In Latin America and around the world, citizens are increasingly wary of political parties. In Central America, this is particularly acute where recurring party scandals involving money in politics are compounded by growing insecurity, corruption and impunity, all of which have led to increased rates of migration. Of all the democratic institutions in Latin America, citizens have the least confidence in political parties and parliaments, with a mere 13 percent of citizens expressing any level of trust in political parties and 21 percent in parliaments.

NDI’s Political Party Strengthening Institute (PPSI) was established in 2014 to bring together senior party leaders from across Southern Africa to foster greater inclusiveness, peer-to-peer learning and collaboration with the goal of enhancing engagement between political parties and constituents. Since its inception, NDI has successfully organized five institutes over its five year period with participation from the top-three vote earning political parties in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

Although official statistics on emigration do not exist, anecdotal evidence suggests that Bosnia-Herzegovina’s (BiH) population of roughly four million is plummeting, as thousands of citizens head elsewhere, with 64 percent citing the economy as the primary driver and 61 percent of people under 30 indicating that they have personally considered leaving BiH for better opportunities. 

A record 80,281 candidates representing 278 political parties and movements competed in Ecuador’s March 24 regional elections – over three times as many candidates as in 2014. These were the first regional elections since Lenin Moreno was elected president and adopted a reform agenda opposed by former President Rafael Correa, effectively splitting the Country Alliance (Alianza Pais, AP) which had governed Ecuador for ten years. The results suggest a reshuffling in Ecuador’s political coalitions ahead of the 2021 presidential and National Assembly elections.