Stories

March 23, 2022

Rebuilding Voter Trust Through Parliamentary Debates

Kyrgyzstan held parliamentary elections in November 2021, following a year-long political transition. Preceding constitutional reforms handed greater powers back to the executive, while electoral reforms created a mixed electoral system. The new system combined electing some members by party list and others in single-mandate constituencies on a majority basis. The elections were important to rebuild citizens’ trust in democratic processes and engage voters in issue-based discussions.

March 20, 2022

On the Front Lines Defending Democracy in Ukraine

The European Democracy Youth Network (EDYN) is a coalition of young political and civic leaders from Central and Eastern Europe with a shared commitment to democratic principles. Created in 2018 as a joint initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development, National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, EDYN has since grown to include more than 300 members in 23 countries.

March 16, 2022

Youth In Focus: Solidarity Across Generations

The exclusion of young people from politics and decision-making based on age has resulted in a fractured relationship between political activists and politicians across generations. Age discrimination stigmatizes all young people, especially those of diverse identities and backgrounds, with negative stereotypes and facilitates their exclusion from both formal and informal political spaces. Additionally, decision-making power and leadership continue to be associated with older males.

March 15, 2022

Ending Violence Against Women in Politics in Southeastern Europe

Violence, real and threatened, is one of the most serious barriers to gender-inclusive democratic processes and institutions in southeastern Europe. NDI’s research shows that violence deters women’s participation in politics and public life, including among young women and girls. Under the Political Party Integrity program, NDI is connecting political party members and politically active women and men across southeastern Europe to end violence against women in politics (VAW-P)

March 9, 2022

Kosovo’s Democracy Demands Gender Equality

On this International Women’s Day, let us all stand in solidarity with Ukraine and recommit ourselves to building strong inclusive democracies and the values of peace and justice they embody.

March 9, 2022

Youth in Koumassi Resolve Conflict Peacefully

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March 3, 2022

Georgian Activists Mobilize for Change in 2021 Local Elections

Ahead of the 2021 local elections in Georgia, NDI supported civil society organizations (CSOs) work to ensure that the needs of citizens did not get drowned out by an electoral environment otherwise consumed by political rivalries and controversy.

March 1, 2022

Why Democracy Matters in Russia's War against Ukraine

Vladimir Putin’s military assault on the brave and free people of Ukraine is an international crime of historic proportions.

It has been heartening to see the massive protests in countless cities and towns around the world. They demonstrate that Putin has woken up free peoples everywhere to the stakes of his brazen attack on a democratic neighbor, and democracy itself.

February 28, 2022

Youth in Abidjan bridge a painful history of rumor-fueled violence

Laughing and chatting, a group of young people in Anyama left a focus group session to celebrate a birthday together. This seemed a normal thing to do – except that it would have been unthinkable a year ago, when these youth found themselves on opposite sides of an ethnic and political divide that resulted in bloodshed and loss of life.

February 22, 2022

Time to Conclude the 1990s Conflict in the Balkans

With all eyes on the crisis in Ukraine, the U.S. and Europe must not lose sight of their deep political and security interests in the Western Balkans, where U.S. and NATO interventions ended the violent conflicts of the 1990s. Make no mistake about it: the Kremlin aims to sever the Balkans from the West and to undermine democracy. To alter this dangerous dynamic, the U.S. must strengthen its leadership role to consolidate the Balkans’ place firmly in Europe.