26 Apr 2012The Afrobarometer survey conducted in South Africa towards the end of 2011 provides interesting insights into the charachteristics of South African citizens and their percpetions of society and the country's democracy. ...

29 Mar 2012The Afrobarometer survey conducted in South Africa towards the end of 2011 provides interesting insights into the charachteristics of protests and protestors in South Africa. A recent surge in protests ...

19 Aug 2011The youth of South Sudan played a major role in the independence struggle, bringing new technology and modern ideas to rally support for succession. Yet these same young people now ...

12 Aug 2011South Africa’s proposed Protection of Information Bill, now back with the adhoc parliamentary committee for redrafting, is chillingly similar to Zimbabwe’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, warns ...

05 Apr 2011By: Sithembile Mbete and Judith February WHILE Parliament has many failings, its committees have always been open to the public. Yet it is easy to forget that the right the ...

15 Mar 2011Idasa’s Right to Know, Right to Education and Community and Citizens’ Empowerment Programmes have produced this toolkit, which provides basic steps for communities to fully engage in school governance and ...

24 Feb 2011This user-friendly manual is aimed at organisers and facilitators working in and with small-scale farmers’ associations in central, west and southern Africa. Download the full toolkit below.

22 Feb 2011Nancy Dubosse, head of Research at Idasa's Economic Governance Programme, introduces an interesting new angle to the upsurge of citizen protest we are seeing in the Middle East and North ...

21 Jan 2011  After nearly 30 years of autocratic rule and civil war, Uganda returned to elective national government in 1996.  But while elections resumed, political parties were allowed to exist but ...

10 Dec 2010Mxolisi Sibanyoni talks about the the Afrobarometer Public Opinion Survey as a tool to monitor citizen attitudes to democracy in African countries. The Afrobarometer works through a network of researchers ...

15 Sep 2010“Democracy is like oxygen. When it is there, you can breathe and you don't even notice that you are breathing. But when democracy is absent, you feel that you are ...

29 Aug 2010"Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat, but it's something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles."(Abbie Hoffman) By ...

12 Aug 2010Idasa is part of a civil society collective campaigning for a redraft of the Promotion of Information Bill that has received heated publicity in South Africa in recent weeks. Below ...

02 Aug 2010Listen to Idasa’s Oupa Makamelele talking about the challenges of working in fragile states in conflict. Click here for his podcast.

30 Jul 2010PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2010 Legacy: Youth Zones A 2010 Youth Zones Legacy Project The legacy of 2010 is being established through a unique concept called Youth Zones. This ...

27 Jul 2010Liberian civil society and small farmers are calling for the government to fully implement the Maputo Declaration, which calls on all African governments to allocate 10 percent of their Budgets ...

23 Jul 2010Join the network of Democracy researchers and scholars in Africa on LinkedIn here.

20 Jul 2010Democracies do not function well without leaders. But democracies do not function well with only a chosen few providing leadership either. Common citizens can be leaders, and should take up ...

15 Jul 2010In April 2010, Idasa’s iLEDA programme completed the last week of the iLEDA School citizen leadership training course in Malawi. 29 out of 30 participants graduated. They are community leaders ...

29 Jun 2010World cup fever is all over South Africa – and the world – at the moment.  When it all comes to an end, what will be left? A group of ...

30 May 2010Fighting for democracy might not save your life but it may well have economic benefits, this is according to observations over the past two years implementing programmes in four fledgling ...

25 May 2010iLEDA Volunteer Amy Eaglestone from the Netherlands visits Idasa’s iLEDA School for citizen leadership for democracy in Malawi. She travelled to the southern African country with iLEDA School head Noxolo ...

30 Apr 2010By Noxolo Mgudlwa   Reflecting on a study tour to Indonesia where we visited two Komunitas Indonesia untuk Demokrasi (KID) schools, one should mention some of the lessons learnt during ...

09 Apr 2010Idasa’s iLEDA visits Schools for Democracy in Indonesia   On the first floor above a diner that offers local delicacies wrapped in banana leaves and fiery Sambal rice dishes, Sekolah ...

29 Oct 2009Support our mission to build democratic societies in Africa by joining our cause on Facebook here. Idasa has entered America’s Giving Challenge, which gives us a chance to win $50,000!   ...

28 Oct 2009Read first hand stories of people who have undergone Idasa’s Citizen Leadership for Democratic Governance training course - they have initiated community development projects that aim to organize the community ...

28 Sep 2009Why is the “right to know” valuable to people pursuing their ordinary, daily concerns? Information is power, so claiming the right to know is about claiming power. Whether it is ...

11 Sep 2009NIMD and IDASA, together with the Forum of African former Heads of State and Government founders of iLEDA (the initiative for Leadership and Democracy in Africa), are starting the iLEDA ...

02 Sep 2009Building a Habit of Citizen Participation in Democratic Discussion One of the cornerstones of a healthy democracy is free and open discussion between citizens and the people who hold political ...

27 Aug 2009Idasa’s CCEP and iLEDA programmes worked together on a three-month citizen leadership training programme in Burundi. Part of the initiative was to promote the Idasa campaign to win support and ...

27 Aug 2009Idasa’s iLEDA programme is working on Citizen Leadership for Democratic Development in Zambia and Malawi. The project aims to build democratic leadership capacity in communities while addressing development more broadly, ...

25 Aug 2009By Samantha Fleming Discuss this on our blog. “Real change can only be achieved through challenging dominant political and economic interests.”   For several years, the nature and discourse of ...

19 Aug 2009Idasa was invited by the SA High Commission to speak at a Women's Day Seminar in Arusha, Tanzania. The event coincided with Tanzania's Farmers Day - Nane Nane, a national ...

10 Aug 2009Idasa staff have recently been in Swaziland, holding consultative meetings with youth organisations and conducting interviews on the role of traditional leaders in a democratic Swaziland.

27 Jul 2009Idasa is holding workshops for local journalists in South Africa on Promoting a Habit of Citizen Participation in Democratic Discourse.

23 Jul 2009Media@idasa presented a workshop with journalists and government and civil society communicators from communities in the Greater Sekhukhune District of Limpopo in June 2009. The focus of the workshop was ...

27 Jun 2009Idasa’s Economic Governance Programme is the secretariat for ANSA-Africa (Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in Africa-Africa). ANSA-Africa and the World Bank Institute hosted civil society groups from Africa, South Asia ...

27 May 2009This weeks marks Africa Day, an important day for all Africans irrespective of colour, belief, language to celebrate their continent of residence. It is also a day on which all ...

18 May 2009Report: Workshop in Newcastle (KwaZulu Natal) For citizens to become equal partners in the search for solutions to the common problems we face in our democracy we need communication strategies ...

16 Mar 2009Report: Consultative visit to Newcastle Shepi Mati and Marietjie Myburg met with representatives of civil society, government communication services and the media in Newcastle this week in preparation for a ...