Stockholm, 15 June 2022 (TDI): Bankole Adeoye, the Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) of the African Union (AU) met with Kevin Casas-Zamora, the Secretary-General of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
The meeting took place at the Headquarters of International IDEA, Stockholm, Sweden.
The discussion between both sides mainly focused on bilateral longstanding collaboration on democracy, elections, and human rights.
During Ambassador Bankole Adeoye’s trip to Sweden, he also had other several working sessions and meetings with the Swedish side.
Initially, Ambassador Adeoye met with officers from the Africa Department in the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both sides discussed conflict situations on the African continent with strong proposals for collective response.
Later, another meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Ann Linde, also took place in Stockholm. Both AU-PAPS and the Swedish government agreed on the significance to scale up their longstanding cooperation in crucial fields.
About the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance is an intergovernmental organization. IDEA aims to support sustainable democracy worldwide.
At present, the International IDEA has 35 member states. Among them, Canada is the current Chair while Cape Verde and Finland are both the First Vice-Chair.
Corresponding with its aim, IDEA especially works on developing, sharing, and enabling the use of comparative knowledge. IDEA’s areas of expertise contain electoral processes, constitution-building, democracy assessment, and political participation and representation.
Moreover, IDEA also emphasizes the significant topics including gender equality and inclusion, and conflict and security as they relate to democracy.
As an intergovernmental organization, IDEA pays special attention to facilitating all levels of dialogue among countries, experts, and international partners.
Accordingly, IDEA has a comprehensive partnership with electoral management bodies, political parties as well as regional and sub-regional organizations. For instance, the African Union is one of IDEA’s stable partners.
From 29-31 March 2022, PAPS of the African Union Commission organized a workshop on the draft African Union (AU) Guide on Electoral Assistance to the Member States. IDEA was one of the attendees in that meeting. See more
