UNDEF co-hosts Oslo gathering for democracy activists
News from UNDEF, 27 October 2011

The UN Democracy Fund was one of the co-hosts of the Oslo Governance Forum in October 2011, which brought together 250 participants from government and civil society in more than 70 countries.

The Forum focused on case studies of local participatory approaches to holding governments accountable. It was a platform for exchanging innovative experiences, knowledge and policy options among practitioners, bilateral organizations, international development and academic institutions, government and civil society from the global south. The organizers included the UN Development Programme, UNDEF, ActionAid, ACT Alliance, World Bank Institute and PRIA Global Partnership.

Four of UNDEF's grantees -- from Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria and the Russian Federation -- participated, along with UNDEF Deputy Executive Head Annika Savill (pictured center), who delivered a message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Featured UNDEF grantees (pictured from left to right) were Fedor Sinitsyn, Director of the Center for Assistance to Victims of Violence and Human Trafficking in Perm, Russia, who discussed the UNDEF-funded project Empowering Civil Society Organizations of Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in the Russian Federation; Wunna Htyn, a youth activist from, Myanmar, who described the work of the UNDEF-backed initiative Deepening Democratization Processes through Youth Leadership in Myanmar, implemented by ActionAid Myanmar; Elarbi Imad, President, Moroccan Center for Civic Education, who discussed the UNDEF-funded project Supporting the Engagement of Civil Society in Morocco’s Local Elections; and Chibuzo Ekwekwuo, who presented the UNDEF-financed Nigeria Procurement Monitoring Project.