Paulina Chavez
Press Secretary
[email protected]
Despite a year of dramatic challenges, NDI is facing 2026 filled with hope and determination. Our Day of Democracy on December 3rd spotlighted key partners from Georgia, Malawi and Guatemala for their fierce commitment to protecting fellow citizens’ right to vote. Gathering that day with democracy colleagues, diplomatic partners, congressional supporters, and stakeholders and friends across the corporate and philanthropic community made for a heartening day and renewed our commitment to the work ahead.
This year has presented deep challenges to those of us engaged in the fight for freedom. The unprecedented, and fundamentally unwise, destruction of US government infrastructure to support democracy, human rights, stability and security left friends and partners around the world out in the cold. Despite it all, and thanks to our dedicated supporters in Congress, at the National Endowment for Democracy, and in the wider community NDI emerged from this crisis and is back at work on every continent.
This year also brought awe-inspiring moments that have strengthened NDI’s commitment to the fight for freedom.
- Ukrainian citizens, already striving daily to defend their freedom and sovereignty against Putin’s war machine, going out into the streets to protect the institutions they created to ensure that their sovereign nation never again falls prey to official corruption.
- Romanian and Moldovan citizens who turned their backs on a firehose of Russian propaganda and voted resoundingly for a future within the European Union.
- Hondurans who cast their votes at the end of November amidst anxiety that their voices wouldn’t count, and emerged to a race so close that every single vote indeed counts!
- Gen Z protesters in Nepal, who risked their lives to stand up against corruption and demand new elections for a government that prioritized their concerns.
Each of these examples has two things in common: first, that citizens – not leaders, parties, or outsiders – came together to act, and made the difference to the outcome. Second, in each of these places, NDI has been a partner for many years with citizens working to secure and strengthen their own democracy.
I know that some may feel overwhelmed these days at the challenges democracy faces, and at the onslaught of forces who are working daily to undermine our confidence in democracy. But I face 2026 with confidence in the essential element that makes democracy superior to all other forms of government: democratic societies have the ability to correct their own mistakes.
As Madeleine Albright used to say: What people have the capacity to choose, they have the ability to change.
The freedom to choose your own leaders and hold them accountable is perhaps the most powerful idea in human history. It has inspired ordinary people to acts of extraordinary courage, and to extraordinary achievements.
That’s why, even after a very difficult year, I am looking forward with hope. And my hope is bolstered by gratitude for you, friends and supporters and fellow fighters for freedom. Through chaos and uncertainty, you helped ensure that NDI’s light kept shining, and kept us walking alongside our partners on the path to greater freedom and dignity in countries around the world.
May you find time over the midwinter season to gather with those who keep your light shining, and with those who inspire your best hopes for the future.
Warmly,
Dr. Tamara Wittes
President
