Democracy is taking center stage in 2024 as over 60 nations gear up for significant electoral events. The world is watching as millions of citizens participate in shaping the political landscape of their countries through major elections, including in the United States.

As democracies across Asia face new and sophisticated threats to their integrity, it is crucial for the next generation of leaders to have opportunities to help strengthen their home countries’ civic institutions and democratic processes. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) has long invested in the future of electoral integrity by nurturing young, like-minded individuals throughout the region, prioritizing the inclusion of youth in conversations around evolving electoral processes as they face new and emerging threats.

From its earliest days in the 1980s NDI recognized that throughout the world young people were driving forces in democracy movements. From the Philippines’ People Power Revolution to Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, from South Africa’s struggle to end apartheid to student protests against Panama's dictator nullifying elections, young people played key roles in autocracy yielding to democracy. NDI also recognized that young people were not politically monolithic nor necessarily politically active and that significant barriers excluded them, even within democratic structures.

For political systems to be representative, all parts of society must be included. When young people are disenfranchised or disengaged from political processes, a significant portion of the population has little or no voice or influence in decisions that directly affect their lives. As a result, young people are increasingly getting frustrated and turning away from formal political participation.

In recognition of the International Day of People with Disabilities, NDI is highlighting the essential work of partners who are at the forefront of fighting for greater levels of equality and organizing to shift social norms and perceptions and reduce barriers to political participation for persons with disabilities.