Nearly 30 members of Niger’s national assembly discussed the relationship between gender and Islam during a one-day forum organized by NDI in Sadoré (40 km from Niamey, the capital of Niger) on March 7. Their objective  was to familiarize members of parliament (MPs) with the different schools of thought that exist within Islam on themes connected to gender, human rights and education.

WASHINGTON, DC - Fourteen current and former leaders of NDI observation missions to Nigeria from 10 countries have joined the Institute in calling for Nigerian election authorities to adhere to the March 28 date for presidential and legislative elections. The polls were originally scheduled for Feb. 14 but were postponed at the last minute.

For the first time, Tunisians freely elected a parliament and president in three national elections in 2014. A new round of focus group research conducted by NDI shows that citizens in Tunisia view these elections as a successful step in the country’s transition to democracy.

The research, conducted January  22 to 29 with 133 participants from four cities, including Tunis, Jendouba, Sousse and Medenine, built on 11 previous rounds of public opinion research led by NDI.

Grassroots members of political parties in Pakistan have historically been disconnected from party leaders who are typically the ones who decide the parties’ policy positions. In fact, rank and file members of most parties have often not met their party leaders, let alone had a chance to discuss policy issues with them.

“The policy development process has always been top down,” said Tahir Bizanjo, a senior leader of the National Party.  “What we are learning now is how to make it the other way around.”