OSIWA - Open Society Initiative for West Africa

OSIWA forms part of the global Open Society Foundations Network

Publications

Conducting regional and international advocacy, and working with government including electoral commissions, national human rights institutions, parliaments and local government structures as well as with non-state actors like civil society organizations (CSOs).

OSIWA's geographic landscape encompasses countries with varied forms of governance. Some are in transition to democracy; in others democratic consolidation is fragile and in some there is routine practice of democratic governance. OSIWA will seek to address the diversity of transitions in the choice of its countries of focus.

Year Title and description
2012
Launch of report - “Senegal: An ‘old’ democracy in urgent need of reform” (Report)

 

Published by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and The Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP), this study takes a comprehensive and critical look at democratic participation in Senegal. It draws lessons from the recently held presidential election, in February and March 2012, and offers new insights and perspectives to help guide the legislative elections scheduled for July 1st.

Download the Report here(in French only)

, 885KB
2012
Launch of report - “Senegal: An ‘old’ democracy in urgent need of reform” (Document de réflexion)

 

Published by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and The Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP), this study takes a comprehensive and critical look at democratic participation in Senegal. It draws lessons from the recently held presidential election, in February and March 2012, and offers new insights and perspectives to help guide the legislative elections scheduled for July 1st.

Download the Document de réflexion here. (in French only)

 

, 181KB
2012
The Election Situation Room Guide

This Guide shares the lessons from efforts to create a new model for civil society engagement with elections in the West Africa region. Named by analogy with a wartime “situation room”, established to ensure coordination between all the armed forces and civilian authorities conducting a war, the “election situation room” aims to ensure that civil society efforts contribute to free and fair elections coordinated as effectively as possible. The Guide describes the situation room model and structures; gives suggestions on how to engage the election process most effectively; highlights likely challenges for civil society in seeking to replicate it; and finally, shares examples from Nigeria, Liberia and Senegal, where this model has already been piloted.

 

 

The Situation Room Guide, 1171KB
2009
Warw Note: Natural Resource Management Capacity in West Africa: The Role of Civil Society and Media

Following is a brief on the role of CSOs and the media in the transparent, accountable, equitable and sustainable management of natural resources in West African countries. This brief is part of the output of a seven-country capacity needs assessment carried out between September 2007 and June 2008 for the West African Resource Watch (WARW), an affiliate of the Open Society Institute of West Africa (OSIWA).

Civil society, 138KB
Civil society
2009
Warw Note: Natural Resource Management Capacity in West Africa: Summary of Country Evaluations Summary of Country Evaluations

Why transparent,accountable, equitable and sustainable management of natural resources, and why now? Even though West African countries are natural resource-rich, with vast deposits of solid minerals and oil/gas as well as abundant marine and forest resources, most are poor, unstable and therefore suffer from the so-called ‘resource-curse’ disease

Natural resources management, 186KB
Natural resources management west afrcica