With women becoming increasingly prominent in North African politics, NDI brought together more than 60 women from across the region who are both established and emerging as political and civic leaders to discuss the importance of women's political engagement. The group, from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, met in Casablanca, Morocco, March 13–14, a site that was chosen in part because of the record 3,406 new women councilors who were voted into office during last year’s municipal elections.

Young people age 35 and under make up more than half of Algeria's population, but they are largely absent from political life. Broad confidence in the government is lacking, with youth seeing no clear benefit to getting involved at even the most basic level in their communities. The political system provides few openings for young people to participate in a constructive manner. Their mounting frustration is sometimes taken out through street protests, which can turn violent.

As ethnic divisions ease in the Balkans, political parties across the spectrum are finding the need for new approaches that focus on thoughtful policy debate rather than personality and ethnicity. Young leaders in particular will play an important role in these changes.

NDI recently published the El Salvador 2009 Benchmark Democracy Survey, which measures citizens’ democratic values and perceptions of democracy in their country. NDI also has administered similar surveys in Nicaragua and Guatemala.