#program updates

[imjustahead]

[democracyinternational]

DI Supports Local Capacity in Liberia

By: Democracy International’s Elections and Democracy Activity in Liberia team

Grants to local organizations are a crucial component of Democracy International’s USAID-funded Elections and Democracy Activity (EDA), which aims to provide civic education and support for women's political leadership in the run-up to elections in Liberia in October 2023. Challenges to getting information about the election process and invigorating participation outside the capital city of Monrovia persist, however. Additionally, local organizations often find it difficult to prepare high-quality proposals for outside funding, and the level of participation of women in grant delivery has also been disappointing. To address these issues, DI and its partner IREX created a series of county-level "Applicant Conferences" at each call for grant proposals. This has furthered our commitment to localization, quality proposals, and organizational development for civil society organizations (CSO) and community-based organizations (CBO) across all 15 counties in Liberia.

Thus, in June 2022, DI and IREX held Applicant Conferences for the civic education grant process in Bong, Gbarpolu, Montserrado, and River Gee, hosting 140 people from 123 organizations in day-long gatherings. The goal was to describe in detail the objectives of the grant and the detailed requirements for the application, answer a wide variety of questions, and distribute copies of all materials (also available online). In July, we repeated this same process in Maryland County, Montserrado County, and Nimba County with another 157 participants from 111 CSOs and CBOs for those interested in the program’s Women’s Leadership grants.

The Applicant Conference and subsequent meetings with applicants provided the opportunity for DI to emphasize with potential grantees its requirement that women play key roles in CSOs receiving grants and in the project delivery, not just as recipients or participants in project activities and outcomes. By drawing in more women-led CSOs and more women from CSOs in this grant process, the Applicant Conferences and additional one-on-one meetings with applicants gave DI and IREX further insight into the organizational development needs of many of its potential partners as well as an opportunity to work with them to co-create specific programs. This reinforced our program decision to invest in capacity-building of groups and women CSO leaders through these grants.

Through the Applicant Conference, co-creation process, and commitment to the organizational development of all grantee partners, the CSOs in the program's orbit will be stronger and better equipped to continue to address the needs of a more diverse set of Liberians, especially outside the country's capital. As a result of DI’s intervention through the EDA, the quality of grants focused on civic education and women's leadership in Liberia is stronger, reflects a more diverse set of players, and engages Liberian organizations at the local level.

Even those who joined the process but did not receive grants under the program improved their skills for seeking future funding and are likely to fare better in subsequent applications to any program funder, not just USAID. This outcome can only help these CSOs serve the people of Liberia better. With elections coming later this year, the EDA has made seven grants to advance civic voter education and women's political leadership—launched through this applicant conference process—that are all now underway with hundreds of Liberians engaged across the country.

Photo credit: Supporting Citizen Initiative for Development in Africa (SCIDA), an EDA grantee

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories - Halloween Town Sora & Riku

[genshin-impact-updates]

Happy Birthday, Navia!

As the renowned President of the Spina di Rosula, isn't it normal that I receive so many gifts for my birthday? This bottle of perfume looks great. Let me give it a try— Mm, it's like a sea breeze carrying the scent of roses. It suits my style perfectly, doesn't it? I can tell that it's a gift from a friend who knows me well! Let's see who's the sender— Haha, just kidding, I already knew it was you. You have excellent taste!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I was *not* longing, I swear.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[omeletcat]

I have had this joke stuck in my head for weeks now and i finally decided to crudely draw it i'm sorry y'all this is the peak of my comedy skills.

[minyicho]

time to put the fruit scented markers away

[7goodangel]

Me, several years ago: "I'll never try digital 3D art... just have no interest to learn it. Already have learned other art forms that I barely use anyway... so why add to that ?..."

Me, currently: [Is attempting to model a donut in Blender] "... uh... I can explain..."

[izicodes]

Hi, Hello! It’s me, Izzy and I am back from a very long break!

For those who don’t know who I am and just saw my post, I’m Isabelle but Izzy for short (and even shorter, Izi)! I run a Codeblr blog which I post about anything coding! I try to strictly only talk about coding, programming and computer science, but frankly, I ramble on about something else eventually! Hope you’re doing well!

Now, I know I said I wouldn't come back, but that was because I suddenly became stuck on what to post about and wanted to give myself a break and figure out how to do things on my blog and my online presence in general!

So, in summary, I am back from my break very inspired and eager to help more people get into programming / get better at programming! I will go on to talk about exactly what I have been doing during my break later on in this post, but wanted to say thank you to everyone who messaged me throughout the months and saw how I was! Very thought and extra blessings from God to you, please!

Working at my new-but-not-so-new job!

Yes! So, obviously, as a 21st Century girlie, I am working! Still at the music company that I started back in January! Now that I am 8 months into the job, I feel now I am fully immersed in the job and the projects and not feeling like an outsider! I went on multiple out-the-office events with the whole company and it was nice! Some I couldn’t attend because of religious reasons, but I still had fun! I got to meet a lot more girlies at my office that I don’t usually talk to (because I’m still the only girl in the frontend engineering team but there is a backend girlie but we don’t work close together so… distance)! Cheatingly, I am always ticking the box of “code every day”! However, work has made me do more UI/UX designing + frontend programming websites which I love! Always wanted to be both and not just one or the other! We are allowed to have 2 job titles, remember? (But make sure the salary is in accordance, of course, ~)

Learning new technologies! (for fun, obviously)

By “for fun” I mean personal reasons, the technologies I learnt on a whim were not for work but because I needed to learn them for personal projects I wanted to learn! I stress again; it’s more fun to learn something because you want to and not because you have to! So, I have been learning how to create desktop applications using ElectronJS and ReactJS (React has become my best friend!). Me now compared to me when I started my break is 10x smarter I feel like! My brain has definitely expanded somewhere…!

Latest project?!

Inspired by study productivity apps and wanting to track my Korean language progress, I am making a desktop application called ‘eStudySpace’! It would be my own personal app, but I want to see if I can actually pull something like this off! Right now I have not coded anything because I want to work on the design aspect first (which is smarter and a time saver in the future), so I have been on Figma for the last 2 weeks coming up with designs!

(It looks bad, I know this is like idea no.3287368 ugh...)

Miscs

I have been learning Korean for 4 months now. 

I have plans to move to a South-Eastern country, The Philippines? Singapore? Unsure!

I do have plans to switch to a new career but that’s more like 5 years into the future! But right now, I’m happy where I am at!

[that-butch-archivist]

At last, I achieve victory .... the almighty Book Wall. Unfortunately I'm still gonna need another bookshelf. You know how it is.

[democracyinternational]

Poll Workers, the “Unsung Heroes” of Liberia’s Elections, Celebrated by the National Elections Commission and USAID

By: Democracy International’s Elections and Democracy Activity Team

Through the Elections and Democracy Activity (EDA) poll worker essay contest in 2022, poll workers are finally getting the recognition they deserve on Liberia’s national stage. The contest offered an opportunity for local poll workers to share their stories and inspire others to get involved in the electoral process.

Historically, the National Elections Commission (NEC) has found recruiting local poll workers challenging, requiring a need to bring in workers from Liberia's capital, Monrovia, to more remote areas of the country. This influx of poll workers from outside local communities contributes to a misperception by some that the NEC “controls” the election from elsewhere. When the NEC hires poll workers from within local communities, however, confidence in the election process rises.

The EDA advertised a call for essays by poll workers nationwide describing their experience during elections to increase interest among citizens in becoming a poll worker in their communities, called "My Duty, My Country, My Future." The EDA extended the call for more stories into May, which resulted in dozens of essay submissions from all regions of the country. With stories of challenge and triumph, all equally lauded the power of contributing to Liberia's democracy through this form of service.

A selection committee of seven EDA, NEC, and USAID staff chose three essayists who most exemplified the role: Marroline Nohn Dangan, an election day queue controller in Sanniquellie District #2, Nimba County; Michael T. Yennego, a queue controller in Electoral District #10 in Monrovia, Montserrado; and Othello B. Seekie, a queue controller in the 2020 Special Senatorial election in Bandaquoi Town District #2, Grand Bassa County.

The USAID Mission Director hosted an award ceremony for the winners to celebrate their contributions. With the full Board of Commissioners in attendance, as well as remarks from the US Ambassador, the NEC Chairwoman, and the EDA Chief of Party, the event demonstrated that "This program represents a great partnership between the National Elections Commission, civil society organizations, and the United States Government," as noted by Ambassador Michael McCarthy.

Following the ceremony, the winners joined a talk show to read their essays and discuss their experiences further. The EDA rebroadcast the show on 18 more community radio stations around the country and published the essays in two nationally syndicated newspapers.

The EDA's domestic election monitoring partner, the Election Coordinating Committee, joined the call inviting Liberians to support the NEC as poll workers or volunteer monitors to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections in 2023 and beyond. By featuring and celebrating poll workers in advance of the NEC's call for more in 2023, this activity will encourage more Liberians to participate and can increase the expression of civic duty and confidence in the process. In early 2023, the NEC's Board of Commissioners called on the contest winners to serve as "ambassadors" as voter registration and poll worker recruitment began. With a history of election-related violence in Liberia, this celebration of the poll workers directly involved in delivering elections in their communities is a significant contribution toward advancing the security of all Liberians.

[randomloserlover]

Oh no!! You've been poisoned by Pillow!!

post update: She has legs now

[genshin-impact-updates]

Genshin Impact EP - Breath of All-Cleansing Rain

A damp scent drifts on the evening breeze, like that of an ephemeral drizzle.

The slightest hint of a ripple betrayed upon the surface, yet calm the water remains, reflecting the unfathomable sky above.

[totallynotcensorship]

tags update: palestine is back to the front page at 2nd(no, idk why it isn't highlighted..) with yemen, jerusalem, and gaza under it.

colombia university is at 5th

tel aviv and palestine news are trending as well

do what you can while they are still up

DON'T STOP TALKING ABOUT INJUSTICE

[leahthedreamer]

I really do appreciate the blood scattered over his costume truly

[omeletcat]

BRIDGET.