Forbes magazine has recognized NDI Program Officer Kathryn Peters as one of the “30 under 30” making their mark in the field of law and policy.

The Arab Spring uprisings have underscored the tremendous impact that social media can have on advancing democracy. In recent months, activists in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have used the Internet to rally the public and organize widespread demonstrations that have toppled two longstanding autocratic leaders and presented a significant challenge to several more. The lines between blogger and activist blurred as bloggers led protest movements and activists took to the Internet to spread their messages.

As Nicaragua prepares for national elections in November, the domestic observation group Ethics and Transparency (ET) is ramping up efforts to engage citizens in election monitoring activities and a demand for free and transparent polls.

Through a new website, www.vivaelvoto.com, launched June 28, the group is bolstering an ongoing campaign asking all Nicaraguans to become citizen observers and report any electoral problems that compromise the process.

Dozens of Burma border-based organizations with feeds from human rights organizations and exile media launched a website to share citizen reports of widespread abuse and fraud around the first elections in Burma in 20 years. Burma Election Tracker (www.burmaelectiontracker.org) shows detailed reports, eye witness accounts, pictures and video gathered through established networks of civic organizations operating throughout Burma.

As Egypt prepared for parliamentary elections last month, Partners in Change (PIC), a coalition of 27 grassroots organizations, conducted an innovative voter education and get-out-the-vote campaign.