Adamawa state in northeast Nigeria is experiencing an increase in the number of women joining political parties and participating actively in politics. The social landscape of the region is traditional, conservative and male-dominated. As a result, it is a context in which women have long been marginalized from political and electoral processes. Ordinarily, expectations for women’s political participation would be very low.

Following the Republic of Kosovo’s 10th anniversary of independence on February 17, 2018, the House Democracy Partnership (HDP) celebrated the developmental progress of the Assembly of Kosovo at a reception on Capitol Hill. Since the Assembly’s inception in 2001, the Assembly has overcome a variety of challenges. In partnership with HDP and the international community, the Assembly has become a more resilient and forward-looking democratic institution and continues to make strides in strengthening the institution’s lawmaking, oversight and representative roles.  

A new report published by NDI and the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA Kenya) highlights a number of important political gains made by women during the 2017 general elections. For the first time in Kenya’s history, women were elected to serve as governors and senators, and 29 percent more women ran for office than in the previous election — a fact that led to the largest number of women ever seated at all levels of the Kenyan government.

As Lebanon approaches twice-postponed parliamentary elections, Lebanese voters who participated in NDI survey research completed in January 2018 signaled modest optimism and support for new candidates and approaches to address the country’s long-standing challenges.

The streets were empty as Sierra Leoneans gathered in front of televisions and radios to witness six presidential contenders participate in a three-hour debate, the first in the country’s history to feature all major political parties. In the past, the ruling party has declined to participate or failed to appear on debate night.