In line with common efforts to measure the state of democracy in countries around the world, this study documents the results of a 'democratic audit' of South Africa. The survey was carried out by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), an independent, non-profit organisation, promoting democracy, governance, sustainability and social justice in South Africa. Some of the indicators used are: participation, elections, accountability, transparency, equality: socio-economic, civil and political rights; and human dignity. The statistical data is interspersed with a series of conceptual essays on democracy in relation to debate, business, capital, media, women, foreign policy, globalisation, accountability and citizenship.

Democracy in the Time of Mbeki (Idasa's Democracy Index)

History

Calland, Richard

Africa

Institute for Democracy in South Africa

This overview publication on governance in Africa is the outcome of the collaborative Centre for Governance in Africa, a partnership between IDASA and the Norwegian Fredskorpset (Volunteer Service). Together, the two organisations facilitate an exchange programme for researchers in Africa, and expose professionals working in governance to political processes in different countries on the continent. They are developing a collaboration framework for African-based democracy and governance centres.

Perspectives on African Governance

Legal Theory & Systems

South African legislation, as well as international conventions like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child which have been ratified by South Africa, indicate shared and increasing acknowledgement of the importance of protecting and promoting children's rights. In South Africa these remain confined to principle and policy. In practice, poverty, unemployment, child labour, violence and abuse, inadequate policy support and serviced, ignorance and above all HIV/AIDS pose a real threat to the realisation and enjoyment of these rights. This study on the interface between unempolyment, poverty and children's wellbeing in South Africa arose out of seminar, hosted by the Children's Budget Unit of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, the Children's Institute of the University of Cape Town and Save the Children Sweden, to identify research gaps in the connection between child wellbeing and poverty.

Inheriting Poverty?

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

The Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) aims to facilitate regional dialogue and cooperation on migration policy issues amongst the governments of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The overall objective is to facilitate regional co-operation in migration management by fostering greater understanding of migration and strengthening regional institutional and personnel capacities. The Prospects for Migration Data Harmonisation, Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) report No. 2, suggests that harmonisation is much more feasible than is commonly believed. But member states need to reflect on the objectives and purpose of harmonisation and, based on the outcomes of such reflections, they should critically think about the systems to put in place to achieve their objectives. MIDSA, a regular inter-governmental meeting, provides an excellent forum for such reflection and debate.

Prospects for Migration Data Harmonisati (Midsa Report)

Williams, Vincent

Tsang, Tiffany

The Southern African Migration Project is a collaborative project and this paper is published jointly by IDASA in Cape Town and Queen's University, Canada. It seeks to establish a background for understanding the complex and dynamic linkages between urbanisation, migration, HIV/Aids and urban food security in Southern and Eastern Africa. It documents the key dimensions of the connections. The linkages between HIV/Aids and urban food security are particularly less well-established, and in documenting them here, the authors simultaneously link them with migration, the first to examine these dynamics at a regional level. Jonathan Crush is the Director of the Southern African Migration Project, the Director of the Southern African Research Centre at Queen's University, Canada, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town. Miriam Grant is a Professor at the University of Calgary. Bruce Frayne is a Research Fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute, and Coordin

LINKING MIGRATION, HIV/AIDS AND URBAN FOOD SECURITY IN SOUTHERN AND EASTERN AFRICA (African Migration and Development)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Frayne, Bruce

Crush, Jonathan

Grant, Miriam

Diseases & Physical Ailments

Community-based organisations (CBOs) play an increasingly relevant role in Africa. They provide services at the level of the local community and civil-society and implement important development interventions in a variety of fields such as heath, education and gender. CBOs must perform management, finance and fundraising functions so as to ensure successful and sustainable implementation of projects. This book outlines the principles and strategies that underpin the successful management of community-based organisations, with a particular focus on sensitising development workers to be respectful of communities.

Capacity-Building for Community Organisations

Politics & Government

The Political Cost of AIDS in Africa provides comprehensive empirical evidence of the impact HIV/AIDS is having on politics and the electoral process. The latest publication to come out of an extensive study by Idasa and its research partners, this book reveals that the fledgling multi-party democracies in parts of the continent are being undermined by sickness, incapacity and premature deaths among elected leaders as well as within the electorate. The book suggests innovative and holistic responses to address these problems. A culmination of three years of exploratory studies by African researchers working under the auspices of Idasa, it demonstrates how AIDS is interwoven with the continent's ambitions for deepening democracy. With chapters on Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal and Zambia, this study investigates: the attrition among elected political leaders and the costs of replacing them; the loss of elected representatives, its effect on constituencies, and the power dynamics in parliamentary structures and in democratic governance; the failure to maintain voter registers and how it affects the credibility of electoral outcomes; the effect of stigma and discrimination on political participation.

The Political Cost of AIDS in Africa

This overview provides an introduction to a study on The Political Cost of AIDS in Africa conducted by the South African democracy institute Idasa, and its research partners in different countries in Africa. It provides comprehensive empirical evidence of the impact HIV/AIDS is having on politics and the electoral process and demonstrates that the fledgling multi-party democracies in parts of the continent are being undermined by sickness, incapacity and premature deaths among elected leaders as well as within the electorate. The culmination of three years of exploratory research, the study shows how AIDS is interwoven with the continent's ambitions for deepening democracy. It is also available is an expanded companion volume, which provides the details of the study's research findings in separate chapters on Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal and Zambia.

Political Cost of AIDS . an Overview

Medical Books

Chirambo, Kondwani

Chirambo, Knodwani

Medicine

Substantial financial and human resources from donors, governments, civil society organisations and the private sector have been committed to fighting HIV/AIDS since it was first discovered in Africa. As more resources are allocated, there is a growing need for countries to properly account for these funds. HIV/AIDS Financing and Spending in Eastern and Southern Africa measures the financial response to the pandemic in five selected countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania (mainland), Malawi Zambia and Zanzibar). This publication emerges out of an extensive multi-country resource tracking project conducted by the AIDS Budget Unit of Idasa’s Governance and AIDS Programme (GAP).

HIV/AIDS Financing and Spending in Eastern and Southern Africa

Where to for Provincial Education?

Education & Teaching

Wildeman, Russell

Hemmer-Vitti, Rose

Schools & Teaching

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