2009 annual report

West Africa Regional

American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$500,000
To enhance the ability of Nigerian and Liberian trade unions representing workers in the extractive industries, to promote internal union democracy, bargain effectively, enforce their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and represent their members. The Solidarity Center’s project will reinforce the internal democratic structures in the Liberian unions; expand organizing capacity for Nigerian and Liberian unions; and assist Nigerian unions to engage with government in the volatile Niger Delta region to achieve worker rights protections.

Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)
$197,063
To strengthen West African public-private dialogue as a tool for democratic policy input on solutions for the global financial crisis. CIPE and the Institute for Economic Affairs will organize a public-private dialogue roundtable entitled “The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Democracy in West Africa.” Roundtable findings will be compiled into a policy document to launch extensive private sector advocacy campaigns in eight participating countries.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI)
$200,000
To promote and safeguard democratic elections in West Africa. NDI will promote best practices and regional collaboration among West African election monitoring organizations through holding two regional meetings, identifying best practices, documenting lessons learned, and creating an electronic network to facilitate exchanges of experiences.

Partners for Democratic Change
$40,000
To create a platform for dialogue between civil and military actors in Senegal on improving human security services, and establish a local institutional home for future development and dissemination of work on civil-military cooperation in Senegal and West Africa. Partners will organize a conference that gathers all the stakeholders who agree to build a platform for networking on civil-military cooperation issues.