Magnus Ohman :: News 2014

2014

Held workshops on political finance for the Union Election Commission and for political parties in Myanmar/Burma.
Participated in the OECD conference on Financing Democracy and Averting Policy Capture in Paris.

Spoke about European experiences regarding public financing of political parties at the Conference on Lobbying and Campaign Finance, organised by the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University.
Moderated session on campaign finance during the IFES US Election Programme, Speakers were Ellen Weintraub and Trevor Potter.

Interviewed MPs, election candidates, party officials and others in Kenya as part of a research project on the interplay between political finance and gender equality in elections. The initiative is organised by International IDEA.
Started work on an IFES initiative on political finance oversight and information and communication technology.

Presented research on political finance reform in Sweden during a side-seminar at the Australian Political Studies Association Annual Conference in Sydney, Australia. The seminar was organised by the Money, Politics and Transparency initiative.
Carried out training for staff and Commissioners at the Anti-Corruption Commission, Court of Auditors and other state and private institutions in Tunisia about political finance and abuse of state resources, and how institutions can cooperate to achieve effective oversight in the upcoming elections.The training was organised by IFES in partnership with the CEELI institute
Meet core team members and field monitors of the ongoing I WATCH election campaign finance monitoring project in Tunisia, to discuss necessary adjustments to the monitoring methodology.

Participated in symposium on electoral process reform in the Maldives. Presented recommendation for legal reform and changes to implementation in the campaign and political finance oversight systems.
International IDEA publishes the Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns: a Handbook on Political Finance (co-editor and author)

Participated in Expert Round-table on Funding and Disclosure by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, House of Representatives of Australia (teleconference).
Chaired panel on "Money, Corruption and Political Competition" at the World Congress of the International Political Science Association in Montreal, Canada. Presented paper on "How to monitor the impact of political finance regulations".
Participated in the Political Party Expert Seminar, organised by OSCE/ODIHR in Warsaw.
Met with civil society activists and the Electoral Commission in Tunisia to discuss implementation of monitoring of money in the parliamentary electoral campaign.

Participated in the Campaign Finance Observation Expert Seminar, organised by OSCE/ODIHR in Warsaw.
In Georgia, met with the Auditor General, head of the political finance monitoring unit at the State Audit Office and civil society representatives to discuss necessary improvements in the oversight of political finance.
Participated as expert at the conference on women in politics in Haiti. Presented IFES research about the connection between political finance and gender equality globally, and how this relates to the situation in Haiti (with only 4% women in Parliament).

Conducted preliminary analysis of the campaign finance provisions in the new Electoral Code in Tunisia.
Advised the civil society organisation CReDO in Moldova on methodologies for monitoring campaign income and spending and the abuse of state resources. The activities were funded by ERIS.

Co-hosted seminar on the monitoring by civil society organisation of abuse of state resources. The event organised at the IFES Prague office included participants from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.
Reviewed regulatory and real-life situation regarding preparedness for campaign finance oversight in upcoming elections in Lebanon, meeting representatives from government institutions and non-governmental organisations. The work in Beirut was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (LEAP project).

Co-hosted press conference in Tunisia on the IFES Engendering Political Finance in MENA project. Held meetings with CSOs about the monitoring of campaign finance.
Held training on the monitoring of campaign finance for civil society activists in Indonesia. The training was organised by Indonesia Corruption Watch and ERIS.

Participated in "Roundtable on Political Finance in Georgia; A Role for Everyone", presenting international best practices in political l finance regulation and oversight, including the importance of positive engagement by the enforcement institution and the regulated community. Roundtable organised by IFES; OSCE/ODIHR and NIMD.
Provided training to the Financial Monitoring Unit staff at the State Audit Office of Georgia. The training was carried out together with Lisa Klein.

Participated in Expert Mission on the draft law on elections and political party financing in Montenegro, organised by the European Commission. Discussed draft legislation with Montenegrin Members of Parliament.The other members of the Expert Mission were Yves-Marie Doublet and Jurij Toplak.
Developed proposal for IFES political finance programming in Iraq.