AID cooperative agreement no. 517-0265-A-00-2080-00 with the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra to support a project to strengthen the democratic process in Dominican Republic

The project will have three components: (1) democracy education; (2) public reforms; and (3) data gathering and analysis. Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) will implement the project through subgrants to Dominican PVO"s/NGO"s, universities, and other public interest organizations and groups. The project will support educational activities which promote the development of a democratic culture and society. Potential activities include: (1) dissemination of educational booklets and citizen manuals, and mass media campaigns for the general public; (2) courses and workshops for intermediate leaders of community-based organizations, non-governmental institutions, and political parties; and (3) specialized seminars, workshops, and panels aimed at consensus-building, dissemination of documentary material, and related actions, for sectoral and political leaders. Potential public reform activities include: (1) updating electoral legislation and regulations, institutional modernization of the Central Electoral Council (JCE), screening of electoral records, training of electoral personnel, and development of guidelines for democratizing political parties; (2) strengthening and modernizing the judiciary, updating relevant legislation and legal codes, and educating citizens concerning their rights and the content of important laws; and (3) helping to promulgate the Civil Service Law of 5/91 and defining procedures for implementing the new career civil service system. The project will also support management activities necessary to achieve its purpose, including the installation of an information system (to include data from various electoral, public opinion, and sociopolitical surveys of recent years) and a series of surveys for measuring project impact.