Themes
CDI's central goal is to support regional focus countries in strengthening:
- Political Parties
- Parliamentary Governance
Goals
- Improving the operation and understanding of parliamentary machinery by members of parliament and parliamentary staff in partner countries
- Strengthening political parties in key countries in the region through improving the knowledge and skills of members and officials of political parties
- Extending networks in the region between Australian political party officials, parliamentarians and parliamentary staff and their counterparts from priority countries
Our Approach & Relationships
These goals will be reached through CDI's delivery of technical assistance, underpinned by applied research and supported by solid regional networks and partnerships. Building on its existing linkages with regional legislatures and Australian parliaments, the centre seeks to consolidate its networks in the region to foster mutual understanding and to augment its service delivery, especially in strengthening regional parliamentary and political party secretariats. Given our small size, CDI activities rely on our extensive and solid relationships with regional stakeholders and allied organisations in our work.
Simultaneously, we promote mutual understanding between Australian legislatures and political parties, and their regional counterparts. This approach allow CDI's key regional stakeholders to draw on comparative experiences in the execution of their responsibilities as parliamentarians and political party officials and provide an informed basis for CDI's contributions to global dialogues on democratic functioning. In keeping with its mission to facilitate regional networks, CDI places an emphasis on outreach activities, especially the holding of its activities in Asian and Pacific focus countries.
Housed within the Crawford School of Economics and Government within the Australian National University (ANU), CDI is able to capitalise on Australia's leading research on governance and accountability, democratic functioning and national and area studies. From this base, the Centre is able to pursue its activities in partnership with like-minded institutions, entities and persons in Asia, the Pacific, North America and Europe.
All of CDI's activities are non-partisan. The Centre strives for best practice in its project delivery.
