The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Since the Institute conducted its first program in Sub-Saharan Africa in the mid-1980s, the majority of African nations with closed political systems have adopted principles of democratic governance. In many of the countries still governed by authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes political space has opened. But Africa remains a continent of stark political and socio-economic contrasts and many longstanding challenges – debt, ethnic divisions, environmental disasters, poverty, and HIV/AIDS. Autocratic regimes, civil strife, corruption, weak institutions, and unresponsive political systems continue to undermine reform efforts in a handful of countries.

Today, NDI is active across Africa, implementing programs as diverse as the continent itself. NDI has worked with domestic election monitoring groups in Angola, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe; embarked on a radio-based civic education program to increase political awareness in Sudan; helped parliaments deal with such issues as HIV/AIDS and extractive industries in east Africa, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Somalia; assisted political parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya and Mali; empowered women and youth to seek a greater role in politics in Burkina-Faso, Botswana, Guinea, Tanzania, and Uganda; and promoted accountable and representative politicas in Côte d’Ivoire.

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