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In 2024 the global democratic decline continued. Long-standing challenges to democracy and democratic institutions persisted in all parts of the world and at every level of democratic performance. Many countries that were already struggling saw further deterioration, while some of the world’s most robust democracies faced mounting threats. Despite these ongoing challenges, 2024 also saw significant changes. It was the greatest year of elections in history, with over 70 countries heading to the polls.
International IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora (right) and Programme Manager Yuliya Shypilova honour the memory of the Ukrainians who lost their lives in the war. Kyiv, Ukraine, November 2024. Credit: International IDEA/Sam van der Staak
Leena Rikkilä Tamang (left), International IDEA’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, hands over the 2024 Global State of Democracy report to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya. Credit: International IDEA/Durga Karki
The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Navin Ramgoolam (left), shakes hands with International IDEA’s Secretary-General, Kevin CasasZamora, in Port Louis, Mauritius, July 2024. Credit: Office of the Prime Minister of Mauritius
Marcela Ríos Tobar (left), International IDEA’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Rolando González Patricio, President of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino), during an event on parity, democracy and substantive equality in Latin America and the Caribbean organized by UN Women and Parlatino on 6 November 2024 at the Parlatino head office in Panama City, Panama. Credit: International IDEA/Manuel Rodríguez
International IDEA’s Secretary-General, Kevin Casas-Zamora (left), in a meeting with the President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, in Gaborone, Botswana, June 2024. Credit: International IDEA/Gavin Charles
Leena Rikkilä Tamang (left), International IDEA’s Director for the Asia and the Pacific Region, is interviewed in Taiwan during the so-called Bluebird protests against proposed legislative reform bills, 21 May 2024. Credit: Citizen Congress Watch Taiwan/James Kan
International IDEA’s Africa and West Asia Regional Director, Roba Sharamo (centre), and Danladi Plang (left), Head of Programme for the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption in Nigeria, greet the Director of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Justice, Bola Odugbesan, during the 10th Network Conference of Sexual Assault Referral Centres, in Abuja, Nigeria. Credit: International IDEA
The Chair of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa, Mosotho Moepya (left), and International IDEA’s Secretary-General, Kevin Casas-Zamora, laughing together in Pretoria, South Africa, June 2024. Credit: International IDEA/Gavin Charles
International IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora (right) meets with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the democratic leader of Belarus, in Vilnius, Lithuania, February 2024. Credit: Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
International IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora (right) meets with Jakob Granit, the Director General of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, at International IDEA headquarters in June 2024. Credit: International IDEA/Jessica Kehayes
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Alicia Barcena (left), speaks with International IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora on the margins of the UN General Debate in New York. Credit: International IDEA
Roba Sharamo, International IDEA’s Regional Director for Africa and West Asia, with the Hon. Korir Sing’oei, Principal Secretary of Foreign Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in Kenya; H. E. Mohammed El-Amine Souef, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia; and H. E. Esther Loeffen, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Burkina Faso, during the Third Annual Retreat of the African Regional Economic Communities’ Special Envoys and High-Level Representatives, October 2024, Kenya. Credit: International IDEA
For 30 years, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) has honoured its mandate to promote and advance democracy worldwide.
This Annual Review highlights our global contributions to researching, delivering comparative knowledge resources and supporting the implementation of democratic practices that help everyone build and maintain inclusive and resilient democracies.
A world in which everyone lives in inclusive and resilient democracies with accountable actors, institutions and processes able to respond to citizens’ needs, protect human rights and deliver sustainable development.
International IDEA advances, promotes and protects sustainable democracy worldwide in consideration of human rights commitments through policy-relevant knowledge, capacity development, advocacy and the convening of dialogues.
Learn about our strategic direction in our current democracy landscape.
International IDEA’s working modalities constitute a reinforcing loop of knowledge production, capacity development, advocacy and the convening of dialogues. International IDEA’s comparative knowledge and research inform its capacity development; these have policy influence and inform advocacy, and enable the convening of dialogues. In turn, capacity development in the field provides valuable lessons for knowledge production, policy influence and advocacy, enabling continuous learning within the Institute.
![Source: International IDEA, Election Emergency and Crisis Monitor: Mapping Impact and Response to Disasters, [n.d.], <https://www.idea.int/election-dashboard-election-emergency-and-crisis-monitor>, accessed 21 March 2025.](https://idea.staging.devopsites.com/sites/default/files/2025-05/EECM tool-screenshot_0.png)
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‘Women’s Political Participation: Africa Barometer 2024 is a resourceful document for policymakers, civil society and development partners working to advance gender equality in political leadership. It provides up-to-date statistics on women and youth participation in politics and decision making across Africa and highlights both progress and persistent barriers. Its insights on challenges, recommendations and solutions inform stakeholders to design and implement evidence-based interventions that foster inclusive governance and democracy.’
Member States and Donors’ contributions to the work of International IDEA are instrumental to advance our shared vision of achieving a more resilient and inclusive democracy for all. We are pleased to recognize our donors who have partnered with us for the delivery of key outcomes for democracy in 2024.
Note: This is the third blog in a three-part series on Thailand’s senatorial elections.
Surin Pitsuwan was the Chair of the International IDEA Board of Advisers from 2015-2017 and Board Member since 2012. He passed away 30 November 2017.
He was Professor Emeritus at Thammasat University, co-chair of the Commission on Human Security and Honorary Advisor under the King Prajadhipok Institute, and also served as the Future Innovative Thailand Institute as chairman.
This is the second blog in a three-part series on Thailand’s senatorial elections. The first blog in the series, which outlines the complex electoral process, can be read here.
A political process dubbed “the most complicated elections in the world” is set to begin in Thailand when the current Senate's term of office expires on 11 May 2024.
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Democracy faces critical challenges around the world, from polarization and authoritarianism to disinformation and climate change. What’s more, these issues are not unique to developing countries or to nascent democracies. They are problems common to all democracies, and they require collective solutions. In such a context, the unique mandate of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) to support sustainable democracy globally has become more important than ever.
Annika Silva-Leander, Head of North America and Permanent Observer to the UN, presents her credentials to UN Secretary-General H. E. António Guterres, on 16 June 2023. Credit: UN Photo
President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (left) is greeted by Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, at the 2023 UN General Assembly in New York. Credit: International IDEA
The Gambia’s President Adama Barrow (fourth from right) meets with International IDEA staff member Maurice Mboula Jean-Claude Didier Enguelegue (at left) in 2023. Credit: International IDEA
The President of Mauritius H. E. Mr Prithvirajsing Roopun (right) receives a gift from Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora. Credit International IDEA
Botswana President H. E. Mokgweetsi E. K. Masisi regards the gift shared by Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora during a visit to Botswana, an International IDEA Member State since 1997. Image courtesy of Daily News
Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora greets former President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan at the Special Envoys Retreat on Constitutional Transitions convened by International IDEA in Abuja, Nigeria, October 2023. Credit: International IDEA
H. E. Dasho Tashi Dorji, Chairperson of the National Council of Bhutan from 2018 to 2023 (centre) pictured with Pema Tenzin (left), International IDEA Project Manager for Bhutan, and Leena Rikkilä Tamang (right), International IDEA Director for the Asia and the Pacific region. Credit: International IDEA
On 9 June 2023, Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora (left), signed a memorandum of understanding with Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization. Credit: International IDEA
Event of the Global State of Democracy 2023 Report, Brussels, 17 November 2023. From left: Marilyn Neven, Programme Manager EU
Liaison, International IDEA; H.E. Anders Eide, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to the European Union; H.E. Hadja Lahbib, Minister of Foreign
Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade of Belgium; Sam van der Staak, Director for Europe, International IDEA. Credit: Bruno Maes
Professor Eddy Maloka, CEO of the African Peer Review Mechanism, and Roba Sharamo, International IDEA Director for the Africa and West Asia region, during the signing of a memorandum of understanding. Credit: International IDEA
International IDEA’s Secetary-General meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. Credit: International IDEA
Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora and Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships. Credit: International IDEA
For the past 28 years, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) has honored its mandate to promote and advance democracy worldwide.
This Annual Review highlights our global contributions as a think-and do-tank dedicated to researching, delivering comparative knowledge resources and supporting in the implementation of democratic practices that help everyone build and maintain inclusive and resilient democracies.
A world in which everyone lives in inclusive and resilient democracies.
International IDEA advances, promotes and protects sustainable democracy worldwide in consideration of human rights commitments through policy-relevant knowledge, capacity development, advocacy and the convening of dialogues.
To achieve its mission, and in pursuit of its vision, International IDEA has defined six workstreams to align with the challenges and opportunities of the democracy landscape and the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Electoral Processes, Constitution-Building Processes, Political Participation and Representation, Democracy Assessment, Climate Change and Democracy, and Digitalization and Democracy. The Institute mainstreams (a) gender and inclusion; (b) conflict sensitivity; and (c) environmental protection across all its work.
Learn about our strategic direction in our current democracy landscape.
International IDEA’s working modalities constitute a reinforcing loop of knowledge production, capacity development, advocacy and the convening of dialogues. International IDEA’s comparative knowledge and research inform its capacity development; these have policy influence and inform advocacy, and enable the convening of dialogues. In turn, capacity development in the field provides valuable lessons for knowledge production, policy influence and advocacy, enabling continuous learning within the Institute.
, the Executive Director of Purple Foundation, speaks at an (orientation) event organized on 28th of September 2023 to kick-off the project implem.JPG)
Member States and Donors’ contributions to the work of International IDEA are instrumental to advance our shared vision of achieving a more resilient and inclusive democracy for all. We are pleased to recognize our donors who have partnered with us for the delivery of key outcomes for democracy in 2023.
The May 2023 parliamentary elections in Thailand saw the highest voter turnout in the country’s history, delivering a historic win for the Move Forward Party (MFP) at the expense of both the ruling conservative coalition and traditional opposition Pheu Thai Party (PTP), though the latter came in at a close second.
