Seychelles
The Seychelles’ independence in 1976 was followed by 20 years under socialist rule. In 1993, the country realized a new constitution which enabled free elections. Ever since then, the Parti Lepep (formerly the Progressive Front of the Seychelles People) has been in power.
Population: 89 188
Area: 455 km2
GDP (PPP): 1.9 billion dollar (2010 estimate)
GDP per capita (PPP): 21 600 $ (2010 estimate)
Rate of growth: 3,5 % (2010 estimate)
Head of state and head of government: James Alix Michel
The Parti Lepep and James Michels hold a very dominant position. Freedom House (www.freedomhouse.org) has graded Seychelles as “partly free”. That is to say the country has limited respect for political rights and civil liberties. The government controls most of the media. Human rights are generally respected although there are still concerns.
Women are legally entitled to the same rights as men and they are well-represented on all educational levels. In political life, however, women are underrepresented. One fourth of all seats in parliament are occupied by women.
The Seychelles’ economy is largely dependent on tourism and on tuna fishing. The 9/11 attacks proved to be a hard blow to the tourism industry due to lower levels of international travel and the tsunami of December 2004 brought a lof of destruction.
On the continent of Africa, the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation cooperates with the Democrat Union of Africa (DUA), which is a member of the International Democrat Union (IDU). The partner of the Foundation in Seychelles is the Democratic Party. The overarching goal of the Jarl Hjalmarsson Foundation’s work in Africa is to strengthen its cooperative parties comprehensively. In this spirit, the Foundation seeks to promote the participation of women and youths in political life.
In 2008 the Foundation, together with the British Conservative Party WDF Programme, arranged the annual Winter School in Africa. The topic was “Principles for a free society” and the participants were youths from member parties of the DUA. The participants were from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda. Additionally, a conference was arranged in Seychelles with women representing DUA-member parties from Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda. For three days, seminars were held on female participation in politics, networking, leadership and communication.
One of the Foundation’s more recent activities on the Seychelles was a woman’s and a youth´s conference in December 2010 on organization, media and campaign.
