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.

Slovakia made history in April when Peter Pollak took his seat in parliament as the country’s first Roma citizen elected to nationwide office. His victory in March’s parliamentary elections is the culmination of a decade-long journey of grassroots organizing, coalition building and setbacks at the ballot box that ultimately, through perseverance and support, paved the way to his breakthrough this year.

With elections just five weeks away, Algerian electoral authorities and other political actors still have time to implement measures that can enhance the transparency of the country’s May 10 parliamentary elections, according to a report released today by an international pre-election assessment delegation organized by NDI.

The delegation, which began its evaluation on March 31 and concluded today, is part of an international election observation mission organized by NDI at the invitation of the Algerian government.

A declaration of principles and code of conduct developed by citizen election monitors from around the world was launched today at the United Nations, establishing for the first time global standards for citizen election observation.