Philippines

A longtime strategic partner to the United States, the Philippines has experienced an uneven pathway to building democratic institutions and governance. Understanding these dynamics, IRI is working to strengthen and support youth leaders and civil society organizations to counter threats to democracy and backsliding ahead of the 2022 Philippines general election.

Since 2016, IRI has worked with the Jesse Robredo Foundation to support the Young Leaders for Good Governance (YLGG) program, empowering youth leaders in the Philippines through trainings and providing microgrants to fellows to implement advocacy work. Work under the YLGG program has supported youth participation, citizen-centered governance and political inclusion technical areas. Former partners and grant recipients have gone on to form their own youth-focused party ahead of the 2022 Philippines general election.

Since 2020, the program team has worked with a coalition of civil society organizations, activists and political parties to support democratic strengthening efforts through technical assistance workshops, strategic planning sessions, and voter registration and voter education subawards. The current program strengthens the ability of individual participants and organizations. It also supports deeper collaboration between coalition members and increases the participation of youth members in decision making processes.

Much of our current work empowers this coalition to combat threats to democracy and supports wider electoral participation ahead of the 2022 Philippines general election. IRI has built a sustainable program model to continue to support CSO development and youth participation throughout and beyond the elections. In the current democracy-strengthening movement, the voices of youth leaders are often overlooked in deference to existing leaders. IRI’s work supports the inclusion of youth voices in decision making processes both in elected office and in civil society. The program supports electoral integrity and civil society technical capabilities. Partners and participants have used IRI programming curricula to scale pro-democracy projects beyond their initial scope and targeted groups.

While many challenges remain, IRI is committed to empowering individuals and strengthening institutions so that democracy can grow and thrive in the Philippines.