NDI mourns the passing of former Czech President Václav Havel. The Institute recognized Havel in 1991 with its W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award, honoring him for his years as a dissident, political essayist and leading figure in the Velvet Revolution of 1989 — the bloodless end to communism in Czechoslovakia.

Most Libyans are eager to exercise their newfound political freedoms and participate in shaping their country’s future, but they feel disadvantaged by their lack of exposure to democratic practices and have concerns about security and their economy, according to new public opinion research undertaken by NDI.

The qualitative research project sampled citizens’ opinions through 16 focus groups in six cities in eastern, western and southern Libya from Nov. 12 to 28.

NDI Delegation Notes Administrative Improvements and Less Campaigning in Polling Centers

Voting in region two of the Egyptian People’s Assembly elections showed continued enthusiasm on the part of Egyptians to exercise their right to select the candidates and parties of their choice in Egypt’s first open parliamentary elections, NDI said in a statement released in Cairo.

When Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer set out to write the score for the new Sherlock Holmes film, he knew he wanted to collaborate with Roma musicians. "I went there to find musicians we can work with," Zimmer recently told the Huffington Post.

Burkina Faso has awarded its highest national honor to Aminata Kassé, NDI senior resident director in the west African country. The National Order (l'Ordre National), which recognizes personal merit and eminent service to the country, was bestowed on Kassé on Dec.

The first-time opportunity to question their elected members of parliament (MPs) was so important to residents of South Sudan that some of them brought their own chairs to standing-room-only constituency dialogues organized in November by the South Sudanese Network for Democracy and Elections (SuNDE), a nonpartisan coalition of community groups.