Reversing the rising tide of online censorship will require a coordinated multi-stakeholder approach to redefine norms for a free and open internet. Toward this end, NDI has been collaborating with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) to develop A Democratic Framework to Interpret Open Internet Principles. We strongly believe that it is those living in countries affected by censorship, surveillance or shutdowns who know best what they need to organize, advocate and build more democratic societies using the internet. In order to finalize the framework, NDI is committed to ensuring that the content of this framework is led by and includes feedback from a diverse group of stakeholders. NDI is requesting your suggestions and input on the framework during a public comment period, which ends November 17, 2017. You can read the draft framework -- along with additional information about its development and vision -- and provide feedback at https://openinternet.global. With a unified vision from civil society around the globe, this framework can help activists and advocates push against forces at the local, national or international level who threaten to squeeze the democratic potential out of the online communications revolution.

On the evening of August 25, hurricane Harvey began to move into the Texas Gulf Coast. The greater Houston area is east of where Harvey made landfall, on what is known as the wet side of the storm, with rain bands carrying water from the Gulf of Mexico. Usually, Gulf hurricanes keep moving inland, gradually losing strength as they move away from the coast. But Harvey did the unexpected, stalling just onshore. Very little wind, no longer a storm surge, just record-breaking amounts of rain. Parts of Houston received as much as 52 inches of rain over four days, leading to massive flooding.

When I was Mayor of Houston, Texas (population 2.38 million), I had the opportunity to touch thousands of people’s lives. Now, as a part of NDI’s Women Mayors’ Network (WoMN), I am able to tap into the reservoir of talent and ability that current and former mayors provide each other. My recent work on relief efforts following hurricane Harvey proved a timely reminder of this fact.

Recent headlines on the role of Russian disinformation in the 2016 U.S. presidential election have ignited important policy discussions on the impact of information warfare on democratic systems. While disinformation is not new and has been used for years to turn the tides of policy in the favor of its perpetrators, developments with respect to social media, big data, and artificial intelligence mean that disinformation now poses a very different type of threat to democracy.

While research indicates that there has been progress regarding women in politics and female candidates – the international average of women in parliaments nearly doubled from 1995 to 2015 – significant barriers to women’s engagement in politics, and within parties more specifically, remain. Violence against women is one of the highest barriers.

Today, in celebrating the International Day of the Girl Child, I wanted to reflect on the recent event focused on the political leadership of adolescent and young girls that took place on September 18 in New York City. Among the persistent honking, blaring sirens and crowds of people common with each convening of the United Nations General Assembly, seven young women -- all under the age of 30 -- took to a microphone to share their stories of political engagement. These women were from Kenya, Honduras, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ireland and the United States, but their stories declared a common theme: in order to ensure that we have an equal, representative pool of young women who are politically engaged, we must reach and encourage them before they reach the age to vote.

Like other small towns in this mountainous region of Slovakia, Spissky Hrhov faced tremendous uncertainty in the aftermath of the democratic revolution of 1989 and Slovak independence in 1993. People rejoiced in the overthrow of communism. But with a moribund economic base, no evident means to attract investment, and ethnic divisions, Spissky Hrhov seemed consigned to economic subsistence and social conflict.

For Spissky Hrhov’s sizable number of Roma residents, the situation was particularly dire.

When I first came to NDI as a Mandela Fellow and was introduced to its goals and activities, I realized that I had come to the right place to help me achieve my dream of changing Sudan.

The Sudan that I grew up in suffers from bad governance, poor social services and inadequate infrastructure. International intervention did not help. Instead, the world was so angry with the Sudan that the Security Council imposed political and economic sanctions that harmed the peaceful majority more than the trouble makers and the few in power. It was in this context that we decided to take the positive step of establishing the Sudan Future Makers Organization.

I grew up in the capital of what is now Slovakia, right on the river that borders Austria. I remember being near this very river, peering over to see what was on the other side. A barbed-wire fence sat between the two countries, a literal and figurative separation between democracy and the “Iron Curtain” that laid itself across Central and Eastern Europe at the time. The presence of the fence is something that I have since held in my mind; it was and continues to be a part of my daily reality - something continuously propelling me toward democracy.

“Our democracy is dead.”

I’ve heard this phrase uttered all across the world after the passage of a restrictive voter law, the closure of an independent news outlet or the results of a questionable election. Friends and acquaintances over the years have lamented: Because of x, my country is no longer a democracy.

Is it not? Was it ever?

In late July, a broad range of technology, business, philanthropy and policy leaders from around the world gathered at the third annual Blockchain Summit. This was no ordinary technology conference. First, nearly half the attendees were women; and second, the discussion centered less on technology and more on practical ways these new blockchain-based technology tools can be used for the public good.

Simply put, “blockchain” is a type of database used to store and keep public records. Changes to any records are automatically and permanently tracked and identical copies are stored in multiple locations. It is often described as a decentralized and distributed bookkeeping or ledger system designed to be a more secure and efficient way to transfer digital information.

Today, blockchain is best known as the technology underlying Bitcoin and other digital currencies. But the July gathering was devoted to exploring other non-financial industry uses where blockchain’s secure and verified digital record keeping also might prove valuable.