A coalition of civil society organizations from across Libya has launched the Shahed Network for election observation, the first citizen election monitoring effort ever attempted in the country.

New focus group research from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) finds an overwhelming majority of participants believe the country can become a full-fledged democracy, provided it has better leadership and unity among the people. Those surveyed were also especially concerned with the corrosive power of corruption in the country, and they want political parties and elected leaders to be more responsive to citizens.

A civic education film recently released in Nigeria asks the question, in Nigerian pidgin, “Aftercount, I Vote Wetin?” or “I Voted, Now What?” It was made by the Youngstars Foundation, a Nigerian nonprofit organization, with the goal of encouraging younger Nigerians to stay involved in the political process between elections. The group is run primarily by young people and has reached tens of thousands of youths in rural and urban Nigeria.

NDI recently completed a two-year Conflict Management and Mitigation (CMM) funded program that encouraged young Yemeni citizens to engage their district councils and tribal leaders to advocate for local youth issues; provide conflict prevention training to school students; and serve as conflict mediators among their peers. The active participation of young people in resolving community disputes is critical to Yemen’s current democratic transition.

In recent gubernatorial elections in Nigeria, election officials adhered to correct voting procedures and handled ballots according to the law, but the polls were marked by increased voter intimidation and low turnout. These were the findings of Project Swift Count (PSC), a domestic election observation coalition that undertook a parallel vote tabulation (PVT) for five gubernatorial races that took place since December.

It took many years, but disabled citizens in Macedonia now legally have the right to equal treatment under the law.

A survey of public opinion in Georgia released by NDI shows that jobs, territorial integrity and affordable healthcare are the top three priority issues for Georgian citizens, while concern about rising prices and inflation has dropped. In the survey, 63 percent mentioned jobs, 36 percent mentioned territorial integrity and 31 percent mentioned affordable healthcare as among their top three priority issues.

Tribal violence in South Sudan’s Jonglei state has displaced an estimated 120,000 people and left up to 3,000 dead. Meanwhile, the South Sudanese government has halted oil production due to unresolved wealth-sharing issues with Sudan and announced austerity measures to compensate for revenue losses and inflation. The increased violence and volatile economic situation represent a contrast with the bright future envisioned last year when South Sudan became the world’s newest country.