The East-West Parliamentary Practice Project (EWPPP) works to support and strengthen the paramount democratic institution -- the parliament -- in countries faced with the enormous challenges related to the long process of democratic, political, economic and social transition.

The EWPPP was founded in April 1990 as a joint initiative of the European Cultural Foundation (NL) and the Ford Foundation (US) to support emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In January 1995, the EWPPP became an independent foundation under Dutch law and continues to assist parliaments over a wide geographic and thematic scope. Since its inception in 1990, the EWPPP has implemented programmes in over 25 countries.

National and regional stability ultimately depend upon the development of legitimate democratic institutions. The EWPPP maintains a dynamic network consisting of national parliaments and civil society organizations (CSOs) working to promote innovative approaches towards good governance. To that end, all EWPPP programmes are non-partisan in approach and pluralistic in participation, providing a politically neutral forum for the free exchange of information and experience. EWPPP programmes concentrate on the ways in which parliaments can effectively address a variety of political, organizational, procedural and policy issues.