NDI has worked in Nepal since 1994 to strengthen citizen engagement in the political process. The Institute has pursued this goal through civic education programs, opinion polling, assistance to domestic election monitoring organizations and training political party leaders on organization and leadership skills.

At a unique gathering in Paris last week, key international parliamentary associations gathered to assess progress on reaching consensus on minimum benchmarks for democratic parliaments – one of the key pillars of representative democracy.  While there is broad international agreement, for example, on minimum characteristics of democratic elections, international benchmarks on other democratic processes and institutions are still emerging. 

Thirteen political parties in Georgia have signed an agreement setting the format for a nationwide public television channel, called the Second Channel, that will broadcast the activities of the Georgian parliament and opposition parties.

The National Platform for Women, the culmination of a three-month collaboration and consensus-building effort by political party members, civil society activists and government officials from across Iraq, was launched in Baghdad last month in anticipation of Iraq's March 7 parliamentary elections.

Civic and political leaders from across Kazakhstan came together recently to debate and discuss the merits of a new privacy bill that would introduce tough new punishments for those convicted of invasion of privacy.

In Bangladesh, traditional gender roles keep most women from gaining political power. A recent forum, "Celebrating Women's Leadership in Bangladesh," brought together female MPs and other Bangladeshi women with political aspirations to inspire and encourage them to run for office and to work together across party lines to increase women's political participation in the country.

Strengthening the building blocks of democratic legislatures – transparency, accountability, oversight, responsiveness and effective legislation – is among the goals of the House Democracy Partnership (HDP), an organization created by the U.S. House of Representatives to promote and support emerging democratic governments around the world.  HDP currently has 14 partner countries on five continents.