After the Arab Spring: Rethinking the Role of Regional Organisations in Supporting Democratic Governance

The United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) jointly organised an international conference entitled, After the Arab Spring: Rethinking the Role of Regional Organisations in Supporting Democratic Governance, which took place in Brussels, Belgium, during the period 22-23 November 2012. In these challenging post-Arab Spring times, the Conference offered a timely opportunity to evaluate the profound changes impacting political, economic and social factors in the region and beyond, particularly in the light of the role to be played by regional organisations. During two days, 65 policy makers, senior officials of key regional organisations, leading academics, scholars, practitioners and civil society organisations gathered with the aim of: 

•  Reviewing the role of regional organisations in supporting democratic governance in their member states; 
•  Sharing detailed knowledge on how and to what extent regional organisations support democratic governance and values;
•  Discussing how regional organisations assist countries in remedying their democracy deficits in post-conflict or regime change situations;
•  Facilitating dialogue to strengthen cooperation between regional organisations on matters related to democracy support, stability and improved governance; and 
•  Developing new regional strategies to consolidate democratic governance. UNU-CRIS, UNECA and International IDEA published a booklet, which contained the academic papers prepared for the conference and summaries of the various roundtable sessions.