Elections – Integra LLC

Anti-corruption, Civil Society, Democracy & Governance, Elections, Governances, Open Project Positions, Rule of Law

CHIEF OF PARTY (COP)– EGYPT EVALUATION MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY

JOB TITLE: CHIEF OF PARTY (COP) – EGYPT EVALUATION MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY

Location: Cairo, Egypt
Position Type: Full-time, contingent upon contract award
Application Deadline: TBD

Overview:
Integra seeks a dynamic, experienced, and highly motivated Chief of Party (COP) to lead the USAID/Egypt Evaluation Management Activity. This role will oversee all project implementation aspects, providing technical leadership and managerial oversight to ensure the successful delivery of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) services. The COP will serve as the primary point of contact with USAID, stakeholders, and implementing partners and will ensure the project meets its objectives within budget and timeline. This position is contingent upon contract award, anticipated in September/October 2025.

Integra, USAID’s 2021 small business of the year, specializes in implementing demand-driven development analytics, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), private sector engagement, and capacity-building projects. Our broad technical expertise encompasses ICT, agriculture and food security, economic growth, energy, climate resilience, environment and natural resources, and gender and social inclusion. We have provided analytical and MEL services to donor-funded projects for over ten years, working across more than 50 countries, impacting millions of stakeholders, and leveraging over $1.2 billion in public and private investment for development reforms.

Responsibilities:

Leadership & Coordination: Serve as the primary liaison between Integra, USAID, the Government of Egypt, and other project stakeholders. Maintain strong relationships with USAID’s Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and other key stakeholders. Provide overall leadership to ensure the activity meets its objectives and operates per USAID regulations and best practices.
Project Management: Oversee the development, implementation, and adaptive management of work plans and budgets. Ensure all project activities are completed on time, within scope, and within budget. Supervise project staff, subcontractors, and partners, fostering effective communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.
Technical Oversight: Lead all monitoring, evaluation, data collection, learning, and dissemination efforts under the project. Ensure the application of sound evaluation methodologies, statistical analysis, and robust data collection techniques. Ensure the quality of MEL services provided under the contract, adapting methods as necessary to suit the unique context of Egypt.
Compliance & Reporting: Ensure all project activities comply with USAID’s rules and regulations. Oversee the production of high-quality reports and technical documents, conveying findings in a clear, accessible, and visually compelling manner. Identify risks and issues related to project management and implementation and take timely corrective actions as necessary.
Team & Stakeholder Management: Build and manage a skilled, diverse, high-performing team. Foster a collaborative, inclusive work environment that values diverse perspectives and promotes professional development. Work closely with local stakeholders, partners, and government officials to ensure project activities’ coordination, collaboration, and sustainability.

Qualifications:

Education & Experience:
- A minimum of a Master’s degree in public administration, international relations, economics, business administration, law, or a related field.
- At least 10 years of experience designing and leading international development projects, focusing on monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
- Experience leading and implementing large, complex USAID-funded projects, preferably in Egypt or similar contexts.
- Proven experience managing diverse teams and overseeing subcontractors in multicultural settings.
Technical Expertise:
Strong knowledge of evaluation methodologies, statistical analysis, and data collection in challenging environments.
- Experience with experimental design and advanced data analysis techniques is highly desirable.
- Familiarity with USAID’s MEL requirements and regulations.
- Experience building capacity in monitoring and evaluation and training stakeholders on MEL practices.
Skills & Abilities:
- Exceptional leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills, with the ability to effectively engage with diverse stakeholders.
- Proven ability to manage large budgets and ensure financial accountability in compliance with USAID policies.
- Strong report writing and presentation skills, with the ability to synthesize complex data into clear, actionable recommendations.
- Ability to identify challenges and opportunities in project implementation and adapt strategies as needed.
- Fluency in English (both spoken and written) is required; proficiency in Arabic is highly preferred.
Personal Qualities:
- Strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
- A results-oriented mindset with a focus on continuous improvement and operational excellence.
- Demonstrated flexibility and problem-solving skills in a dynamic and evolving project environment.

How to Apply:
Interested candidates should submit their resume and a cover letter outlining their qualifications and interest in the position to jobs@integrallc.com. Please include the names and contact information of three professional references.

Note: Egyptian citizens are strongly encouraged to apply. This position is contingent upon contract award, expected in September/October 2025.

Integra is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity in the workplace. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply.

December 23, 2024/by jschur

Anti-corruption, Civil Society, Democracy & Governance, Elections, Governances, Open Project Positions, Rule of Law

Evaluation Expert

Position: Evaluation Expert, USAID EE/MELDS

Location: Remote/Washington DC

Integra leads the Europe and Eurasia/Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Decision Support (EE/MELDS) contract for the USAID/Europe and Eurasia (EE) Bureau and missions. Integra provides USAID/EE with technical and advisory services related to monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) of USAID/EE projects and activities to enhance MEL capabilities and collect empirical evidence for programming, learning, and adapting.

Integra is seeking an Evaluation Expert or Senior Evaluation Expert to assist the Evaluation Team Lead in designing, implementing, and reporting USAID project and portfolio performance evaluations in Europe and Eurasia. This role includes contributing to evaluation methodologies, data collection, analysis, and reporting while working closely with team members and stakeholders.

ROLE/RESPONSIBILITIES

Senior Evaluation Expert

Provide guidance on desk review processes, helping the team interpret project documents, data, and stakeholder information frame the evaluation context.
Advise on the evaluation design, including methodologies, data collection tools, and timelines, ensuring alignment with best practices and evaluation goals.
Offer input on team responsibilities and support training efforts, promoting consistent and accurate data collection methods.
Support the team during data collection, providing insights to ensure data quality and actively participating in key stakeholder presentations and workshops as needed.
Review and advise on evaluation report drafts to ensure clarity, comprehensiveness, and alignment with USAID/E&E guidelines.
Serve as a key advisor, coordinating with USAID and implementing partners to uphold ethical standards and ensure a robust evaluation process.

Evaluation Expert

Conduct a detailed desk review of project documents (including reports and collected data) to understand project context and stakeholder involvement.
Assist in designing the evaluation methodology and data collection tools with guidance from senior experts.
Support role assignments and train team members on evaluation tools and methods to ensure consistent data gathering.
Coordinate and participate in data collection activities, including virtual and in-country sessions, ensuring accuracy and thorough documentation.
Contribute to drafting evaluation reports in compliance with USAID/E&E guidelines, and assist in gathering and organizing team inputs.
Collaborate closely with the evaluation team and senior management, maintaining ethical standards and clear communication with stakeholders throughout.

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum of 5 years of experience designing and implementing project performance evaluations.
Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and presentation, including designing KII, FGD, and survey tools, analyzing and visualizing data using qualitative and quantitative analysis tools.
- Preference is given to candidates with experience programming surveys in Kobotoolbox or Survey Monkey.
- Proficiency in conducting qualitative data analysis using ATLAS, Ti, Nvivo, or similar platforms are preferred.
- Data visualization skills using Tableau or PowerBI is a plus.
Experience delivering remote and in-person presentations to present, discuss, validate, and/or co-create evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
An undergraduate degree is expected, with a strong preference for those holding graduate degrees in Monitoring and Evaluation, Qualitative and Quantitative Research, Statistics, Sociology, International Development, Public Policy, or related fields.
Experience or expertise in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and East Asia is preferred.
Working proficiency in English is strongly preferred.

HOW TO APPLY: Qualified and interested candidates should submit a cover letter and CV to jobs@integrallc.com. Please include “Evaluation Expert” in the subject line of the e-mail. No phone calls please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Integra provides equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status.

November 21, 2024/by jschur

Anti-corruption, Civil Society, Democracy & Governance, Elections, Governances, Open Project Positions, Rule of Law

Project Performance Evaluation Team Lead

Position: Project Performance Evaluation Team Lead, USAID EE/MELDS

Location: Remote/Washington DC

Integra is seeking experienced Evaluation Team Lead candidates to manage the design, execution, and reporting of USAID project and portfolio evaluations in the Europe and Eurasia region. The role involves leading methodology design, team coordination, data analysis, stakeholder engagement, and report development. This position offers the opportunity to contribute to impactful development initiatives in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Conduct comprehensive desk reviews of relevant project and sector documents, including data, reports, and stakeholder information.
Design the evaluation methodology and develop data collection tools in collaboration with the Evaluation Expert.
Delegate and train the evaluation team on their responsibilities and the use of evaluation tools, ensuring accurate and consistent application and understanding.
Lead all phases of data collection (virtual and in-country).
Manage the processing and analysis of data.
Oversee key stakeholder engagements including presentations and workshops.
Develop and refine comprehensive evaluation reports aligned with USAID/E&E guidelines, delegating report sections among team members as appropriate.
Manage the Evaluation Team, coordinate with USAID, and ensure ethical standards are maintained throughout the evaluation.

REQUIREMENTS:

A minimum of eight (8) years of experience implementing project performance evaluations, including serving as Team Lead of 3+ evaluations.
Experience conducting project performance evaluations for USAID is required.
Experience with the World Bank and the United Nations is highly valued.
Experience leading evaluation teams of at least four (4) team members is required.
Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, and presentation, including designing KII, FGD, and survey tools.
Experience analyzing and visualizing data using qualitative and quantitative analysis tools.
Experience beyond the traditional mixed-method evaluation design, including but not limited to case study design, process tracing, system mapping, and outcome harvesting, is preferred.
Experience delivering remote and in-person presentations to discuss, validate, and/or co-create evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
An undergraduate degree is expected, with a strong preference for those holding graduate degrees in Monitoring and Evaluation, Qualitative and Quantitative Research, Statistics, Sociology, International Development, Public Policy, or related fields.
Experience or expertise in Eastern Europe and/or Central Asia is preferred.
Advanced proficiency and fluency in written and spoken English, equivalent to a native level.
Exceptional organizational, analytical, and writing skills.

HOW TO APPLY: Qualified and interested candidates should submit a cover letter and CV to jobs@integrallc.com. Please include “Project Performance Evaluation Team Lead” in the subject line of the e-mail. No phone calls please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Integra provides equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status.

November 21, 2024/by jschur

Anti-corruption, Civil Society, Democracy & Governance, Elections, Governances, Open Project Positions, Rule of Law

Project Director, USAID Analytical Services V (ASV)

Position: Project Director, USAID Analytical Services V (ASV)

Location: Remote/Washington DC

Integra is seeking Project Director candidates for an upcoming proposal on the multi-year Analytical Services V contract. This mechanism will provide the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DCHA/DRG) with the means to support US foreign policy objectives by promoting resilient, democratic societies. Support for DRG is vital to the pursuit of freedom and national security and is essential to achieve the Agency’s and the US Government’s broader social and economic development goals. The IDIQ will directly build on USAID’s DRG Strategy by supporting USAID Missions and other operating units to develop strategies and projects that will have the greatest impact.

Responsibilities:

Provide overall leadership and technical direction throughout the project’s life with a focus on achieving results as described in the contract.
Provide technical inputs on select activity proposal efforts.
Serve as a primary point of contact for USAID staff and relevant stakeholders, reporting on progress, assessing evolving needs, and communicating lessons learned.
Contribute to technical work products, provide quality assurance, and own the delivery of high-value reports and workshops to USAID clients.
Work with Integra home-office staff in personnel, contract administration and financial management of the overall project.

REQUIREMENTS:

Advanced degree in economics, statistics, sociology, international development or other social science fields.
Minimum of 10 years of experience in MEL and research activities for international development.
Minimum of 5 years of experience in direct management or oversight of USAID projects.
Experience working with USAID/DRG, BHA or OTI preferred.
Expertise in democratic governance, participation and inclusion, DEIA, free and fair elections, promoting independent media, civic engagement, rule of law, human rights, e-governance and digital democracy, anti-corruption, and countering authoritarianism highly preferred.
Proficiency in USAID regulations, FAR, ADS, procurement procedures, and contract compliance.
Experience managing teams of internal staff and consultants resulting in successful project delivery, with a strong preference for experience in managing the concurrent implementation of multiple task orders under similar IDIQ mechanisms.
Demonstrated experience in technical proposal writing skills for USAID, Department of State, Millennium Challenge Corporation, or other donors for procurement opportunities.
The ability to produce high-quality technical work expeditiously and independently.
Strong people skills evidenced by client and team management experience, including through Project Manager roles.
Proficiency in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Remuneration Package: A competitive package would be offered based on salary history and
work experience.

HOW TO APPLY: Qualified and interested candidates should submit a cover letter and CV to jobs@integrallc.com. Please include “Project Director, USAID Analytical Services V (ASV)” in the subject line of the e-mail. No phone calls please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Integra provides equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status.

October 18, 2024/by jschur

Democracy & Governance, Elections, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Online tools to monitor Senegal’s 2012 presidential election

Most of Senegal is a-buzz with the upcoming presidential election just days away. After all, there is plenty to talk about – constitutional amendments, a stubborn incumbent, dueling political parties, campaign promises, and unfortunately, violence.

Word-of-mouth and traditional media are certainly still the main sources of information about the candidates, controversy, and election-day logistics. Still, the 2012 elections will no doubt set Senegalese records for social media usage. More Senegalese than ever before will use the Internet to stay abreast of what’s happening at the polls, in the streets, and in their government. Apart from Twitter and Facebook, a handful of online tools have been created or utilized in order to aid in the exchange of reliable information.

Senegal Election Tools:

The most robust of Senegal’s election-monitoring platforms, Sunu2012 is designed as the basis of a citizen driven initiative to improve democracy and transparency. It is part of the logic to enable citizens Senegal to make a good choice in upcoming elections. Here you can find information about the candidates, election schedule, and Google trends. There’s even Facebook commenting integration and a large Twitter presence.
CarRapide is a Web TV platform that wants to offer the opportunity for citizens to ask questions of upcoming candidates.
Elections Search Trends is a Google service to monitor the voting patterns in the race for 2012 presidential election. Of interest are search volume for individual candidates, political parties, and themes (employment, inflation, electricity).
Popsenegal is a web service that measures activity of public figures on Senegalese Internet.
Samabaat is a platform for information exchange regarding the 2012 election in Senegal. (site won’t load in the U.S. as of this writing)
Storyful is tracking and mapping news videos from across Senegal. Over 30 videos about the 2012 elections are currently on the YouTube playlist.
For the most up-to-date information, follow hashtags #sunu2012, #kebetu, and #seneweb on Twitter.

Please add any resources we missed in the comments!

Vote or be silent {sunu2012}

February 17, 2012/by actualize

Democracy & Governance, Elections, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Senegalese web experts weigh-in on 2012 presidential election

Photo credit: WorldNomads.com

Seven Senegalese experts recently weighed in on how social media is being used to promote and discuss the upcoming 2012 elections.

The whitepaper, “PRÉSIDENTIELLE 2.0: Facebook, Twitter et autres réseaux sociaux pour les élections 2012″ headed by Aboubacar Sadikh Ndiaye, addresses the use of the Internet for stakeholders in the 2012 Senegalese presidential elections. More specifically, networks and social media, Web 2.0 and the 2012 elections, social networks for candidates, social networks for Internet activists, the Community management policy, and opinions from the experts.

The first section of the paper discusses how social networks are a subset of social media. The author then discusses Barack Obama’s successful 2008 social media campaign and what it means to be an online community manager. The good stuff starts at page 59 when he interviews seven Senegalese Web experts on their views of what the Internet means to Senegal, how politicians can use the Internet, and their vision of the web for the upcoming presidential election. This last question is perhaps the most intriguing.

The general consensus is that the Internet is a powerful tool and will be useful in disseminating information about Senegal’s election. However, relatively few Senegalese access the Internet, and information can be unreliable. Still, many experts feel that the Internet is creating a new type of “e-citizen” in Senegal – one who is empowered to create constructive dialogue that will move Senegal forward as a society.

Below are summaries of the experts’ responses, translated from French.

Hamadou Tidiane Sy, veteran journalist

the web will be present but its impact will be marginal
illiteracy prevents many from using social networks
the Internet is not yet sufficiently democratized to become a tool of mass communication

Mamadou Ndiaye, professor at ITSEF

the web will be a major player in this campaign
everything will depend on the ability of candidates or their advisers to use this technological support
it will be useful to reach voters in the Diaspora
the internet is a tool of the elite
according to official figures, the number of internet users (About 1 million) and the rate of Internet penetration (7.3%) are still low

Cheikh Fall, project manager and web developer

the Web is already at the heart of this presidential in February 2012
today with the Sunu2012.sn platform, each Senegalese has the opportunity to know the different protagonists who are vying to challenge for the votes of the electors

Annick Diop, group coordinator

the Web is the ultimate space to acquire information
the contents of the Web are not always reliable
the Web is the propaganda tool of the political parties and it allows everyone to be aware of everything that happens out there, and in real-time

Mountaga Cisse, IT professional & co-founder ITMag.sn

the web allows the initial time to provide instantaneous information on the process, then give access national and international Internet users a detailed description of campaign proposals
the web is also a tool for dialogue between candidates and voters
the web allows for better supervision of conduct of the vote by centralized feedback and after the elections, promotes wider dissemination of results

Basile Niane, journalist

Web 2.0 will be the heart of this presidential 2012
the elections have contributed to a new type of online citizen, or E-citizen.

Mohamded Ben Pape Diouf Alcaly, political consultant

the Internet tools, when used properly, can help empower groups of individuals previously deprived of an ability to act politically

The entire 156-page white paper is available as a free download from the following link: http://www.itmag.sn/docs/livreblanc-presidentielle-20

February 14, 2012/by actualize

Civil Society, Democracy & Governance, Elections, Governances, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

2011: A revolutionary year in democracy and governance

"Mohamed suffered a lot. He worked hard. But when he set fire to himself, it wasn't about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." —Mannoubia Bouazizi, Tunisia Photograph by Peter Hapak for TIME

2011 will be remembered as the year that democratic awakening occurred in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Activists used information and communication technology (ICT) tools to organize and coordinate political demonstrations that brought an end to long-standing regimes and paved the way to landmark elections.

Time Magazine fittingly awarded the “Person of the Year” accolade to the protester. What would come to be known as the “Arab Spring” began in Tunisia’s under-developed town of Sidi Bouzid, where the late Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor whose wares were confiscated by the police, set himself on fire outside of a government building in December 2010. Few would have predicted that Bouazizi’s actions would trigger an uprising that brought an end to Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s 23-year-old regime on January 14th.

Video clips of the first protests, including demonstrations at the spot where Bouazizi set-himself on fire, were recorded on mobile phones, posted on YouTube, and spread across Tunisia and in the Arab world when they were shared on Facebook before news media outlets such as Al Jazeera began running their stories, reports Robert Mackey in the New York Times.

The Tunisian revolutionary spirit spread in neighboring Egypt. Inspired by events in Tunsia, political demonstrations began in January as thousands took to the streets in anti-government protests against poverty, rampant unemployment, corruption, and demanding an end to the 30-year autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak, writes Cara Parks in The Huffington Post.

Aware of the potent effect that social media had in Tunisia’s uprising, the Egyptian government blocked Facebook, Twitter, and later Internet services to lead a crackdown on the largest protests the country had witnessed since 1970s, according to Parks. Despite violent clashes with the riot police, protests kept going not only in Cairo, the capital, but also in Alexandria and Suez, and two other major cities.

Photo Credit: Huffington Post

The revolution’s main goal was achieved with the resignation of President Mubarak on February 11th. Activist Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager for Google who played a significant role in organizing the January 25 protests by reaching out to young Egyptians on Facebook, credited the social networking site for the success of the Egyptian people’s uprising, says Catharine Smith in The Huffington Post.

“[…] This revolution started on Facebook. […] We would post a video on Facebook that would be shared by 60,000 people on their walls within a few hours. I’ve always said that if you want to liberate a society just give them the Internet. […],” Ghonim told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview that Facebook and the Internet were responsible for the uprising in Egypt.

After Egypt, it was the turn of Syrians to protest against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Pro-democratic demonstrations began in January and young Syrians, inspired by the ousting of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, began organizing protests online and then took them to the streets.

In this citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone, Syrian men carry bread loaves during a protest against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, in the coastal town of Banias, Syria, May 3, 2011 Photo Credit: AP

Syrian activists have been working their computers and mobile phones, updating Facebook pages, sending out messages over Twitter, and uploading videos onto YouTube to inform the outside world of what was taking place in their surroundings since foreign reporters were banned, reports Margaret Besheer for VOA news.

Libya was the revolution’s next stop in North Africa . Protests broke out in February in the eastern city of Benghazi and escalated to an armed conflict as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi clashed with anti-government rebels. Gaddafi was captured and killed on October 24 bringing an end to four decades of autocratic rule.

Libya Crisis Map illustrates how ICTs can be applied in a conflict situation. This web-based platform was created by the Standby Task Force, and used the Ushahidi crowdsourced crisis reporting system to map latest news from Libya gleaned from Twitter and traditional news sources.

The LibyaCrisisMap platform was activated by the request of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to the Standby Task Force (SBTF). The platform was fully handed over to OCHA supervision in April 2011, and continued to be supported by a team of volunteers until June 4th of 2011.

Yemenis also took up the streets in February to protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh calling for his resignation. Saleh agreed a deal, in which he will transfer power to his deputy by February 2012, ahead of elections. Young Yemeni Activists are however angry that the deal guarantees immunity for Mr Saleh and his allies, reports the BBC.

The Kingdom of Bahrain, with financial, equipment and manpower backing from its Saudi neighbor, is the only government in the MENA region to have successfully crushed pro-democracy demonstrations, reports Adrian Humphreys in the National Post.

Revolutions in the spring paved the way to landmark elections in the fall.

Tunisian politicians engaged voters via YouTube ahead of the October 23rd elections of representative for the new Constituent Assembly, which will ratify a new constitution and appoint a new transitional government that will schedule elections for a permanent government. Tunisia Live, a startup news portal, launched Tunisia Talks on YouTube where citizens asked questions to politicians.

Egyptians also queued up in numbers at polling stations in the country’s first democratic elections. Citizens took up the responsibility to monitor the electoral process blogging and Tweeting about irregularities and fraudulent activities. Parliamentary elections will end in March and Presidential elections are scheduled for mid-2012.

ICTs in form of social media platforms, cell phones, and the Internet played a significant role in the push for democracy and governance not only in the MENA region but also throughout the world.

December 29, 2011/by actualize

Democracy & Governance, Eastern Europe, Elections, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Where we work

From the Arab Spring to the Russian Winter?

In another case of authoritarian regime vs. public protesters, information and communication technologies (ICTs) seem to have fueled the fire. Russians took to the streets last weekend in social media-driven demonstrations against alleged election fraud committed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party, in the biggest protest the country has ever witnessed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russian opposition activists have used Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms to uncover electoral fraud and organize protests. Such is the case of Danila Lindele, 23-year-old citizen activist, described by VOA News as a “new breed of Russian activist, one more likely to reach for an iPad than a bullhorn.”

Despite conceding that irregularities did occur during the electoral process, President Dmitry Medvedev criticized the protests using his official Facebook page.

“I agree neither with the slogans, nor the statements voiced at the protests,” President Medvedev said. Russians responded with insults such as “shame” and “pathetic”, according to VOA News.

BBC reports that at least “7,000 comments had appeared under his post by 20:00 GMT on Sunday, a day after the biggest anti-government protests since Soviet times. An early random sample showed the comments were equally divided between hostility, support and neutrality.”

Authorities carried out over 1,000 arrests, mostly in Moscow, and key protester, blogger and anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny was jailed, the BBC said.

Global Voices, an online platform for bloggers from around the world who report on how citizens use the Internet and social media to make their voices heard, often translating from other languages, features posts by prominent Russian bloggers such as Navalny in their Russia 2011 Elections Special.

“The time has come to throw off the chains. We are not cattle or slaves. We have a voice and we have the strength to defend it,” Mr. Navalny blogged.

Navalny also posted a video of Putin’s speech at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex to illustrate the Prime Minister’s declining popularity as evidenced by boos he received from segments of the crowd.

http://youtu.be/ZxQslFifQBw

Blogger Sean Guillory points out that election fraud is not novel practice in Russian politics and refers to Leontii Byzov, a senior sociologist from the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences to explain why the largest anti-government protests is taking place now.

“There are several overlapping factors. First, the rise of a new generation of young people who don’t remember the ‘trauma of the 1990s’. They are not afraid of change, it is more attractive to them than the ‘gilded cage’ of Putinist stability. Young members of the middle class want social mobility and dream about meteoric careers,” said Byzov.

“Another factor is the swelling internal opposition within the Russian elite. In the 2000s, Putin served as a certain guarantor of balance between elite groups with completely opposite interests,” added Byzov. The tensions between the Putin-backed siloviki and liberals supporters of Medvedev are entangled in a power struggle over the control Gazprom and other state corporations.

Columnist DOĞU ERGİL argues that ICT tools in the form of social media platform, the Internet and cell phones can compensate for a lack of an opposition to an authoritarian regime, pointing to the power to connect millions and allow individuals to share messages and act in relative concert, that these platforms and networks possess.

“The Tahrir Square protest are the best example of what a virtual community can create in the absence of organized opposition,” he said.

As it was the case in Egypt and Tunisia, Russia has a strong, authoritarian leadership. ICTs are helping challenge the authoritarian state structure, as evinced by the recent anti-government demonstrations, and despite the Kremlin’s crackdown and control of the media, ERGİL argues.

In fact, two-thirds of Russians are said to be utilizing ICTs, especially the mobile phone network and blogging. The political space created by these tools enable exchanges that narrows the ideological divides and strengthen opposition to a government determined to sustain its grip on society as long as it can.

According to the BBC, “as many as 50,000 people gathered on an island near the Kremlin to condemn alleged ballot-rigging in parliamentary elections and demand a re-run” “The protesters alleged there was widespread fraud in the December 4th polls though the ruling United Russia party did see its share of the vote fall sharply.”

December 15, 2011/by actualize

Anti-corruption, Civil Society, Democracy & Governance, Elections, Governances, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Women in Development

ICT4Democracy in East Africa

Launched in June, ICT for Democracy in East Africa is a network of organizations seeking to leverage the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance good governance and strengthen democracy.

This initiative is funded by the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regio ns (SPIDER) and aims to promote collaboration amongst democracy actors in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Member organizations in the network are Kenya’s iHub, the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC), the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Transparency International Uganda (TIU), and Tanzania’s Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG).

iHub, an open space for the tech community in Kenya, hosted a governance workshop in October. The event brought together stakeholders in academia, government, civil society and the tech community to identify governance challenges—such as an uninformed or misinformed citizenry about their basic rights and an entrenched culture of corruption. The take away from the session was that ICTs—particularly mobile phones—provide citizens with the platform by which they can engage in governance solutions in a discreet, personalized way, anytime, anywhere.

In the wake of 2012 Presidential elections, citizens need to be better educated, informed and engaged in the political processes to avoid post-elections clashes as it was the case in 2007. To this end, KHRC plans to tap into the potential of ICTs to increase citizen participation, monitor human rights violations, monitor the electoral processes, monitor government fulfillment of promises, carry out campaigns and also inform and educate its constituents and the public on various human rights and governance issues.

Civic participation and democracy monitoring is relatively weak in Uganda given that only 59% of registered voters cast their ballots in the February 2011 presidential elections, according to SPIDER. The proliferation of ICT tools, their potential to enhance communication and improve access to important information creates an opportunity for improved citizen engagement and advocacy towards increased transparency and accountability.

Through the strategic use of ICTs, Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), aims to improve access to public services, increase efficiency, transparency and accountability of government and political processes to ensure that citizens are informed about government functions and promote efficient service delivery.

WOUGNET will particularly target women, in community based organizations (CBOs) located in the rural districts of Northern Uganda. WOUGNET aims build the ICT capacity of these (CBOs) to monitor public service delivery as part of its anti-corruption strategy.

Similarly, Tanzania’s CHRAGG is implementing a project that will create a system that will enable citizens to file complaints, check the status of already filed complaints and receive feedback through SMS. The project will help poor Tanzanians forego the transportation lodging costs involved in filing complaints in far off regional offices.

December 6, 2011/by actualize

Democracy & Governance, Elections, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Egyptians queue up for second-day of landmark elections in post-Mubarak era

Voters are turning out in numbers at polling stations in major cities for the first elections since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown. So far, the electoral process has been peaceful with few reported security concerns amid fears that polling could be delayed due to the deadly protests against the interim military regime.

Some Internet activists chose to boycott elections in protest of military rule whilst others have taken up the responsibility to monitor elections using social media tools. Tardiness of judges, missing allots, and inadequate security have led to delays causing long lines at polling stations, and there has been reports of apparent violations of the election code by some political parties. However, these expected shortcomings have not dented voters’ enthusiasm.

“They’re trying to make it delayed so that we get angry and go home,” a man cried outside a still-closed polling center in the poor, mixed neighborhood of Shoubra, an hour after it was meant to open, reports Joshua Hersh of the Huffington Post. “But we’ll show them. We will stay here and we will vote.”

Another voter exclaimed, “I am so happy; this is the first true election in the history of Egypt!” The old man added, “I am doing this for my sons and my grandsons.”

According to Robert Mackey in the New York Times, bloggers posted images of long lines at polling places. Kamal El Eid, 19, posted a photograph of the vast crowd inside her polling place in the Cairo district of Heliopolis. Ranya Khalifa, who also voted in Heliopolis, tweeted that it took her six hours to get to the front of the line.

Voters crowded into a polling place in Cairo’s Heliopolis neighborhood on Monday.

Bloggers also reported on voting irregularities such as breaking electoral law: campaigning in on Election Day.

According to Hersh, twitter was filled with reports, through the hashtag #egypviolations, that party workers for the Freedom & Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Brotherhood, were distributing campaign guides to voters in line.

Abdel-Rahman Hussein tweeted that several parties campaigned on Election Day by sitting with laptops outside polling places in Cairo offering to help voters look up the registration numbers they needed to cast their ballots and giving out flyers promoting their candidates.

http://youtu.be/52ziVn6A-Gg

The party responded that this was merely an attempt to assist voters who supported the party but were confused about the process, rather than attempt to campaign or coerce voters, Hersh explained.

Mosa’ab Elshamy, an activist at the heart of the Tahrir Square protests in February, witnessed “no significant violations in Zamalek,” an upscale part of Cairo and added that although few people from different parties were handing leaflets, most voters were “not interest” in the literature anyway, writes Mackey.

Bloggers also expressed concerns over the complicated voting process. Issandr El Amrani, the Moroccan-American journalist behind The Arabist, a Cairo-based blog, posted close-up images of the remarkably dense and confusing ballot papers voters were handed inside a polling station in the city’s Sayeda Zeinab district. Mr. Amrani explained that voters were asked to select two candidates from a list of 122 names who could only be distinguished by a small icon chosen by the would-be office holders.

This is the first of three separate polls over coming months, which includes the current elections of 508-memnber People’s Assembly or lower house set to end on 10 January 2012. Elections of 270-strong Shura Council or upper house will begin in 29 January and end on 11 March 2012. Presidential elections are due mid-2012. It is estimated that more than 40 political parties are set to compete, fielding more than 10,000 candidates.

November 29, 2011/by actualize