The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Despite recent violence and significant challenges ahead, Kyrgyzstan has made progress on democratic reforms, NDI Vice Chair and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle concluded following a recent trip to that country.

Daschle traveled to Kyrgyzstan on behalf of NDI Aug. 17-19 to assess the country's democratic reform efforts, provide encouragement for further reform, and promote broad political participation to aid reconciliation in the wake of that country's June violence. Daschle met with a broad range of political, governmental and civil society leaders, foreign diplomats, media representatives and international organizations.

In Yemen, tribal conflict is a backdrop affecting the country's economic development, governance and national stability. Disputes over land claims and competition for resources and government services often lead to violence and cycles of revenge killings that can extend over a decade, hindering the work of government and international development agencies, and isolating citizens from the state.

Within tribes, young people are particularly affected by, and increasingly engage in, violence. Research by NDI shows that young people are the most likely to initiate conflict or break established truces. With almost half of Yemen's population under age 15 and another one-third aged 15 to 29, a significant percentage of the population is growing acclimated to violence as the primary means to address or resolve conflict.

Kenyan citizens overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a peaceful and credible referendum last week, according to a preliminary statement released by the Elections Observation Group, a coalition of civic and faith-based Kenyan organizations.

After the violence that marred the 2007 elections, the successful August 4 referendum was celebrated as Kenyans ratified a new constitution that provides checks and balances on the president, establishes a bill of rights, transfers some powers from the central government to the regions and addresses land distribution issues.

The importance of democracy support was the subject of a dynamic discussion this summer by a broad array of policymakers from both sides of the Atlantic who met in Washington, D.C., for the first installment of a dialogue aimed at bolstering cooperation on democracy and human rights between the European Union (EU), the United States and the broader transatlantic community.  The dialogue took place as the administration seeks to recalibrate the U.S. approach to democracy support and as the EU seeks to build greater coherence on democracy assistance policy among its member states.

The process surrounding national elections in Burma, expected later this year, “is clearly designed to guarantee a pre-determined outcome and, therefore, does not meet even the very minimum of international standards,” according to an analysis by NDI that was released Sunday.

NDI examined the country’s new election laws and constitution in the context of preparations for what will be the nation’s first national polls since 1990. “The upcoming elections,” NDI said, “appear to be designed to gain international acceptance for an illegitimate process.”

Iraqis are becoming increasingly frustrated about the delay in the formation of a new government five months after last spring's parliamentary elections, and a majority of them believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to a recent public opinion poll conducted by NDI.

The survey, based on 4,000 interviews conducted June 21-26, showed that while no one choice for prime minister had a majority, the leading candidate among those polled was Ayad Allawi, representing the Iraqiyya coalition, which got the most votes in the March 7 elections.

Seventy percent of those surveyed were concerned that a government has not yet been formed, and 63 percent said they believed the country is headed in the wrong direction overall, in marked contrast to the months before the elections, when 67 percent of Iraqis felt that the country's situation was the same or better than before.