Working as an intern in the Afghan parliament in 2007, Atifa Safi helped members and parliamentary committees write reports, take minutes, conduct research and analyze data.  She had the opportunity to contribute to the legislative process while seeing the workings of government close up, and the lawmakers benefited from the help that she and other interns provided.

By Christopher Fomunyoh, regional country director for Central and West Africa programs

There was almost nothing as striking as arriving in Côte d’Ivoire in May for the inauguration of Alassane Ouattara as president of the country following an armed conflict and a protracted post-election crisis that resulted in more than 3,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced citizens.

Iraqis are becoming increasingly concerned about a weak economy and poor service delivery, aggravating their frustrations with political parties and politicians. But they still believe that democracy holds the potential to improve their quality of life, and they want political parties to become more responsive to economic concerns and less focused on sectarian divisions.

As a boy in Germany, Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer heard about the “romantic music and fairy tales of Gypsy life.” But he wasn’t satisfied with the stories and wanted to learn more about the Roma people and their plight.

An opportunity came last year when Zimmer, a long-time human rights advocate, heard about the deportation of Roma migrants from France and wanted to help. His interest led him to NDI, which has been working for the past decade to empower Roma activists in Central and Eastern Europe.