Look back and walking forward

Its been a busy year. Including doing work in South Africa, I've been in 12 countries this year (Jordan twice) conducting trainings and attending meetings. Amazing experiences I had this year involve:
• Watching the Zimbabwean dollar in free-fall and people making a living despite this.
• Building great friendships during a BRIDGE Train-the-Facilitator workshops in South Africa.
• Meeting Dr Afari-Gyan, one of the great elders of African elections, in Ghana.
• Preparing a nerve-wrecking BRIDGE course in Botswana (all preparations were done in 2.5 days flat! Please let's not do that again!).
• Visiting Petra, Wadi Rum and dancing on a boat on the Red Sea in Jordan (first visit).
• Enlightening statisticians on elections and democracy assessment in Namibia.
• Seeing the Door of No Return on Goree Island and meeting Breyten Breytenbach in Dakar.
• Freezing in the highlands of Lesotho (no central heating!).
• Visiting the Pyramids of Giza and floating on the Nile in Cairo.
• Floating (without a boat this time) on the Dead Sea in Jordan (my second visit) whilst engaging in strategic planning with local election professionals.
• Linking with some of the most passionate minds on elections capacity development from around the world in idyllic Sydney.
• Coming down to earth in the dusty boom-town of Juba in South Sudan working with the UNDP and UNMIS and of course seeing the Nile from another point further south.
• Meeting awesome people from around the world and thrilling in how more people are starting to take elections training seriously world-wide.
Of course there were some setbacks on my part, but these fade in comparison to the wealth of experiences. My gratitude goes to all those who contributed to a wonderful year.

On the elections front, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria reminded us all of the fragility of elections on the continent. Kenya had successful power-sharing talks, whilst in Zimbabwe it has failed. Ghana, with its two-round system of presidential elections, is restoring some faith in elections as a peaceful means of democratic transition in Africa. Taiwan, Russia, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and Georgia had new presidents or prime ministers elected/appointed or existing ones reconfirmed. Kosovo declared independence and Georgia was invaded by Russia. Nepal held historic first elections, whilst the Bolivian president survived a recall-referendum. Ukraine saw their parliament dissolved and coup d'etats were carried out in Mauritania and Guinea. We saw the US elect its first black president in a campaign that had the entire world glued to their televisions for months. On other related fronts,we saw the free market system get a reality check that could see some important shifts in economic practices around global financial systems. Terror attacks saw many die in India, Pakistan, and other countries in the world, grim reminders of the destabilised world, where basic freedoms are limited through violent means.

To top off 2008 I was invited to take on a portfolio with International IDEA on capacity development and participation. As of 1 Dec 2008 I ceased working as an independent consultant and joined IDEA, working out of their Africa and Middle East Office in Pretoria, but reporting to Stockholm (Sweden), working on global projects under Ross Attrill, who is standing in for Paul Guerin (away on paternity leave). As I head for Stockholm later this month I am keen to hear from all of you what are burning issues that require tackling in my new portfolio. Capacity development will obviously involve BRIDGE, but also other areas such as e-learning and leadership development amongst EMBs. The participation area will obviously focus on citizen participation in democracies, focussing strongly on elections but extending far further than voter turnout. Let me know what you see as challenges and how they could be addressed.

In 2009 16 elections are sheduled for Africa alone, of which the biggest and most important must be the Sudanese presidential elections. South Africa has its own political intrigues that should see increased voter interest at the polls, but potentially may result in many campaign headaches for the South African EMB. With these kinds of developments, the elections front will continue to keep all of us on our toes.

Best wishes to all of you out there for 2009 and remember to drink (safe) water! If you are running an election or observing one of the many this year, you need to be at your peak performance. Water forms 75% of your body and just a 2% drop marks mild dehydration, causing fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on smaller print, such as a computer screen. But dont take my word for it, educate yourself! And remember to Drink Up! Enjoy the thing that makes our planet special...

Make 2009 a positive year to remember!