About NED:

The National Endowment for Democracy is a private, bipartisan foundation that works to strengthen democratic institutions worldwide. Since 1983, with support from the American people, NED has made thousands of grants to democratic nongovernmental groups in more than 100 countries, and has become a hub of activity, resources and intellectual exchange for activists, practitioners and scholars of democracy the world over.

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Middle Eastern Democrats and
their Vision of the Future
The dilemmas of reconciling security and human rights, stability and reform, and external and internal drivers for change were the dominant themes of a conference on Middle East democracy on November 18.  House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, and Egyptian democrat Ayman Nour were leading speakers at the conference organized by NED, NDI and IRI. [read more]
Watch Howard Berman’s remarks
Watch Ayman Nour’s video message
Read The deflated Arab hopes for Obama, November 30 Washington Post op-ed by Jackson Diehl

Bridging Time and Borders: 1989-2009
In a fall memorable for the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism in Eastern Europe, several meetings were held in the region to mark these pivotal events, honoring both the people who contributed to these historic changes and the work of organizations that have labored since 1989 to push for democratic change across borders.  During a week-long trip to Poland and Ukraine, NED President Carl Gershman experienced firsthand how far these countries have come over the last two decades, witnessed the important contribution NED has made to building civil society there, and highlighted the crossborder partnerships that continue to foster reform in the region and further east. [read more]

The Future of Uyghur-Han Relations in China:  A Dialogue
On November 20, in conjunction with a special exhibition at the Laogai Museum "The Uyghur Experience: 60 Years under Communist Rule," NED, the Uyghur American Association, and Laogai Research Foundation cosponsored a panel discussion examining the profound effects of the July 2009 violence in Urumchi on ethnic relations in China, and exploring potential ways forward for Uyghur-Han relations. [read more]

Innovations for Tomorrow Seminar Series
NED and the Partners for Democratic Change hosted three seminars examining innovations and best practices in democratic development as part of a week-long seminar series, “Innovations for Tomorrow,” in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Partners for Democratic Change. [read more]

Democracy and Diversity: Dealing with Deep Divides
On November 4, Harvard Professor Emeritus Nathan Glazer delivered the Sixth Annual Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World. Professor Glazer spoke on the topic Democracy and Diversity: Dealing with Deep Divides. [read more / watch the video]

• The new report Throwing the Switch: Challenges in the Conversion to Digital Broadcasting, by John Burgess, explores consequences for democracy of the worldwide conversion from analog television broadcasting to digital. The report looks at whether the creation of multiple broadcast channels will provide more openness and diversity on the airwaves. [read the report]

• A recent event, U.S. Private and Non-U.S. Funding of Media Development addresses several questions: How is U.S. private and non-U.S. funding being spent? Is it for training, capacity-building, infrastructure, legal reform, physical safety, online media, or other projects? What are the trends in terms of donor priorities and approaches? [read more]

• Kim Seong-Min, founder of Free North Korea Radio,
  wins the 2009 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award
  On December 10, 2009, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy will present its 2009 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award to Mr. Kim Seong-Min, founder and director of Free North Korea Radio, to recognize his courageous defiance of the North Korean regime and to support his ongoing work in providing an independent source of news and information to the people of North Korea. The Award includes a US$100,000 grant to support his work at Free North Korea Radio. [read more]
  

• Uzbek grantee Sanjar Umarov is released from prison. [read more]
  
  
• Memorial wins 2009 Sakharov Prize
  The European Parliament will honor longtime NED grantee Memorial and its representatives Oleg Orlov, Sergei Kovalev, and Ludmilla Alekseeva, along with all Russian human rights defenders,  with the 2009 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Kovalev and Alekseeva have both been honored with NED’s Democracy Award. [read more]
  
  
• The Iraqi nonviolence network La’Onf has been awarded the 2009 Rights & Democracy’s John Humphrey Award in appreciation of its work to promote peaceful and non-violent political alternatives for Iraqis. Formed in 2006, La’Onf is a network of 120 civil society groups from every region, including many NED grantees. [read more]
• The arrest and detention of Lovemore Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, and three union colleagues highlights the resilience of hard-line security service forces within President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF. The arrests are the latest in a series of attacks on labor, student, and other civil society groups which could threaten the fragile power-sharing [read more]
  
  
• The Laogai Research Foundation recently published Laogai: The Machinery of Repression in China which compiles never-before-seen photographs and documentation from former Laogai prisoners who have come forward to share their stories. [read more]
  
  
• CODECC, (Coordinadora Departamental de Defensorías Comunitarias del Cusco), is an energetic group of Peruvian women fighting gender violence in their communities. Elsa Mamani, CODECC's leader was recently featured in a story by Inter Press Service. [read more]

Three years ago—on June 12th, 2006—a variety of groups marking Iranian Women’s Day came together in Teheran’s Haft-Tir Square to demand reform. Since that time, the One Million Signatures Campaign’s peaceful signature-gathering has been condemned as a crime against the state, and every original signatory has been sentenced to months if not years of imprisonment. And yet, despite all the harassment and persecution, the movement has thrived. [read more]

The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) is inviting civil society organizations to apply for funding for projects to advance and support democracy. UNDEF funding ranges from US $50,000 to US $500,000, with most projects in the mid-range. [read more]