For Immediate Release                                                                                        Contact: Todd Dusenbery

February 3, 2010                                                                                                       Sudan Program Manager  

                                                                                    Mobile: +249 912 175 683

FOURUM OF FEDERATIONS TO CONDUCT SEMINAR ON POLITICAL PARTIES IN FEDERAL SYSTEMS

Khartoum, Sudan—From February 6^th – 7^th 2010, the Forum of Federations will conduct a two day seminar at the Rotana hotel titled “POLITICAL PARTIES IN FEDERAL SYSTEMS, INTERNATIONAL AND SUDANESE PERSPECTIVES” for senior representatives from Sudan’s large political parties (including The Beja Congress, The Communist Party, The Democratic Unionist Party, The National Congress Party, The People’s Congress Party, The Sudan Liberation Movement, The Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement, and The Umma Party).

The session will be conducted by international and Sudanese experts, and provide an overview of core comparative Federalism concepts and on the unique ways that political parties compete, organize in — and ultimately shape – federal systems . Through interactive presentations, discussions and group exercises, the overall seminar objective is to stimulate constructive dialogue around the essential intermediary role that parties play in Federal societies, as well as their centrality in helping to advance peace and development in Sudan

Questions to be addressed include: what types of parties are most likely to achieve such objectives? What types of relations among parties can foster such aims? What characteristics set parties in transitional societies apart from parties in established democracies? What do politicians and experts interested in the rebuilding of party systems need to take into consideration to consolidate sustainable institutions for the management of conflict?

THE FORUM OF FEDERATIONS

As the world’s leading network developing a body of knowledge on the practice of federalism, the Forum of Federations provides technical expertise to existing federal countries and others considering federal type arrangements. The Forum facilitates contacts among practitioners, academics, and institutions working on governance issues to build an international network fostering the exchange of experience on federal governance and to disseminate technical knowledge of interest to existing federations and of countries seeking to introduce federal elements. The Forum maintains field offices on the African continent in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Sudan, and is supported by partner countries of Australia , Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria and Switzerland.

The overall goal of the Forum’s “Federal Governance and Peace program in Sudan” is to s trengthen capacities to implement key federal components of the CPA and at the same time build the basis for a broader and deeper national understanding about and commitment to the role of federalism for sustainable peace in Sudan.

The Forum of Federation’s work in Sudan is funded by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). For more information, please visit our website at www.forumfed.org

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