During the 22-year rule of former Gambian President Yaya Jammeh, dubious voter registration processes contributed to election outcomes that lacked credibility. Now, with the first presidential elections under President Adama Barrow taking place in December 2021, an accurate voter register will be critical in ensuring credible and representative polls. 

Supporting Global Lessons for Effective Executive Transitions

NDI Publishes Global Guide on Smooth Transitions Across Political Contexts

Early in the morning on August 16, the Electoral Commission of Zambia announced that long-time opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND) had won the 2021 presidential elections with 59.4 percent of the vote.

The growth of internet users has brought about social and economic benefits on a global scale. However, significant harms such as online violence, disinformation and hate speech have also proliferated in these online spaces. Discriminatory gendered practices are shaped by social, economic, cultural and political structures and are similarly reproduced online across digital platforms. In Uganda, there has been rising rates of online harassment targeting both high profile women as well as everyday users. 

In Algeria and across the world, social media’s role in disseminating information of public concern has been growing. However, with the rapid diffusion of fact-based information comes the spread of disinformation. This has been especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic as people have been searching for information on the virus through traditional and online media platforms. While some Algerians have started to receive vaccines to achieve immunity against the coronavirus, disinformation remains without an antidote.

Unemployment, lack of services, and a healthcare system at the brink of collapse are just some of the issues that Iraq is facing. With an unresponsive government being a catalyst for increased frustration among citizens, Members of Parliament (MPs) across Iraq’s provinces play a critical role in shifting public perception and demonstrating to their constituencies their ability to respond to citizen’s needs.

Just weeks before the August general elections in Zambia, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) released a series of revised accreditation requirements for citizen election observers that significantly hampered their ability to accredit observers across the country. Among the new regulations, citizen groups were required to provide evidence of at least three years of governance experience and each individual observer had to complete a certified application form in triplicate as well as submit certified copies of each observer’s national ID card.

On July 22, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) virtually convened a culminating symposium for the 2020 Political Party Leadership Institute (PPLI) initiative on Lessons on Integrating Youth into Political Parties and Leadership. Funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), PPLI seeks to strengthen young people's capacity to meaningfully contribute in party processes and contribute to youth reflective policies across the region.