NDI assisted Salvadoran citizen election observers to conduct a systematic observation of El Salvador’s February 3 presidential election to build public confidence in the electoral process. The election proved to be a significant moment for El Salvador’s democracy, as outsider Nayib Bukele decisively won El Salvador’s February 3 presidential election with 53 percent of the vote. Bukele’s first-round victory marked a historic shift from the majoritarian two-party system that has dominated Salvadoran politics since the end of the country's civil war in 1992.

NDI has taken a leading role in documenting and tackling the issue of Violence Against Women in Political Parties (VAW-PP). Over the past two years, through its No Party to Violence initiative, NDI conducted research with 25 political parties across Côte d’Ivoire, Honduras, Tanzania, and Tunisia.

A group of Iraqi women peace activists stood together this month to urge the government of Iraq and the international community to engage in open and honest dialogue on national reconciliation. With support from NDI, they convened the Women in Peacebuilding Symposium on December 5 to share their ideas, bringing together over 200 decision makers from the government, civil society, and international organizations. The 40 women, despite coming from ethnically and geographically diverse backgrounds, joined together to present a united vision for reconciliation in Iraq and a step-by-step, research-based strategy on how to implement it. In a country where the focus remains on the challenges that led to conflict, these women are leading an effort to refocus on solutions.

In an era in which democracy faces an increasing array of challenges, parliamentarians play a critical role in upholding democratic norms and ensuring basic human rights for all. In May 2018, a working group of global parliamentarians and parliamentary networks convened at the Ninth Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Dakar, Senegal, to discuss parliamentary efforts to promote democracy and uphold human rights around the world.