“Increasing women’s meaningful participation in political and public life is about changing cultural norms about women and changing the culture of politics,” Catherine Russell, U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, said in remarks delivered at NDI in Washington last week.

As a growing number of countries are considering the use of electronic technologies in elections, NDI and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) have produced a new guide laying out the opportunities, pitfalls and lessons learned presented by these new technologies. 

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Noting Ivorians’ desire for peaceful elections in 2015, an international delegation fielded by NDI has completed a one-week mission to assess preparations for Cote d’Ivoire’s 2015 presidential polls.

Five winners of NDI’s 2013 Democracy Award gathered at the Institute yesterday for a panel discussion about how technology can be used to improve the way governments and citizens interact.

Young people in Kosovo, Europe’s newest country, are impatient. They make up half of the population and are keen to see Kosovo integrated into Europe as a democracy, but they struggle to have a voice in the democratic process. Many youth activists are turning to social media to make their voices heard. NDI is helping them.

In celebration of its 30 years of strengthening democracy around the world, NDI honored a group of civic innovators at a Dec. 10 dinner and awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The 21 government officials, political leaders, entrepreneurs and civic activists from 13 countries are at the forefront of efforts to use technology to expand opportunities for citizen participation and to make governments more transparent and accountable.