IFES 2025-2029 Strategic Plan

Electoral stakeholders deliver elections that are inclusive and produce trusted results.



Democratic elections – giving effect to the rights to freely and safely vote, stand for office, and have all voices heard – have never been more important. IFES assists election management bodies (EMBs) and other electoral stakeholders to deliver on their mandates in the face of a constellation of threats, by:

• Supporting credible, inclusive, and locally-owned electoral systems and processes, including legal frameworks and dispute resolution mechanisms;
• Institutionalizing election management capacity and effective, independent
• leadership at the national and sub-national levels;
• Enabling effective crisis planning and communications and increasing preparedness to hold elections in the face of increasing attacks on the autonomy of EMBs, rising violence, and climate-driven displacement and disruption; and
• Maximizing the benefits of election technologies, open data, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to build digital resilience, mitigate against threats, and improve election delivery.

Governing institutions are effective, transparent, and responsive to the public.



Trusted institutions that reinforce accountability, enable responsive government, and deliver people-centered justice are critical to protect democracies from their greatest threats. IFES promotes good governance and the rule of law by:

• Cultivating partnerships with anti-corruption agencies, political finance oversight bodies, and other institutions to build effective local systems, hold public officials and other political actors to account, and address illicit financial flows and malign foreign interference;
• Collaborating with civil society and the media to shift norms and incentives that perpetuate public corruption, bring sunlight to political finance, and counter the abuse of state resources;
• Bolstering the independence and capacity of the judiciary as they respond to evolving threats to the electoral process; and
• Fostering local government systems and processes that are inclusive and consultative and deliver for their communities.
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All people can meaningfully participate in political and public life on an equal basis.



All people must have an equal opportunity to exercise their rights and influence policy-making, participate in elections, and engage actively in public life. IFES collaborates with our partners to change norms and behaviors and transform discriminatory systems and processes to create an enabling environment for all people to participate in democracy and governance, including by:

• Supporting women to take an equal leadership role in political and public life by removing obstacles to their full democratic participation and influence;
• Positioning young people as leaders and as influential and knowledgeable advocates for democracy;
• Supporting persons with all types of disabilities to advocate for their rights;
• Furthering the rights of LGBTQI+ people and ethnic and religious minority communities through collaborative advocacy and inclusive partnerships at the local, regional, and global levels; and
• Upholding the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples to take the lead in the decisions that impact their communities.

Technology, data, AI, and the internet positively serve elections and democracies.



Democracies must seize the opportunities presented by emerging technologies, including AI and next-generation privacy tools, and understand their capabilities and risks. IFES supports the democracy community to harness technology, data, and the internet for good and mitigate against their most serious threats to democracies, by:

• Thoughtfully developing data analytics, AI, and other technology to support elections and political processes.
• Providing high-risk election actors with resources and support to enhance their online safety and security in the face of pervasive digital threats;
• Promoting open, secure, and inclusive civic participation, defending digital rights and internet freedom, and fighting mass surveillance, through cutting edge research, cross-sectoral partnerships, and highly localized programming;
• Ensuring access to high quality information and combating harmful online speech that inhibits political discourse and makes political processes unsafe, particularly for election officials, women and marginalized communities; and
• Forging connections between election officials, technology companies, and policy makers to improve coordinated action around foreign malign interference and the risks and benefits of emerging technologies.

An informed public is actively engaged in fostering democratic culture and values.



For democracies to thrive, people must freely choose to engage in and defend democratic forms of government. This choice is enabled by a shared understanding of democratic principles and rights and the opportunity to participate in diverse and informed discourse. These conditions shape the vibrant democratic cultures needed to resist authoritarian tactics, promote strong links between people, their communities, and their governments, and create opportunities for all to prosper. IFES supports local efforts to reclaim democratic space and enable political pluralism by:

• Fostering community-driven efforts to instill trust in democratic norms, processes, and institutions, including by expanding spaces for peaceful dialogue, deliberation, and compromise;
• Catalyzing informed and active engagement through formal and nonformal civic education;
• Supporting local partners to be a voice for their communities in national, regional, and international forums;
• Facilitating sustained changes in behavior and a stronger relationship between people and their representatives on issues of local and national importance; and
• Increasing access to reliable, timely, and authoritative information to spur positive civic engagement, including through robust and responsible media.