Date: 23–25 October 2012 (Tuesday – Thursday)

Venue: New York

Head of Centre, Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony, was in New York on 23–25 October to speak in an Inter-Regional Workshop on ‘Regional Organizations and Inclusive Political Participation and Representation’ organised by International IDEA.

The workshop is an activity of the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy. Its objectives are to: (a) take stock of the mandates and mechanisms set up by regional organisations to promote and ensure inclusive political participation and representation, including the participation of marginalised groups; (b) facilitate sharing of experiences and lessons learned by regional organisations in promoting gender equality and mainstreaming; (c) discuss and recognise the role of regional parliaments and parliamentary assemblies that relate to regional organisations; and (d) explore and discuss how regional organisations could further collaborate with the UN in promoting and encouraging inclusive political participation and representation.

This workshop brought together senior representatives from regional organisations, the UN and experts engaged in political cooperation, gender equality and mainstreaming and civil society and parliament relations to present regional innovations, exchange experiences and interactively discuss key issues relevant to the promotion of inclusive political participation and representation. Prof. Caballero-Anthony delivered a presentation under the session on ‘Civil Society Engagement’, introducing the experiences and challenges regional organisations face in their engagement with civil society and how such challenges could be addressed.

The record of proceedings of the workshop will be presented to the Third Meeting of the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy.