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Democracy That Delivers

The Democracy That Delivers podcast is about democratic and economic development and the intersection between the two. Through their personal stories, guests share how their work is helping build stronger democratic institutions in countries all over the world and how they are tackling some of the major governance challenges that many countries face today. The weekly discussion covers a wide range of topics including entrepreneurship, governance, rule of law, and the role of the private sector in democratic processes.
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Now displaying: 2017
Dec 19, 2017

In this week’s podcast, Civil Development Forum Vice President, Marek Tatala shares his take and explains how CDF is using technology and other outreach mechanisms to empower citizens.

Dec 12, 2017

In this week’s podcast, Jeanmarie Meyer and Troy Wray discuss the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) efforts to update Indonesia’s purchasing processes through the Procurement Modernization Project.

Nov 29, 2017

In this new podcast, Cadasta Foundation Interim CEO Frank Pichel explains the vital role of land rights within modern economies and how Cadasta is leveraging new technology to strengthen and formalize land tenure systems in developing nations

Nov 14, 2017

In this week’s podcast, Aziz shares the changes she’s witnessed and helped foster for women entrepreneurs from 1988 to today.

Nov 7, 2017

In this week’s podcast, Steven Pifer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Ambassador to Ukraine, guides the listener through the development of U.S. diplomatic relations with Ukraine following the breakup of the Soviet Union through the present.

Oct 31, 2017

Hudson Hollister quit his congressional job in 2012 and used his retirement savings to found The Data Coalition.  His mission: to make U.S. government spending information more transparent and publicly available.  The Data Coalition successfully pushed for new laws requiring federal agencies to release key financial figures on one internet site and use the same format.

Despite some big implementation challenges, Hollister says the requirements make government leaders more accountable to the public and provide new business opportunities to the private sector.  In this week’s podcast, Hollister outlines next steps and new value propositions for entrepreneurs.  CIPE’s Ryan Musser provides a global perspective, sharing his experiences about coalition building among competing businesses in Africa.

Oct 24, 2017

Businesses that take on corruption and pursue a path of integrity can come out ahead financially, says Frank Vogl, anti-corruption expert and adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Oct 17, 2017

As part of its post-war recovery plan, Colombia’s government is offering big incentives to businesses that expand operations there and reaching out to local communities for input. 

The new program is a critical part of Colombia’s ongoing peace process, according to Jaime Arteaga, CIPE’s lead in-country consultant. 

The government is promising huge tax breaks to companies that make long-term investments in Colombia’s post-conflict regions, many of which are highly-populated and rich in natural resources.  In this week’s podcast, Arteaga and CIPE Regional Director John Zemko discuss the challenges and benefits of increased private sector activity in Colombia.

Oct 10, 2017

This week’s podcast features Vladimir Petronijevic, executive director, and Miroslava Jelacic, legal analyst, with Group 484—a nonprofit organization founded in Serbia in 1995 to support 484 refugee families.

Oct 4, 2017

This week’s podcast guest is Imtiaz Gul, founder and executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), a Pakistan-based think tank.

Sep 26, 2017

This week’s podcast guests discuss the relationship between a thriving democracy and an open and accessible internet.

Sep 21, 2017

This week’s guest is Hans-Joachim Hogrefe, director of policy and advocacy at Refugees International, a nonprofit organization that advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people.

Sep 12, 2017

This week’s guest on Democracy that Delivers is food diplomacy expert Johanna Mendelson-Forman. She is an adjunct professor at American University and distinguished fellow with the Managing Across Boundaries Initiative at the Stimson Center.  

Sep 5, 2017

This week’s guest is Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa, a startup nonprofit that provides campaign advice and public relations support to pro-democracy leaders in Africa.

Smith aims to bring the international spotlight to Gambia, which is recovering from a more than two-decades-long dictatorship. Political and civil rights were nonexistent during the presidency of Yahya Jammeh, a former military officer who ruled the country from 1994 to 2016 . Vanguard Africa partnered with Gambia’s presidential candidates in 2016 to campaign against Jammeh, who lost the election.

Despite this accomplishment, Smith says Vanguard Africa’s work in Gambia is unfinished; a country cannot transition from dictatorship to democracy overnight. The nonprofit is now focused on holding the new government accountable. To aide with the transition, CIPE has partnered with the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry to establish a national business council for the private sector.

Aug 29, 2017

This week’s guest on CIPE’s Democracy that Delivers podcast is Karim Shaaban, CIPE’s program director in Jordan. In this podcast, Shaaban discusses the positive effects that CIPE and the USAID Jordan Local Enterprise Support (LENS) Project have had on economic growth in local communities in Jordan.

LENS was created to support the growth of micro and small enterprises, particularly those led by women. Three associations involved in LENS focus primarily on empowering working women and women entrepreneurs.

LENS and CIPE have also worked to bolster Jordan’s tourism sector. Despite the country’s appeal as a hiking and rock climbing destination for international tourists, the tourism industry has historically lacked structure. CIPE partnered with the Jordan Mountaineering Association, which is composed of tour guides and tourism operators, to help the association plan and organize its first board of directors’ election.

In addition, Shaaban credits CIPE with providing local businesses with training and technical assistance. He says that with CIPE’s support, seven business associations were able to increase their revenue and diversify their revenue streams.  

Aug 22, 2017

This week’s guest on CIPE’s Democracy that Delivers podcast is Vaqar Ahmed, Ph.D. Ahmed is deputy executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

In this podcast, Ahmed discusses CIPE’s partnership with SDPI, the growth of Pakistan’s economy, and the country’s need for a thriving private sector. After a decade of low gross domestic product (GDP) growth, Pakistan’s economy has begun to improve. The private sector will play a key role in the country’s economic turnaround, and a free, transparent market is necessary for the private sector to flourish.

SDPI’s main aim is to provide a sustainable development community in Pakistan by addressing such issues as climate change, food security and tax reform. With CIPE’s support, SDPI has developed economic programs that have received support from members of the Pakistani parliament.

Aug 15, 2017

This week on CIPE's Democracy that Delivers podcast, Manzoor Ahmad, Ph.D., discusses economic and infrastructure growth in Pakistan. Ahmad is president of the PRIME Institute and a senior fellow with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development in Geneva.  

CIPE and PRIME collaborated to create the Government Policy Scorecard, which is intended to hold the Pakistani government accountable for economic promises made to its citizens. Ahmad says the project has been a success because it has opened the door for dialogue between the Pakistani government and PRIME Institute.

Ahmad also discusses the positive effects of the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which took effect in February 2017  Ahmad credits the TFA with facilitating exports and expediting trade in developing countries, such as Pakistan.

Finally, in regards to infrastructure, Ahmad says Pakistan has benefited since the 2016 implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is intended to strengthen Pakistan's economy by modernizing its infrastructure.

Aug 8, 2017

This week on CIPE's Democracy that Delivers podcast, Masooma Sibtain, president of the South Punjab Women's Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SPWCCI) in Pakistan, discusses the current state of women entrepreneurs in South Asia.

Born and raised in Pakistan, Sibtain says women in her country have always participated in the work force. However, most of their jobs have been in the informal sector as artisans. The regional women's chambers are transforming Pakistani women from informal artisans to entrepreneurs by helping them to market and sell their products.

Sibtain says because of CIPE, the other women's chambers in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh learn from and support one another. Sibtain credits her chamber, its members and CIPE for teaching her the importance of support systems and advocacy.

Aug 1, 2017

This week on CIPE's Democracy that Delivers podcast, CIPE's Country Director in Nigeria, Omowumi Gbadamosi, discusses economic and democratic progress in Nigeria. Gbadamosi began her career with CIPE in 1988, and the most dramatic change she has seen in the last thirty years is the transformation in Nigeria from a military dictatorship to a democracy.

Gbadamosi believes the Nigerian government is now listening to the needs of the private sector, but the government needs to learn to respond. She is optimistic about Nigeria's future as CIPE's partners have continued to push for reforms.

Her advice to Nigeria's private sector is to be resilient. Gbadamosi says working with the public sector can be dispiriting; it is essential for those in the private sector to stay persistent because advocacy is a continual process.

Jul 25, 2017

Thida Khus is the founder and executive director of Silaka, a non-profit organization in Cambodia. 

Khus and her family migrated to the United States in 1979 to flee the Khmer Rouge regime. From 1993 to1996, she organized 80 Cambodian-Americans to move to Cambodia to counteract the lack of human resources.

Khus states that Cambodia's government continues to suffer from corruption, lack of good governance and an unreliable justice system. She believes citizen education and government transparency are needed to see a change in the national government. 

Despite the problems in the national government, Khus discusses the positive changes in local government. For the first time in local elections, an opposition party won a significant amount of votes. She credits a large population of young people and social media for the election results. She believes Cambodia's younger generation is positioned to bring about change because younger people there do not fear war like the older generation and social media has made it easier to share information.

Jul 18, 2017

Christina Bain, director of the Initiative on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery at Babson College in Massachusetts, discusses the role of business and entrepreneurship in combatting human trafficking.

As a college professor, Bain teaches her students about the types of human trafficking and how to prevent trafficking in their respective fields.

In addition, Bain raises awareness of human trafficking among high school students in the Boston region. Babson's Initiative on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery launched the Human Freedom Entrepreneurial Leadership Program in 2016. The program visits schools where students are more vulnerable to trafficking and aims to train and inspire the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs to fight human trafficking. The program has proven successful. For example, two high school students have created a program to educate preteen girls about the dangers of the Internet.

Jul 12, 2017

Henry LaGue sits down with Mark Oxley, a CIPE consultant in Zimbabwe.

Oxley explains how he became involved with the country's National Chamber of Commerce and CIPE, and he discusses the economic challenges facing Zimbabwe. Specifically, the country has a large number of highly educated individuals who are either unemployed or working in the informal sector. Despite economic difficulties, there are opportunities for investing in the country's infrastructure and tourism.

LaGue provides an update on the accomplishments of the Women Alliance of Business Associations of Zimbabwe (WABAZ). CIPE supports WABAZ in building partnerships and networks among women entrepreneurs. CIPE also works with WABAZ to raise awareness on funding opportunities available to women entrepreneurs.

Jun 27, 2017

Mauro DaCunha, the chief executive officer of Brazil's AMEC (Capital Market Investors Association), discusses the importance of democratization of capital in Brazil.

DaCunha credits CIPE's partnership with Brazil with increasing public awareness of capital markets and its correlation with economic growth. The development of capital markets in Brazil would positively influence the country's economy by creating job growth, opportunities for investment and a culture of equity investment.

DaCunha also talks about how corruption and distrust of businesses are hindering the development of capital markets, while providing insight on what needs to take place to counteract corruption.

Jun 20, 2017

Majdi Hassen, Executive Director of Tunisian think tank Institut arabe des chefs d’entreprises (IACE) talks with CIPE’s Anna Kompanek about the economic reform initiatives his organization is undertaking in Tunisia. IACE is an independent, non-profit think tank based in Tunis. Since Tunisia’s revolution, Hassen has overseen IACE’s growth into a “think-and-do” tank that plays a vital role in convening diverse political and civic actors to discuss urgent economic problems.

Hassen has developed a series of IACE programs designed to bring leadership skills and civic awareness to young entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders in Tunisia. He has also been instrumental in organizing IACE’s Enterprise Days, Tunisia’s biggest economic forum, which gathers over 1000 national and international policymakers, business leaders, and experts to discuss critical private sector issues.

Kompanek and Hassen discuss a major public-private dialogue effort – the National Business Agenda – that has brought together voices in the business community to provide the government with constructive recommendations for economic reform. They also discuss a hotline that has been set up in Tunisia to help local businesses deal with red tape and bureaucratic hurdles.

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