North Korea receives significant international attention for the nuclear threat it poses to international security, for its uniquely closed nature, and for the severity and scale of human rights violations perpetrated by the regime. North Korean defectors have fled their home country to escape political prison, torture and/or starvation, and their stories have painted a picture of severe, widespread human rights abuses.

Last week, NDI-Eurasia Deputy Director Katherine Fox, alongside IRI-Eurasia Director Stephen Nix and the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Minsk, Sanaka Samarasinha, briefed the Helsinki Commission on political developments in Belarus. The panel was entitled “Engaging Belarus on Human Rights and Democracy.”

Editor's Note: Since the publication of this story, NDI has established the INFO/tegrity Initiative to identify and disseminate practical information on the use of disinformation in democratic politics. Read more about that initiative here.

NDI brought 16 aspiring young innovators from Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and the United States to Washington, DC, and San Francisco, CA, in April to meet with policymakers, technologists, civic innovators and social entrepreneurs. The visit was the culmination of NDI’s Civic Tech Leadership Program -- a unique bilingual program to cultivate young tech-empowered leaders in the U.S. and across the Middle East.

The connection between technology, innovation and citizen input is a paramount one. One cannot effectively happen without the other, as uses of technology must be designed and created with prospective users in mind. Thus, the bond between citizen interaction and technology directly relates to the benefit and improvement of society; for instance, by finding solutions to issues that directly affect citizens, such as violence and crime. In Latin America, technology has allowed notable changes in the economic, social and political realms.

NDI is proud to launch a completely redesigned website. The new website, unveiled to the public on January 12, preserves the best features of the old website, while updating underlying technology and refreshing the design to improve usability and meet modern web standards. The new site features a more visually-engaging and mobile-friendly design, deep social media integration and a re-structured information architecture that will make NDI’s work more accessible than ever before.

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is proud to announce a partnership with Code for All, a global network of civic technology organizations, to support the network in sharing their learning and experiences and bringing the Code for All model to additional parts of the globe.

Do you have an idea for solving a social problem using technology? Would you like to learn how to pitch ideas to leading experts, investors and policymakers? Here’s your chance.