The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Syla poses with Albright. “You can’t imagine how it is to meet the person who was there at the right time to make the right decisions to save your nation,” she said.

As a young Kosovar Albanian subjected to Slobodan Milosevic’s dictatorship, Aferdita Syla, like tens of thousands of other young people, faced discrimination in education and virtually every other aspect of her young life.  Her fundamental rights of citizenship were wholly denied.  She had little in the way of realizing her dreams to live a normal life in a normal country.

Conclusion of Student Peer Mediation Training by the Marib Youth Council, Marib governorate. Photo: NDI

This week NDI successfully completed a two-year Conflict Management and Mitigation (CMM) funded program that encouraged young Yemeni citizens to engage their district councils and tribal leaders to advocate for local youth issues; provide conflict prevention training to school students; and serve as conflict mediators among their peers. The active participation of young people in resolving community disputes is critical to Yemen’s current democratic transition.