National Democratic Institute (NDI)

Today is #InternationalDayofTheGirlChild! At the National Democratic Institute (NDI), we celebrate the importance of supporting girls & young women as they develop not only their political capacity, voice, & agency but also the resources and networks necessary to put their vision for the future into action. To that end, NDI and its partners (Running Start, Women Win, Empodera, Moving the Goalposts (MTG) and Population Council) recently developed DISRUPTHER, a civic and political leadership module supporting adolescent girls and young women in all their diversity to reframe who leads and enables power shifts. The overall goal of DISRUPTHER is to deepen the pool of adolescent girls and young women (or AGYW, aged 12-18) with political skills and aspirations to be politically active young leaders. Through DISRUPTHER’s focus on adolescent girls and young women in all their diversity, it is directly challenging the cyclical patterns behind AGYW and women’s political exclusion. Piloting of the DISRUPTHER methodology and programming first took place in late 2022 - 2023 in both Kenya and Brazil, after which it was included in a recent (Spring 2024) NDI program in Honduras. Following the DISRUPTHER trainings in Kenya, 78% of participants indicated an increased confidence in their ability to engage civically and politically, 85% reported an increase in their ability to identify policy issues that they were passionate about, and 87% have participated in a community engagement activity since the program ended. Likewise, 95% of the Brazil participants reported having a larger civic/political network than before the program, showing how the program’s design provides a foundation for further political involvement beyond the learning modules. In the Honduras adaptation of DISRUPTHER, participants’ understanding of political involvement increased alongside their comfort with taking political action. One girl reflected on the experience with a renewed motivation to be involved in leadership and decision-making roles, saying, “This training process has motivated me to run as a candidate for the presidency of my school.” Learn more about the program: https://bit.ly/3NiE1lR

October is #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth, and to celebrate we want to highlight National Democratic Institute (NDI) Democracy and Technology (DemTech) team’s innovative approaches to helping democracy activists strengthen their digital security. As part of this approach, DemTech has created CyberSim, an interactive, role-playing game designed to help democratic actors experience the consequences of unmitigated digital risk in a fictional setting. We’re proud to announce the launch of the fourth version of CyberSim, designed specifically for Civil Society Organizations, which was piloted in Tunisia last month. It joins our three current versions of CyberSim: CyberSim for Campaigns, CyberSim for Parliaments, and CyberSim for Election Observers. Why teach with games? If democracy activists don’t feel a tangible connection between the success of their work and their digital (in)security, they are unlikely to invest their limited time and energy into identifying and reducing digital risk. While traditional digital security training methods play a key role in helping to operationalize best practices, they sometimes struggle to initially illustrate that critical tangible connection. To overcome this challenge, DemTech developed CyberSim to mimic a real-world environment for democratic actors, and in doing so give them an opportunity to experience in practice (not just hear about in theory) the connections between their digital resilience and organizational success. As a result, our partners report that training with CyberSim is more memorable and impactful. What has been the response to CyberSim? CyberSim has been played with activists in a wide array of countries, including Malaysia, Serbia, India, Kosovo, and Ghana. We’ve also trained a number of digital security experts to localize and facilitate CyberSim within their own region. As a partner in Malaysia described after playing CyberSim, “the interactive nature of [CyberSim] allowed us to immerse ourselves in real-life cybersecurity scenarios, promoting a deeper understanding of the concepts and strategies needed in such situations.” 💡 Want to learn more? 🔵 Check out our full approach to Gamifying Digital Resilience: https://lnkd.in/eZzZjGP8 🔵 See CyberSim in action in our explainer video: https://lnkd.in/eFbdkjhk 🔵 Learn more about our initiative to share CyberSim with local trainers: https://lnkd.in/e6PKaF8A.

Amidst efforts to undermine credible elections comes the emergence of widely available generative AI (gen AI) tools, exacerbating existing concerns and complicating ongoing efforts to improve electoral integrity. A 🆕 National Democratic Institute (NDI) primer outlines how the #ArtificalIntelligence landscape intersects with electoral information, electoral content creation and dissemination, and describes how it could be responsibly employed as a new source of electoral information. 📰: https://bit.ly/3ZXoiR1

TOMORROW: Tune in for the second webinar in a four-part webinar series, hosted by Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) & African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and supported by National Democratic Institute (NDI) & others, focused on Debt Accountability to Parliament. The webinar will feature Hon. Gladys Ganda, Chair of the Budget Committee, Parliament of Malawi; Mr. ibrahim Jimissa, Director of the Parliamentary Budget Office Sierra Leone; Mr. Jason Rosario Braganza, Executive Director, AFRODAD; & (Moderator) Ms. Milica Delevic, Director, Competitiveness, Governance and Political Affairs at (EBRD). Learn more & register here: https://lnkd.in/eexv-2Dd

#CivicEducation is the bedrock of a thriving democracy–it empowers citizens to engage, participate, and hold institutions accountable. In an era of rapid change and growing challenges to democratic governance, it is more critical than ever that civic education programs are designed using evidence-based methodologies and best practices to maximize impact and inclusivity, and address evolving challenges and opportunities in democratic governance. National Democratic Institute (NDI)'s Civic Education Program Guidance is designed to help democracy and governance practitioners design and deliver more effective, responsive, and inclusive civic education programs and interventions. The guidance draws on research on adult learning principles and civic educational professional evidence-based practices, lessons learned and recommendations from NDI programs, and the work of other democracy and governance assistance organizations. The main features of the guide include:  🔵An overview of the fundamentals of civic education and NDI’s approach;  🔵Considerations for innovation and adaptation of civic education content and methodologies to respond to emerging democratic governance challenges and opportunities;  🔵Evidence-based practices and recommendations for designing high-quality civic education programs;  🔵A template to guide practitioners through the key principles and steps for designing evidence-based programs; and   🔵Additional resources and examples of evidence-based strategies and practices. The guidance is available in English, French, and Spanish.  Explore the guidance here: https://bit.ly/4eFmHDp

Thanks to National Democratic Institute (NDI) and European Liberal Forum for the invitation to discuss movement-based politics at this year’s ALDE Party Congress in Estoril, Portugal. Always interesting to exchange views and compare notes with colleagues from the region, like Anna Stürghk (NEOS, Austria), Ivan Stefunko (Progressive Slovakia), and Silvia Dinică (USR, Romania)!

#WorkatNDI NEW OPPORTUNITY: Senior Global Operations Manager The Global Security and Operations Team is looking for a Global Operations Manager. This position is responsible for developing, managing, and socializing institutional operations policies and procedures which includes, but is not limited to: institutional business travel, leases, relocation allowances and logistics, institutional property and casualty policy reporting and renewals, and medical/security evacuations (in coordination with the global security team). This position is responsible for supporting compliance with all donor and organizational policies and procedures previously mentioned. Learn more & apply: https://bit.ly/47Tb5un

In collaboration with Open Ownership, National Democratic Institute (NDI) developed new guidance for parliamentarians on Beneficial Ownership Transparency (BOT). The guide includes: 🔵An overview of what BOT is; 🔵BOT’s contribution to fighting crime and corruption, ensuring fair markets and economic stability, and promoting governance, democracy, and accountability; 🔵The role of parliaments in implementing BOT; 🔵Guidance on legislating for BOT; 🔵Guidance for conducting oversight on BOT implementation; and 🔵References to resources that can aid legislators and parliamentary staff in building their expertise on beneficial ownership. Explore the guide here: https://bit.ly/3BAtXC7

Last week at the United Nations General Assembly and at the #FIFA24/Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa, National Democratic Institute (NDI) leaders kicked off the development of the Rapid Online Support and Assistance Mechanism (ROSA), a first-of-its-kind rapid response tool. In early 2025, in coordination with pirth.org and Freedom House, ROSA will be available to support women in politics and public life who experience technology-facilitated gender-based violence (#TFGBV).    U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Geeta Rao Gupta kicked off the announcement of ROSA on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. At the event, Susan Markham, NDI’s acting director of Gender, Women and Democracy, participated on a panel with Alex Robinson, Gender-based violence Technical Advisor at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Fund, Alicia Herbert (OBE), Special Envoy for Gender Equality for the UK Government, Barbara Curran, Director General for Social and Economic Development for the Government of Canada, and Nina Santos, Lead Expert on Information Integrity and Inequalities at Fundación Multitudes. In Dakar, Senegal, NDI’s implementation of ROSA began immediately with a conversation led by Moira Whelan, NDI’s director of Democracy and Technology, alongside representatives of Freedom House, pirth.org and Pollicy, an Africa-based feminist data collective, as well as political women themselves at the foremost convening of digital rights activists hosted by Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA). Read more about the new tool: https://bit.ly/3XX7FU6

#NewBlog: National Democratic Institute (NDI) Corina Rebegea and Open Government Partnership's Joseph Foti discuss how local governments can fight #kleptocracy in this new blog post: https://lnkd.in/gHqqXhSg