change that however the good news is this there are certain formal factors like electoral systems quotas temporary special measures finances resources the media things that are within our grasp things that we can do things about and i'd like to demonstrate in our very own region how some of these systems can be worked with to bring about change this is women in parliament inside just women in parliament and it is ordered in descending order from the highest the lowest representation in our region and the color coding there is around electoral systems there's a very clear correlation between countries that have a high representation of women and the pr and or mix system and countries that have a first pass the post system and the lower representation of it's clear it's irrefutable so there are some countries in this region that are almost they're knocking on the door of 50 percent how have they done it electoral systems there's one clue to that madrasa talked about our region being a region of struggle there's also a very close correlation in our region between pr systems and post conflict countries and many of our countries in our region are post conflict and we can see how that has paid out in terms of women's representation there's of course no perfect system first pass the post the pr for post post being seen as strong in accountability but of course quite unfair often in terms of the winner takes all approach the pr very good on inclusion but sometimes seen as being weak on accountability the mix system trying to draw on the best of both both of those now these systems can also be used together with different kinds of temporary special measures and i won't go through these in depth because of time but just to remind us that this the temporary special measures of quotas they may be voluntary i.e adopted by the political parties in south for limo and was beat the nc in south africa squapo in the maybea and so on or they may be legislated and as legislative quotas they could either be in the form of reserved seats or reserved candidacy and because of time i won't go into that but just to remind us that there are many different kinds of quotas and the good news is this that in our region just about every single type of these has been changed it has been tried one way or the other at the national local level so we're a region rich in experience of how these systems can work together to bring about change i believe that in the future in the next 25 years our region is going to move more and more towards mix systems there's this government about the pr system in the pr countries about the first pass the post in the first pass the post post countries and more and more we're moving towards a mixture of these systems and if these systems work together with legislated candidate quotas they can indeed deliver very good results and i will demonstrate that by looking at local government in south africa where we will have elections again in 2021 you can see there from those numbers that we have tracked since 1995 all the elections since then that women do much better in the pr seats in local government but we can also see that over time the representation of women in the ward seats of the first pass the post has been increasing from 11 to 33 percent now we look forward to seeing where we're at in 2021 so that even though it is more difficult for men to come into the first pass the post system it is certainly possible and we can see that in our very own region let me just end with this quote from Winnie Biannima who is the Executive Director of UN AIDS and a former MP from Uganda and a very well known African feminist where she says throughout Africa women are preparing themselves for greater and better political participation there can be no turning back this is the call of history the question is on which side will you be called for change or for resisting change and i'm very delighted to be speaking on a panel of international idea where clearly you have chosen the right side of his or their i say her story and that you are determined to work together with all of us to bring about this change particularly through the women's political participation initiative that you mentioned Miguel and let us hope that in 25 years we will be telling a very different story from what we are telling now thank you so much thank you very much Colleen for this very insightful and very well illustrated presentation before i introduced the next speaker i just wanted to say how related i am by the fact that our panel in the Makuta session of all the 12 panels of this worldwide conference our panel is the only all women panel of all 12 of them so well done to us in the southern Africa session and so our next and last speaker is professor Erin McEndless she's an associate professor at the school of governance at the very prestigious vitz university in South Africa and she directs a research and policy dialogue project on forging resilient social contracts in countries transition from conflict authoritarian she has nearly three decades of experience working on in conflict affected settings broadly on issues of peace building state building development and resilience and their intersections professor McEndless is an author of more than 100 publications including three books and several influential UN reports she's also the co-founder and former chief editor of the journal of peace building and development so over to you Erin thank you thank you so much for the warm introduction and for all the very inspiring talks so far and especially to the honorable mama Michelle for laying such a critical agenda with her hallmark passion i've no doubt we are all aware of the relevance of building institutions and strengthening social cohesion and it's not just at the core of democracy but also at the core of effective state building peace building and development and these issues of course are in fact more prominent in the context of coven 19 which has brought crisis to the doorstep of every country in the world spotlighting political incoherence and the fragility of institutions as well as deeply polarized societies and sadly in too many cases the responses have increased vulnerabilities and inequalities while heavy-handed security sector responses have instilled fear across many populations at the same time it's there's also a rising awareness i think we probably all know that crisis also creates sometimes possibilities and opportunities to build back better in ways that can possibly transform structural legacies and strengthen social contracts so i'm going to explore very briefly and in the short time just a bit about the concepts the challenges for social cohesion and institution building in southern Africa and the opportunities for strengthening both so first on the concepts i mean i think inclusive and accountable governance systems are not you know something new to to those of us looking at democracy and governance and they're recognized as crucial to sustainable development in human security we see them at the core of for example UNDP's global strategic plan and all if probably all national development plans as well and of course the SDG goal 16 highlights the real policy consensus around this calling for more effective accountable and inclusive institutions and this goal goal 16 is viewed often well it's viewed as an enabler but often even as a prerequisite for all of the other goals to be achieved social cohesion just is generally understood as as the formal or informal ties that bind us the interactions that bring and hold members of society together both horizontally between groups and citizens and vertically between this state and society and it tends to be often further conceptualized and measured around domains of for example trust and respect and belonging and identity and participation and increasingly cooperation for the common good and there's many efforts underway to to seek to understand the relationship of social cohesion with inequality and the delivery of social services and certainly plenty of rising evidence to show that inclusive outcomes really affect belonging and identity my own work on the social contract has shown this as well and of COVID-19 measures led by governments many government institutions often challenge social cohesion in numerous ways which we're exploring here and thus the critical need to have policy approaches that really try to bear this reality in mind and I think you know we've heard quite a bit about the region but very briefly you know we can note we can take a pride in the fact that while the region has you know it's really evolved from being overwhelmed by large scale wars to one of the most peaceful regions in the world yet still there are deep challenges in both with respect to conflict and fragility Mozambique alone is has deeply alarming situations you know both in terms of conflict as well as disaster cyclone day and now COVID-19 you know that really illustrate the deep interconnections between disaster and conflict that test the strength of institutions and destroy social fabric and some analysts would point to most of the crisis in the last decade in the region stemming from governance matters including authoritarian rule and closing civic space mismanagement and abuse of public affairs power and resources and the heavy handedness of the security sector but also socioeconomic issues cannot be underestimated as mama Michelle rightly laid out high levels of inequality and uneven development and even the countries with rapid economic progress have not been very effective at translating this into a social and economic transformation which is of course at the heart of much societal grievance and we see this through widespread protests across the region which illustrate the dissatisfaction across these areas and while poor governance features causally in fostering poverty and inequality domestically the global institutions of political economy many would argue are certainly not exempt and also demand transformation so I'm just going to briefly share a very few slides to kind of reinforce the statistics on this and here we go so this this first slide is on fragility in southern african of course when we're talking about fragility we are talking about the state's effective inability to carry out state functions and to manage risk sufficiently and we can see you know the whole continent is challenged by fragility according to the fragile states index which some would have take issue with in terms of how measures are conceptualized but nonetheless we see it's a pretty serious situation across africa and equally in southern africa with Botswana being the only stable country and Zimbabwe Mozambique Swaziland all being in the high alert categories while others are still in warning categories and in fact most of the country's rankings have reduced declined in the last year and of course this has something to do with COVID but that has affected every country so thinking about the measures used for social cohesion again belonging trust and participation the afrobarometer statistics here are very useful really you know which ask people to reflect which is more important their ethnic or national identity and over the last decade it's a bit concerning that we can see that um affiliation with nation has declined across all countries except for ironically Zimbabwe and then Zambia and Namibia and while the rest of the countries reveal movement from ethnic affiliation to a more balanced affiliation there are still countries where the ethnic affiliation has strengthened for example South Africa and Lesotho and the conclusion here we have to draw is well combined with other data that shows you know a high degree of concern by ethnic groups that they are not treated fairly um you know we really have to conclude that the nation building project has not been effectively nurtured through the region and um sorry it's just last one there but also on the kind of horizontal measures of belonging um there is actually a lot of evidence across Africa that there's there's good horizontal cohesion people tend to not mind um if their neighbors for example are ethnically religiously different than them or our immigrants except with respect to lgbtq um but also um I think as mama Michelle rightly pointed out um that there is high levels of political intolerance and this so far is not as well measured and certainly as we see the rising political polarization phenomenon we really need to understand this better in the area of trust I mean around the world Gallup polls point to trust in governments low and dramatically declining in that in many cases an afro barometer um data corroborates this across many different institutions and um corruption of course as we know is on the rise and very strong concerns around this um and it just the problem is especially profound because it disproportionately affects poor people in south africa for example the despite the immense work of the commission of inquiry into state capture it's quite alarming to note that two-thirds of the contracts related to supply and distribution of COVID-19 response efforts are under investigation for corruption and this slide um really reveals in terms of health care and it was before actually even the COVID virus the the COVID-19 um we can see that you know high levels of people going without health care challenges with access having to pay bribes and 46 percent believing that government governments are performing badly and lastly here in terms of participation rights and inclusion and this is from the new um moe ibrahim index and if you look at the very last column there you'll see that most countries over the last 10 years have worsened with respect to participation rights and inclusion okay i'm just gonna now make this is the moment is it not just sharing okay i'm just okay i'm just going to end with um some points about you know what can we do about all of this and of course there's a lot to say on these issues in a little time so i'm really just going to focus on some issues that are particularly vital and catalytic um in my view so with respect to trust you know the evidence is is showing that um governments generally generally um trust in government generally generally results in greater compliance with and support for policies and lower enforcement costs and this of course has been strongly reinforced in in the pandemic and in fact pandemics if we look at them in another positive light they can create conditions for citizens and public authorities to need to trust one another right an opportunity to strengthen the social contract um and at the same time of course we also know that poorly designed and implemented policies are increasing uh vulnerabilities and exacerbating existing drivers of conflict and fragility and there's a lot of work um with respect to policy institutions but also scholars in looking at different factors to improve trust around integrity openness fairness responsiveness reliability these need to be contextually situated and designed in ways that foster a local sense of belonging and history of state building has taught us um that we need more than a hardware centered approach again this notion of you know how do we deal with the root causes of conflict and fragility transformation requires this requires addressing this and it's very difficult and often institutions themselves need to be transformed not just reformed um and this in in COVID-19 and any pandemic where or crisis there's an opportunity to create more crisis governance response platforms that can further evolve the aspects of inclusion and oversight and participation and belonging and at the heart of this also is conflict sensitivity really factoring and awareness of what drives conflict into the design and development of policies WFP just won the noble peace prize with strong attention to this work there's lots of guidance out there and similarly there's a rising awareness with respect to social cohesion that there's no blueprint for social cohesion again we need to understand the specific context sensitive cleavages to design better policies around belonging trust and participation and just to wind up um you know there's that there's the interesting evidence as well is that there's um a difference the big difference between perceptions and reality and we see this in Moe Ibrahim Afrobarometer even South African reconciliation index around inequality for example the perception of inequality is worse than the actual fact though both are important and you know we might ask why well perhaps it's expectations of citizens are going up um rising protests might be raising awareness but also the grievance mechanisms are not effectively in place so people feel aggrieved so there's a strong need to focus on this area of both perceptions and reality and to targets you know have better targeted communication by government governments around these issues and ensuring more context relevant platforms for meaningful participation for marginalized groups in civil society and in conclusion I'll just underscore that while COVID-19 has challenged us profoundly it also presents opportunities to ultimately redefine the social contracts underpinning politics driving institutions and shaping social cohesions thank you very much thank you so much for this very academic presentation but also very to the point and to the practicalities of the challenges we face and how we could contribute to overcome that unfortunately we have run out of time there's no time left for Q&A we'll take note of all the questions that participants have put and if there's any pressing questions we may share them with the speakers by email at the later stage if just for you to know what kind of feedback the participants had about your presentations unfortunately in 30 minutes we have our final session of this marathon of a conference and the final session will be in Tunis Tunisia and it will close our 24th conference before handing over to our colleagues in Stockholm for the transition to Tunis I just wanted to thank very much first and foremost the speakers starting with our keynote speaker Mama Grassa-Machel for a very insightful and heartfelt introduction to this topic and also to the three panelists Maggie Muapé in Zambia, Colleen Mourna in Johannesburg and also Erina Candles also in Johannesburg thank you very much for your time for your insights for your contribution to this discussion on the next 25 years of democracy in southern Africa and have a great day and a great weekend thank you very much and bye for Maputo. In difficult times such as the ones we live in Spain is firmly convinced of the importance of robust democracies inclusive multilateralism and global cooperation democracy cannot fall victim to the pandemic it is imperative to remain committed to promoting and strengthening democratic values we are also convinced that upholding multilateralism is the only way forward to deal with the major global challenges ahead of us as well with the consequences of the pandemic happy 25th anniversary dear idea institute and your colleagues let's continue working together 25 more years towards sustainable and resilient democracies hello it is my pleasure to extend my sincere greetings to all of you on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the international institute for democracy and electoral assistance it is the right time to reflect what we've achieved in the past 25 years democracy is not a single short effort it requires constant attention and care it requires polishing from promoting democratic education to educating people on democratic values the idea is championing the in this area to further promote democratic institutions and democratic values throughout the world once again i wish to extend my sincere appreciation to idea and happy 25th anniversary i would like to take this opportunity to congratulate international idea for its 25th anniversary as you may know she is a founder member of idea and our commitment to democracy remain stronger than ever we believe that during this difficult time of the pandemic the work of idea is more important than ever to defend democratic values worldwide so i want to congratulate especially to all the staff members both in Stockholm and in the regional offices for this anniversary and i encourage you to continue working to defend the values that founded this great institution congratulations to international idea on its 25th anniversary the german government is proud to be a member of international idea over the past 25 years international idea has proven to be an important thing and do thank for the promotion of democracy around the globe nowadays this task is more important than ever the world faces an erosion of democratic systems and of civic and political space worsened by COVID-19 crisis we have to protect democratic values in all parts of the world germany is strongly committed to this challenge german development corporation is focusing on democracy protection and promotion in more than 40 partner countries and we are very happy to partner with international idea in this endeavor minister of international development i'm sending you this message to celebrate the 25th anniversary of international idea canada is committed to promoting and protecting democracy worldwide since becoming a member state of international idea in 1997 we have been supporting and working closely with your organization we value your strong international reputation extensive programming and high quality policy products for example we have benefited from your biennial report the global state of democracy and your leadership in calling to defend democracy during the COVID-19 crisis we particularly appreciated the valuable insights you had provided during consultations for our feminist international assistance policy a few years ago with democracy under constant threat we look forward to continuing to work with international idea to support democratic development and inclusive governance across the world thank you and happy anniversary dear ideacia secretary general colleagues and friends Finland is a founding member of the international idea and we are proud of that Nobel Peace Prize awarded and former president of Finland Martti Althissari was a member of the first idea board Finland has contributed ideas work for many years in Myanmar at present idea data and tools are used by Finnish ministries political parties and academia in advancing new forms of democracy democracy the most successful political idea of the 20th century is now challenged by authoritarian regimes and movements we need idea its member states and its dedicated staff in defending democracy and human rights and all together we can strengthen a sustainable democracy for next decades after 25 years international idea is old enough to know better and young enough to be in one card to promote democracy happy anniversary in India for which it is necessary to have solid and effective institutions that make possible more just and inclusive societies so next to celebrate their bicentenary of republican life Peru has imposed internal reforms to improve the representation and the electoral system whose results should be verified in the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2021 in this hemisphere and as a promoter of the democratic and inter-american card Peru is still committed to the values that inspire and continue to promote peaceful actions to recover democracy where it is vulnerable as a member of this organization and country from a national office receive the testimony of the unvariable bet of the peru for the strengthening of democracy and governability as well as the support to international ideas in this shared task thank you very much greetings from the australian embassy in stock home and congratulations to international idea on its 25th anniversary it's great that colleagues in australia can participate in this event including the president of the australian senate scott ryan australia is proud to be a founding member of international idea and we thank idea for its ongoing efforts to promote and to protect democracy and support free and fair elections around the world we value international ideas role in our region covered 19 is testing all of our institutions from the global level to the local level it's clear that democracies have to stand up against efforts by some actors to use the pandemic as an opportunity to erode democracy and advance an authoritarian agenda governments need to find ways to balance respect for civil and political rights with the safety of communities supporting gender equality and women's empowerment is also vital to strengthening democracy australia looks forward to succeeding sweden as chair of the council of member states for international idea in 2021 and taking forward this important work on behalf of the government of uruguay it is my pleasure to convey our most sincere and warm congratulations to international idea on its 25th anniversary we would like to recognize the relevance of the organization in promoting and strengthening democracy around the world and commend its secretary general and all the staff for their work today the current context of covide 19 represents an additional challenge to democracy and we need to ensure that electoral processes take place in a credible and transparent manner uruguay is proud to be one of the full democracies in the world and it has recently conducted elections during the covide 19 scenario confirming that it is possible to ensure a ballot if suitable precautions are taken you're ready to collaborate with other countries by sharing our experience finally current circumstances are showing a deterioration on the quality of democracy our respect for human rights around the globe and for this reason we believe it is more relevant than ever that international idea play an active role by providing relevant insight and knowledge to help us defend our core values dear audience i would like to congratulate international idea with its 25th anniversary of course democracy itself already dates back over 2500 years which is also cause for celebration today it is as important as it was in ancient history to ensure fair and effective representation of the people we as the Netherlands are long term supporters of international idea throughout the years we have very much valued the tremendous work events tools and studies of the secretariat and our international corporation with idea member states in the council today we celebrate ideas anniversary during the global covide 19 pandemic a crisis with unprecedented effects also on democracy and elections worldwide idea rightfully addresses these risks and puts them on the international agenda this to me shows the continued value and agility of international idea i firmly believe that ideas efforts are very important in advancing democracy both in context where it's newly embraced as well as in established democracies congratulations with this milestone in the sustainable development of the countries this maxima is in the fiber of being costarricense and that's why we are part of this group from its beginnings we share with idea the premise that democracy is a universal aspiration and so it is for all sectors of society that receive their benefits directly from women, children, adolescence, youth, indigenous people with low capacity and people lxt vibrations plus are part de la ordimbre nacional que se nutre los procesos políticos democráticos, fuertes y despacios para la manifestación libre de sus ideas. Cuenten con Costa Rica para impulsar la idea de un desarrollo sostenible e inclusivo y con el ser humano como su eje central. Muchas gracias. The current pandemic is changing how we live our lives and how political leaders are making decisions. The current situation underlines the importance of well-functioning institutions and trust between people and trust between people and the authorities. Democracy, youth and climate change is a timely topic. Today's young people are not only our future leaders but also our future guardians of democracy and our future guardians of the environment. The persistence and bravery of young people who are demanding democracy across the world gives us hope. Popular decisions may be effective in the short term but they're not always the right decisions for future generations. Democracy, human rights and the rule of law are essential for young people to be able to control and shape their own destiny. Teaching children and young people to become active citizens through an understanding of democratic norms and practices is an important element in creating lasting peace. I would like to thank International IDEA for your important contributions in building sustainable democracy over the last 25 years. The fight for democracy is not over. COVID-19 has made the organization's mission even more relevant. You have an important role to play also in the next 25 years. Happy anniversary. It's my pleasure and privilege to congratulate the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance on its 25th anniversary on behalf of India, the largest democracy in the world. Democracy needs to be cherished, preserved and celebrated. Every effort to strengthen democracy is a welcome force multiplier. In the last 25 years, I IDEA has contributed to advancing democracy around the world and deserves our greetings on its 25th anniversary. India is happy to have supported International IDEA from its inception in 1995. On this occasion, I would also like to compliment the Swedish government in taking a lead in the establishment of the International IDEA. In India, the democratic ideals have permeated to everyday reality from their high pedestal of the Constitution. Beginning with an ambitious, almost impossible project of universal edict suffrage of its diverse and numerous people after independence in 1947, India has held 17 successful general elections so far. The 2019 general elections had a voter count of more than 900 million with nearly 1 million polling stations across the country. International IDEA has also witnessed this gigantic festival of democracy. As many parts in the world are increasingly faced with strife and conflict, promotion of sustainable democracy and democratic institutions by International IDEA for inclusive socio-economic development in these societies assume more significance than ever before. India before the Election Commission of India, India through the Election Commission of India is actively engaged in exchange of standard operating procedures and know how on conduct of transparent, fair and open elections with countries around the world. IIDA is welcome to benefit from and collaborate in this regard to promote democracy and equal rights to all. It's our firm belief that in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, democracy and democratic institutions have proved effective in fighting the known and unknown challenges of our times. I am confident that through our common and diverse, democratic ideals would be strengthened further and there would be more prosperity and peace across the world in the years to come. Thank you for the attention.