The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD;

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Nederlands Instituut voor Meerpartijendemocratie'') works to promote peaceful, just and inclusive politics worldwide. NIMD's approach is characterized by dialogue, which it facilitates for actors across the political spectrum at the local, national and regional level. The organization's values are based on inclusiveness, pluralism and equality, and it supports joint initiatives of political parties and other stakeholders to improve the functioning of

multiparty In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...

democracies around the world. The institute was founded in 2000 by seven parties across the Dutch political spectrum ( CDA, PvdA,

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberalRudy Andeweg, Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingsto ...

Groenlinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

, Democrats 66, Christen Unie and SGP). Former

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Eimert van Middelkoop Eimert van Middelkoop (; born 14 February 1949) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Union (CU) party and teacher. He is the chairman of the Institute for Multiparty Democracy since 20 January 2018. Early life After high school, van ...

, is Chair of the Supervisory Council of NIMD.

Activities

NIMD currently works with over 150 political parties from more than 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, the MENA region, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. The Institute promotes interparty dialogue between politicians, providing the opportunity to build trust and create mutual relationship among political parties. Moreover, interparty dialogue can create consensus and help to find solutions to challenges. NIMD also uses dialogue to create a safe meeting space for politicians and parties to meet and adopt policies to reform their nations. A core part of NIMD's work is its Democracy Schools. The organization sets up Democracy Schools around the world, which run courses for young and aspiring politicians who want to gain knowledge and skills on democratic theory and governance. The schools also provide specialized training for established politicians seeking learn about areas such as legislative drafting, debate techniques and internal party democratization. Some alumni of NIMD's Democracy School programmes have later entered public office and passed legislation in areas such as campaign finance transparency and the prevention of violence against women. Through all its programmes, NIMD aims to promote the political participation of youth and women. NIMD strives to give these and other marginalized groups a seat at the table by, for example, promoting gender parity in its activities, and helping parties to break down internal barriers to the participation of minorities.

Notes

External links

Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD)

NIMD Videos at YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Netherlands Institute For Multiparty Democracy Political organisations based in the Netherlands Election and voting-related organizations Organisations based in The Hague Think tanks established in 2000 Think tanks based in the Netherlands