How do you rebuild from an earthquake that flattens infrastructure, leaves 1.5 million people homeless and kills more than 230,000?

NDI’s newsletter, “NDI Reports,” carries stories about the Institute’s partners, programs and publications from around the world, in addition to highlighting the happenings within the Institute, from board and staff changes to the launch of a new website.

 

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.

As Egypt prepares for legislative elections in November, one civic group is ramping up efforts to get citizens to the polls. One tactic is a new website, www.vote4egypt.com, which launched today to bolster an ongoing campaign to convey the importance of voting.

Public security is the number one issue for Central American countries, especially those in what is known as the Northern Triangle, which includes El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. More than three quarters of the population in Central America believes that insecurity is the greatest problem facing the region, according to a recent United Nations report.

At a recent forum, leaders from government, political parties, business, academia and civil society in the region gathered in El Salvador to get to the root of the problem by highlighting the link between security and transparency.

Programs to improve the representation of indigenous people and women in Guatemala’s government and to reform laws governing elections and political parties are expected to be among the benefits of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed Sept. 24 by NDI and the Guatemalan Congress.

The agreement was signed by Roberto Alejos, president of the Guatemalan Congress, and Eduardo Núñez, NDI’s resident director in Guatemala. Addendums were signed by four chairs of congressional committees that will be working on the targeted areas.