NDI’s Political Party Strengthening Institute (PPSI) was established in 2014 to bring together senior party leaders from across Southern Africa to foster greater inclusiveness, peer-to-peer learning and collaboration with the goal of enhancing engagement between political parties and constituents. Since its inception, NDI has successfully organized five institutes over its five year period with participation from the top-three vote earning political parties in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

Although official statistics on emigration do not exist, anecdotal evidence suggests that Bosnia-Herzegovina’s (BiH) population of roughly four million is plummeting, as thousands of citizens head elsewhere, with 64 percent citing the economy as the primary driver and 61 percent of people under 30 indicating that they have personally considered leaving BiH for better opportunities. 

Persons with disabilities face significant challenges in realizing their full social, political, and economic inclusion in The Gambia. Discrimination, lack of inclusive education, no representation in government, and the absence of accessible infrastructure, among other factors, create barriers to persons with disabilities fully exercising their fundamental human rights. While a Disability Rights Bill to assist persons with disabilities exists, it has languished in the legislature for over a decade.

In late 2018, one small pilot initiative in the election day process changed the story of inclusion in Nigerian democracy. For the first time ever, voters with visual impairments in Osun - a state in southwest Nigeria - cast their ballots, unassisted, using a newly developed Braille Ballot Guide. This Braille Ballot Guide was the result of tireless advocacy by Nigeria’s premier Disabled Persons Organization (DPO), Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), under their campaign, #AccessNigeria: Disability Votes Matter.

More than 1 billion people – approximately 15 percent of the world’s population – experience some form of disability. They are the world’s largest marginalized group, and face significant accessibility and representation challenges that limit or restrict their equal participation in nearly all aspects of society. At the first Global Disability Summit – held last week in London – self-advocates, governments, international institutions and business leaders from around the world convened to raise attention about the scale of disability exclusion and secure new commitments for change.