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Since 2021, NDI has championed young people’s civic and political participation through the Speak Youth to Power campaign. Under this campaign, NDI is working to increase young people’s impact, influence and leadership in decision-making spaces and engage a more diverse cohort of young leaders.
Under the Speak Youth To Power campaign, NDI has emphasized the importance of young people translating their power to sustained action and influence over political decision-making and democratic processes. In support of NDI’s commitment to strengthening young people’s impact, influence and leadership, we spoke to some of our youth-led partners around the world.
As democracies across Asia face new and sophisticated threats to their integrity, it is crucial for the next generation of leaders to have opportunities to help strengthen their home countries’ civic institutions and democratic processes.
Since 2014, Yemen has been enmeshed in an armed conflict between Yemen’s government, the Houthi rebel group, and the international actors that support both sides, which has killed nearly 400,000 Yemenis and left nearly two-thirds of the country in need of humanitarian assistance. Many of Yemen’s political leaders who are supportive of the country’s internationally recognized government have been forced to flee the country since the Houthis seized control of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
NDI’s work around the world has shown that time and time again, people around the world overwhelmingly choose democracy to safeguard their human rights, produce prosperity for their communities, and effectively deliver public services. What’s more, democratic systems have been proven to foster global stability, deliver economic justice, and act as bulwarks against humanitarian conflict – making democracy’s expansion worldwide a key lever of U.S. national security.
Over half the world is now online. In this increasingly digital age, connected citizens expect to be able to engage with their democratic leaders the same way they talk to each other, do their shopping, and gather information: on the internet. However, critical political and civic institutions are often far behind the curve.
Dear Friends and Partners,
From the COVID-19 pandemic to the heightening climate crisis to an increase in authoritarian overreach, 2020 has sorely tested the strength of democracies globally.
With all eyes on the crisis in Ukraine, the U.S. and Europe must not lose sight of their deep political and security interests in the Western Balkans, where U.S. and NATO interventions ended the violent conflicts of the 1990s. Make no mistake about it: the Kremlin aims to sever the Balkans from the West and to undermine democracy. To alter this dangerous dynamic, the U.S. must strengthen its leadership role to consolidate the Balkans’ place firmly in Europe.
On this International Women’s Day, let us all stand in solidarity with Ukraine and recommit ourselves to building strong inclusive democracies and the values of peace and justice they embody.