The benefits of high levels of interpersonal trust, community engagement, government responsiveness and acceptance of all groups are almost too many to list. Democracy is more successful in societies with these attributes. To promote greater citizen engagement at the local level in Ecuador, NDI and local partners strengthened cooperation between local governments and civil society to address the needs and rights of marginalized groups and promote stronger and more interconnected communities in the country.

Despite recent advances for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex + (LGBTQI+) rights in Ecuador, such as the Constitutional Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in 2019, progress remains to be made on the acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQI+ people in politics, including continued hostility from public officials, a lack of rights protections on the local level and political parties that lack internal structures designed to take LGBTQI+ voices into account.

In December 1991, 92% of Ukrainians voted for independence from the former Soviet Union, with a voter turnout of 84%. While Moscow saw Ukraine and other former Soviet States as remaining under its sphere of influence, from the outset Ukraine’s people embraced democracy and its government generally oriented itself toward the West rather than Moscow.

For more than two decades, NDI teams have supported partners in government, civil society and political parties on a range of environmental governance initiatives on conservation, disaster response, waste management, air pollution and lead poisoning. NDI’s programs demonstrate that such democratic practices as participatory and inclusive policy consultations, citizen-responsive policy and strong regulatory and oversight mechanisms are key to equitable, appropriate and sustained environmental governance outcomes.