The European Democracy Youth Network (EDYN) is a coalition of young political and civic leaders from Central and Eastern Europe with a shared commitment to democratic principles. Created in 2018 as a joint initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development, National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, EDYN has since grown to include more than 300 members in 23 countries.

The exclusion of young people from politics and decision-making based on age has resulted in a fractured relationship between political activists and politicians across generations. Age discrimination stigmatizes all young people, especially those of diverse identities and backgrounds, with negative stereotypes and facilitates their exclusion from both formal and informal political spaces. Additionally, decision-making power and leadership continue to be associated with older males.

Violence, real and threatened, is one of the most serious barriers to gender-inclusive democratic processes and institutions in southeastern Europe. NDI’s research shows that violence deters  women’s participation in politics and public life, including among young women and girls. Under the Political Party Integrity program, NDI is connecting political party members and politically active women and men across southeastern Europe to end violence against women in politics (VAW-P)

On this International Women’s Day, let us all stand in solidarity with Ukraine and recommit ourselves to building strong inclusive democracies and the values of peace and justice they embody.  

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Ahead of the 2021 local elections in Georgia, NDI supported civil society organizations (CSOs) work to ensure that the needs of citizens did not get drowned out by an electoral environment otherwise consumed by political rivalries and controversy. 

Vladimir Putin’s military assault on the brave and free people of Ukraine is an international crime of historic proportions.  

It has been heartening to see the massive protests in countless cities and towns around the world. They demonstrate that Putin has woken up free peoples everywhere to the stakes of his brazen attack on a democratic neighbor, and democracy itself.