Johannesburg, South Africa

As part of the celebration activities marking its tenth anniversary, the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) will launch its First Annual Symposium in Johannesburg. The theme for the Symposium is Challenges for Democratic Governance and Human Development in Africa. The Symposium is expected to attract the participation of about 500 scholars, policy makers, political parties, parliamentarians, government officials, civil society organisations, donors, representatives of African continental and regional organisations from north, east, west, central and southern Africa.


Participants will deliberate on progress made in the pursuit of democratic governance and human development and interrogate the challenges that remain. The conference is based on the fact that two of the most daunting challenges facing the African continent today revolve around the institutionalisation of democratic governance and the achievement of sustainable human development and will address the question: to what extent does the African continent have the capability to drive the democracy project and the development project in tandem and succeed on both fronts? The link between democracy and development has been a cause of raging policy and academic debate for decades.

The First Annual EISA Symposium seeks to make an important contribution to this debate by bringing out evidence of the nature and magnitude of the challenges for democracy and development for the African continent. Indeed the seriousness of governance, democratisation and developmental issues as articulated within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the African Union (AU) commitment to democratic governance calls for a forum where national, regional and international experts and stakeholders develop strategies to work together if the continent is to register socio-economic and political development.

The Symposium aims to address various issues with a view to assessing progress on democracy and development in Africa and making recommendations for affective policy interventions. The deliberations will be divided into two segments:

General (contextual) Topics:

• Challenges for democratic governance (theory and practice)
• Challenges for sustainable human development (theory and practice)
• Assessment of NEPAD in relation to democracy and development
• Contribution of African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to democracy
• The agenda of African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities for democracy and development
• Globalisation and dilemmas of development and democracy in Africa
• Regional integration and democratic governance

Specific Topics (Case Studies):

• Civil society's role in democracy and development
• Executive-Legislature relations and implications for democracy and development
• The role of the youth in democracy and development
• The role of the private sector in development
• Elections and Democracy
• Practical application of the election guidelines such as the AU Principles Governing Democratic Elections and the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation in the SADC Region (PEMMO)
• Traditional leadership and democracy
• Foreign Aid, development and democracy
• Political parties and democracy
• The judiciary and democracy
• The bureaucracy, democracy and development
• Local governance, democracy and development
• Gender policies, democracy and development

The deadline for submission of papers has already passed.


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For contact details for information on registration see below.