Lebanon is the oldest democracy in the Middle East, granting women the right to vote and run for office in 1953. So why, more than six decades later, does Lebanon have so few women in its parliament? According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Lebanon ranks 185 out of 193 countries surveyed with only 3 percent of women in its 128-seat parliament. This low rate is not for lack of qualified women. Women now account for more than half of university graduates in Lebanon and can be found in senior level positions in the private sector, civil society, and academic institutions.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the peace accords that ended Guatemala’s 36-year internal conflict that deeply divided the country. However, in the two subsequent decades many of the accords’ goals remain to be achieved in critical areas such as rule of law, social justice, and the alleviation of poverty for marginalized groups including women, indigenous people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) communities.

June 1 marked the beginning of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Pride month, celebrated around the world to promote equality rights for gender and sexual diversity. That same day Honduran LGBTI community leader, rising political figure, and friend to many at NDI, René Martínez, was murdered. A likely victim of a hate crime, Reny, as he was popularly known, was considering running for Congress next year with the governing National Party (Partido Nacional).

On May 22, 2016, with the holding of local elections, Burkina Faso’s 19-month political transition came to an end. With 2.6 million of 5.5 million registered voters casting ballots (a participation rate of 47.65%), Burkinabe went to the polls to elect local councilors, who are responsible for government at the commune level and who will later convene to elect mayors from among their ranks.

When people discuss youth in the Middle East and North Africa, the focus tends to be on young people’s potential for turning toward political and social extremism as opposed to more constructive options. Violence and unrest in the region have increased young people’s disenchantment with politics, frustrated progress, and led to hopelessness in prospects for the future. Youth are the largest and fastest expanding population group in the region. Political leaders have important questions to answer if they are to engage young people.