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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Democracy Digest

Welcome to Democracy, the new electronic newsletter of the National Endowment for Democracy, which we hope will serve as a convenient and more frequent forum for bringing you news and information about the activities of the Endowment and our grantees. Through links to event webcasts, NED publications and the significant resources of the NED website, we hope to engage you in the exciting and important work of the hundreds of democratic groups NED supports in every region of the world.

Egyptian Civil Society Groups Persist, Adapt
With restrictive laws constraining civil society groups and liberal democrats squeezed between resurgent Islamists and an intransigent regime, Egypt typifies many of the problems limiting the growth of democracy in the Arab world. A staff delegation from the National Endowment for Democracy recently returned from Cairo where they ran training sessions for grantees who, while free to operate, frequently experience below-the-radar harassment and subtle intimidation. [read more]

Democracy Promotion in the Middle East: Time for a Plan B?
NED President Carl Gershman addressed the Special Policy Forum of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on December 5, along with Washington Institute Fellow Martin Kramer and Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. [read more]

Congo: Interview with Sabin Banza of The Ligue des Electeurs
The Ligue des Electeurs (League of Voters), a long-time NED grantee based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has focused on civic education and human rights during the country's transition to democracy. Sabin Banza, vice-president of the League, spoke to NED about the League's efforts leading up to the Congo's first presidential elections in over 40 years. [read more]

NED Mourns the loss of Seymour Martin Lipset, 84
The staff and board of NED are deeply saddened by the death on December 31, 2006 of our dear friend and colleague Marty Lipset. Lipset was one of the most influential and prolific social scientists of the twentieth century, and contributed greatly to the understanding of democratic development throughout the world. In 2004 NED inaugurated the Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World and presented Lipset with NED's Democracy Service Medal.

The 2006 Lipset Lecture was delivered at NED on November 1 by Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim on the topic, Toward Islamic Democracies.

The Threat to Civic and Religious Freedom in Russia
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and NED hosted a panel discussion on "The Threat to Civic and Religious Freedom in Russia" on Dec. 14th. The event featured the release of the Commission's Policy Focus on Russia and the participation of several speakers, including distinguished Russian human rights defender Ludmilla Alexeeva. [view this event]

Kyrgyzstan Since the Tulip Revolution
Drawing on her insights as an NGO leader and human rights lawyer, Maria Lisitsyna discussed Kygyzstan's constitutional reform process, the human rights record of the new government, and the role of opposition leaders and civil society organizations in promoting reform. [read more / view this event]

Latin America's Year of Elections
On November 29 Arturo Valenzuela and Hector Schamis discussed the 2006 elections in the hemisphere and their implications for the state of democracy in the region. [read more / view this event]

Havel, Bondevik, Wiesel call on UN to act on North Korean Human Rights
Václav Havel, Kjell Magne Bondevik, and Elie Wiesel presented the findings of a report they commissioned from the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, "Failure to Protect: A Call to the UN Security Council to Act in North Korea" in the ECOSOC chamber of the UN. NED President Carl Gershman presided at the November 16 event, which was sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the UN. The event emphasized the responsibility of the UN, particularly the Security Council, to begin engagement with North Korea on human rights. [view this event].

New York Democracy Forum features Castañeda, Dyson
The 2006 Fall season of the New York Democracy Forum, a joint venture of NED and the Foreign Policy Association, featured lectures by former Foreign Minister of Mexico Jorge Castañeda and IT and Internet analyst Esther Dyson. [read more]

• October 30 – Jorge Castañeda: "Democratization in the Western Hemisphere: Prospects and Challenges"
  
• November 27 – Esther Dyson: A Virtualist Tours the World: The Internet and the Emergence of Democracy"

NED welcomes new Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows
This current class of Fellows include leading democratic activists, journalists, and scholars from Iran, Liberia, Moldova, Oman, Poland, Ukraine, the United States, Vietnam, and Yemen. On December 13, Omani fellow Rafiah Al-Talei discussed Women's Political Participation in Oman: Roadblocks to Progress. [view this event]

Alexander Milinkevich of Belarus is awarded the European Union's 2006 Sakharov Prize for achievement in human rights. [read more]

Natasa Kandic of Serbia is named one of the 60 heroes of Time Magazine Europe. [read more]

B-92 film wins the Human Rights Award at the 2006 Sarajevo Film Festival. [read more]

The North Korean Refugee Crisis: Human Rights and International Response: a new report from the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

Democracy Promotion: Initiatives for Institutional Reform
Remarks by NED President Carl Gershman at the conference "Democracy Promotion: The European Way" sponsored by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, December 7, 2006. [read more]