In the closing weeks before Haiti’s October 25 elections, six candidates made their case to the country’s 5.8 million voters at an October 6 presidential debate. The two-hour forum, part of the Anvan’n Vote (“Before We  Vote” in Haitian Creole) initiative of the Public Policy Intervention Group (Groupe d’Intervention en Affaires Publiques, GIAP), was the first of a series of six debates to which all 53 of Haiti’s presidential candidates were invited grouped by alphabetical order.  

Violence against women seized the world’s attention last year when nearly 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram, a terrorist group that has been a constant source of insecurity in Nigeria’s northeast. But violence against women -- in Nigeria and around the world -- takes many forms, and much of it is under-reported.  

Colombia is home to one of the world’s longest ongoing armed conflicts, which has resulted in severe economic and social disparities, and victimized approximately 15 percent of the country’s population. Many analysts agree that, regardless of the ongoing peace negotiations between the government and the country’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), peace must be constructed at the local level.

The campaign for Guatemala’s Sept. 6 presidential, legislative and municipal elections is unfolding against a backdrop of ongoing protests that erupted following charges of corruption against a former vice president and other political leaders. This challenging political environment is further complicated by intimidation and threats of violence, particularly against Guatemalan observers monitoring election preparations.  

In the run up to Burkina Faso’s first ever multi-party legislative and presidential elections on Oct. 11, voters report being most concerned about their daily economic and social well-being. They also revealed that they want to contribute to the democratic process alongside their elected leaders and take an active role in the country’s reform process, according to focus group research conducted by NDI in February.