The last year was marked by widespread protests that swept countries on every continent. From the streets of Beirut and Khartoum to those of Santiago, Hong Kong and Algiers, people took to the streets to demand a stronger say in how they are governed.
As an organisation dedicated to sustaining and promoting democracy, we continued to focus on helping shape and strengthen the institutions that make democracy sustainable. Far from the headlines, the daily work of governance continues and makes real changes in people’s lives. The importance of democratically accountable, functional and efficient governments is only further highlighted by the covid-19 pandemic when choices made by policy-makers have an impact on the life and death of their citizens. This situation has also emphasized the importance of local authorities, who are in the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus.
Our approach rests on two key components: reporting and capacity-building. Through our networks of country offices and partners, DRI is in a unique position to report on developments in countries across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. We make the real-world ramifications of seemingly abstract concepts concrete. We also recommend how to make improvements on the ground.
Find out more about everything we did in 2019 in our latest annual report.
