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In the rapidly evolving landscape of global politics, harnessing the power of digital technology has become paramount. With Bangladesh's election due by January 2024, the confluence of technology, women’s leadership, and cybersecurity is taking center stage.   To build the capacity of women political leaders in the digital space for the upcoming election, IRI conducted three […]
The post Equipping Women Leaders to Thrive in the Digital Age of Politics appeared first on International Republican Institute.

By curious coincidence, three prominent leaders have been put on trial in recent days for multiple serious crimes against their respective nations. The very different ways in which the trials were conducted, their impact on democracy, and the public reactions deserve examination.

Israel targeted senior Hamas leaders, including Marwan Issa, the deputy of Mohammad Deif, in an airstrike overnight between March 10 and 11. Hamas continues to operate from the area of Nuseirat and other areas in the "central camps" area of Gaza, where the strike took place. Israel is still assessing the results of the strike, the IDF said on March 11.
The post IDF targets Hamas leaders in Gaza first appeared on FDD's Long War Journal.

Fundamental change is needed as many women near burnout, amid mounting social challenges and work-life imbalance.

In this post we welcome a discussion by guest authors on the recent volume Batman Saves the Congo: How Celebrities Disrupt the Politics of Development, by Alexandra Budabin and Lisa Ann Richey (University of Minnesota Press, 2021). The authors appreciate the critical feedback from Johanna Jarvela on this discussion. This book analyses what celebrity strategic … Continue reading Batman, White Saviourism and International Politics: A Colloquium

The European Union must find a collective and distinctive voice to seek to rein in Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

"Unity through Diversity" was the focus of the second annual Moldova Youth Forum, hosted by the International Republican Institute (IRI). This year's forum took place in Comrat, the capital of Moldova's Gagauzia region, from June 30 to July 2. The forum featured more than a dozen panels focusing on how to include the new generation […]
The post IRI's Second Moldova Youth Forum: Uniting Future Leaders appeared first on International Republican Institute.

Two distinguished Californians—John Chiang and Dave Puglia—joined PPIC's board of directors yesterday. Together, they bring to our organization a wealth of leadership experience, a strong record of public service, and a rich knowledge of the forces shaping our state.

California has just 72 percent of the assets needed to make payments to retired public workers, many of whom get to collect six-figure annual payments.

David VitaleRaphaël Girard (University of Warwick - School of Law and University of Exeter - Law School) has posted Public Trust and the Populist Leader: A Theoretical Argument ((2022) 11 Global Constitutionalism 548) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This...

Three prominent dual hatted Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders serve in key positions within the Taliban establishment, according to the United Nationals Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. The Taliban is providing Al Qaeda with key support, including "welfare payments" and passports.
The post Al Qaeda leaders are prominently serving in Taliban government first appeared on FDD's Long War Journal.

Colleen Hroncich


LeDonna Griffin spent nearly 30 years in Omaha public schools as a teacher and administrator. So she's seen it all—the good, the bad, and the ugly. She knew the challenges in the system, and she was pretty sure she could help families create better options for their kids.
"One of the powerful things I often saw was that children were in their safest place—I mean emotionally, physically, ability to learn new information—in the home," says LeDonna. "With COVID happening and parents feeling very flustered in marginalized communities and looking for alternatives, Leaders to Legends came into existence out of a need. It was a need first. And then it all naturally took place."
Leaders to Legends started out as a consulting company assisting families with various education issues. The homeschool co‐​op came about from parents who were frustrated and told LeDonna "I can no longer have my child experiencing a lack of success." She started with one family asking for homeschool support and it grew from there. "We began in the public library at no fee and started to meet with multiple families. Within three months' time, we outgrew the library and are now housed in a building that we call the Parent Resource Center," she recalls.
The co‐​op currently meets three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday, year round. The families have a lot of control over the co-op—they vote on which curriculum to follow in each subject as well as different aspects of how the co‐​op is run. The school day often starts with affirmations, where they talk about why they attend Leaders to Legends—to grow to be their best self and make the world a better place. "Our whole model is based around 'how can I make the world a better place?'" LeDonna explains. "We have a whole mission and vision of building a healthy community that goes out and builds other healthy communities. So it just becomes a natural thing and doesn't take work—it's just 'this is who we are.' And that is the goal of Leaders to Legends."







The co‐​op also covers traditional academic subjects. For history, they typically use some type of unit study. "We just completed a George Washington Carver unit study," LeDonna says. "And then we had an open house where parents were invited, and they explained to the parents everything they learned—although parents are learning right along with them and doing some of the curriculum at home. It was a great way for them to practice public speaking." Each day there's a different special class, too: martial arts is on Tuesday, Wednesday is music class, and sewing is on Thursday. For music class, the students got to pick which instruments they're learning—half chose piano and half chose drums.







In this past school year, there were seven families with 17 children participating. LeDonna is hosting homeschool information sessions over the summer and has had quite a bit of interest. She expects to have 15 to 20 families enrolled by August. "The tides are definitely turning where parents are saying my child deserves a quality education and this is how I'm going to get them there," she says.
When asked what advice she would have for anyone who is considering starting a homeschool co‐​op, LeDonna doesn't hesitate. "The nature of homeschool itself is parent driven, right? My advice would be to allow the parents to drive this thing. Parents have a lot to say; it's unfortunate that not often enough are they asked. Coming from the public school sector, not often enough are they asked. If they're given that space, you'd be amazed what they can do and put together and invest in providing a quality education for their child."

On November 11, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine successfully regained control of the right bank of the Kherson region, including the city of Kherson, from Russian occupation. Although this is a significant achievement, the region continues to face ongoing challenges. Despite the successful liberation of the entirety of the right bank of Kherson region, […]
The post Empowering Young Leaders and Activists Close to the Frontlines appeared first on International Republican Institute.

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Raufu Alaka, chief in the fishing village of Orimedu (Lagos State). © Photo: Arne Hoel, World Bank






















Digital technologies offer new avenues for economic growth in Africa by accelerating job creation, supporting access to public services and increasing productivity and innovation. However, major challenges remain. The lack of connectivity in remote and rural regions and the low use of digital technologies in connected areas is further disadvantaging the poor, women, and small businesses. Increased cyber risks and lack of data protection have brought new risks and vulnerabilities to businesses, governments, and people.

Government policies and regulations are key to enable greater use of digital services while mitigating risks. But how to intervene in a timely manner in a changing technological environment? Agile enabling regulations are needed to quickly respond to market developments, facilitating entry of new competitors for the benefit of consumers. In Kenya, collaboration between the competition authority, the central bank and the telecom regulator allowed digital financial service providers to access telecom services to offer mobile money services along mobile network operators. Consumers benefitted with greater availability of options for mobile payments. Later, the collaboration also facilitated interoperability between mobile money providers and banks, allowing consumers to seamlessly transfer funds between providers, top up saving accounts or use digital credit.

Such new approach is required to support the development of agile and collaborative regulations. A shift from planning and controlling to piloting and implementing policies in a multi-stakeholder setting for rapid feedback and iteration is necessary. Feedback loops allow policies to be evaluated against the backdrop of the broader ecosystem to determine if they are still meeting citizens' values and needs and considering the impact on the industry and private participation. To implement this approach, a change of mindset is first needed. This approach is particularly appropriate for dealing with digital transformation, which by its nature is changing and evolving, and would otherwise be hampered by rigid policies and regulations.

Some African countries are already implementing agile regulation principles to address various issues. Ghana and South Africa responded swiftly to COVID pandemic demand for higher bandwidth by quickly adjusting current regulations and made it easy for companies to offer higher bandwidth to citizens. Kenya and Zimbabwe were quick to remove roadblocks and supported the roll-out of applications that allowed citizens to quickly access mobile money transfers and other financial apps. The African Union has consulted perspectives from businesses, civil society and academia to develop policy frameworks on data and on digital identities. This inclusive multi-stakeholder approach resulted in workable frameworks that encourage innovation through data sharing and cross-border data flows for African eCommerce while protecting rights of individuals. These African Union frameworks on data and on digital identities are important cornerstones to build an African Digital Single Market – the vision of the Smart Africa Alliance that is endorsed by all members of the African Union.

The African Union's Agenda 2063 envisions a people-driven development for Africa, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth. That's why digital skills are prioritized in the African Union Digital Transformation Strategy 2020-2030, where the goal is to "build inclusive digital skills and human capacity across the digital sciences […] and technology policy & regulation". African leaders recognize the pivotal role of policies and regulations in shaping societal and business practices and - if done correctly – how policies can support and encourage digital transformation.

German Development Cooperation and the Digital Development Partnership of the World Bank, in partnership with Smart Africa, have started piloting this agile approach under the Agile Regulation for Digital Transformation program (AReg4DT), a program linked to the Smart Africa Digital Academy, the digital skills vehicle for Smart Africa, and atingi - an online learning platform developed by GIZ, the implementing organization of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation. The pilot is equipping policymakers and regulators in Africa with the knowledge and tools to regulate digital markets in Africa to support digital transformation. The results so far have been promising with a combination of online and face-to-face training events to allow for learning and knowledge exchange within and for Africa. This partnership is testing the development of capacity building activities in an agile and iterative way and tailoring the content to the local context, as well as gaining a practical understanding about implementation challenges and the training ecosystem in Africa. Prof. Dr. Yeboah-Boateng from Ghana's National Communications Authority also appreciated the chance for peer-to-peer exchange during the event in Abidjan. In particular, he noted the "value of better harmonization of policies and regulations across Africa that would benefit the continent as a whole."








Regulators across the world are developing and testing new policies and regulatory tools, while also adapting existing ones for new purposes, particularly in face of the COVID pandemic. In many cases, the same technologies that challenge traditional regulation also offer many opportunities to reinvent rule making, oversight, inspections, and enforcement.

The AReg4DT program supports the implementation of the Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) initiative and aims at facilitating regional integration through a common understanding of challenges, opportunities and solutions that can be implemented at the national and regional level, thereby ushering Africa, into the dawn of the single digital market.









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https://www.linkedin.com/in/boutheina-guermazi-8699a35a

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Boutheina Guermazi
Director for Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/birgit-pickel-556b5673/

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Birgit Pickel
Director-General for Africa in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
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Lacina Kone
Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Smart Africa
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The project aimed at raising the awareness of 18-35-year-olds living in Tbilisi and regions, developing their leadership skills, and encouraging their social and political activism at the local level