Stories

June 12, 2019

Women Peacebuilders in Yemen Advocate for the Re-Opening of Al-Riyyan Airport

The civil war in Yemen has been labeled the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. According to the UN’s Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 24 million of Yemen’s 29 million people are in immediate need of humanitarian assistance. Still, despite the difficulties, women peacebuilders in Yemen are working tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of their communities.

May 13, 2019

2019 Madeleine K. Albright Luncheon Celebrating Women Global Risk-Takers

“Success without democracy is improbable; democracy without women is impossible,”

~Madeleine K. Albright

What has become more than just a signature event for NDI, the annual Madeleine K. Albright Luncheon brings together women of diverse backgrounds to recognize the strides women have made in politics and to support women empowerment. This year, the Madeleine Albright Award recipient was activist and founder of the #MeToo Movement, Tarana J. Burke, who exemplifies what it means to be a risk-taker.

April 30, 2019

DemTools 3.0 Launch: Putting Users First Powers Technology for Democracy

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. Governments and civil society organizations have been slow to adopt digital tools to gather and analyze data, track information about their supporters, or contact citizens on their ever-present phones.

April 23, 2019

Watching the Vote in Nigeria Answered Questions around Election Credibility

On February 23, Nigerian voters re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over his main challenger from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar. Elections were originally set for February 16, but five hours before the polls opened, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the elections by a week, citing logistical and security challenges. The postponement drew outrage from supporters of both APC and PDP, but it was hardly unprecedented: Nigeria’s elections in 2011 and 2015 were also delayed.

April 23, 2019

Nigerians with Visual Impairments Vote Independently for the First Time

In late 2018, one small pilot initiative in the election day process changed the story of inclusion in Nigerian democracy. For the first time ever, voters with visual impairments in Osun - a state in southwest Nigeria - cast their ballots, unassisted, using a newly developed Braille Ballot Guide. This Braille Ballot Guide was the result of tireless advocacy by Nigeria’s premier Disabled Persons Organization (DPO), Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), under their campaign, #AccessNigeria: Disability Votes Matter.

April 17, 2019

Supporting Ecuador’s Democratic Institutions in a New Political Era

A record 80,281 candidates representing 278 political parties and movements competed in Ecuador’s March 24 regional elections – over three times as many candidates as in 2014. These were the first regional elections since Lenin Moreno was elected president and adopted a reform agenda opposed by former President Rafael Correa, effectively splitting the Country Alliance (Alianza Pais, AP) which had governed Ecuador for ten years. The results suggest a reshuffling in Ecuador’s political coalitions ahead of the 2021 presidential and National Assembly elections.

April 8, 2019

Week of Women 2019: Women Activists Are Key to Kosovo’s Future

A democracy is only as strong as the voices of its women. Not only do women activists hold governments accountable to the needs of women, but the fight for gender equality also provides avenues for other marginalized groups to shape their country’s political system as well. In Kosovo, where conflict in the 1990s left communities divided along ethnic lines, with many cut off from government resources, women are taking the reins to make their government accountable to all citizens.

March 20, 2019

Young Guatemalans Develop Policy Skills Through Debates

On November 30, 2018, 44 young people gathered from different regions across Guatemala to compete in a national debate tournament in Guatemala City. Teams of two participated alongside their peers in a full day of competition, where they had the unique opportunity to publicly debate policy reform proposals and model civil political discourse. Topics included immigration, higher education, congressional allowances and criminal justice reform.

February 27, 2019

NDI Supports New Salvadoran Consortium to Observe February 2019 Presidential Elections

NDI assisted Salvadoran citizen election observers to conduct a systematic observation of El Salvador’s February 3 presidential election to build public confidence in the electoral process. The election proved to be a significant moment for El Salvador’s democracy, as outsider Nayib Bukele decisively won El Salvador’s February 3 presidential election with 53 percent of the vote. Bukele’s first-round victory marked a historic shift from the majoritarian two-party system that has dominated Salvadoran politics since the end of the country's civil war in 1992.