In April 2026, we celebrated the Americas with two Pre-forum webinars, a hybrid forum, a podcast episode, and a month-long social media campaign. The first Pre-forum webinar, “From Dependency to Resilience: Rethinking Democratic Action in the Americas Amid Shifting Funding Landscapes” took place on April 10 and the second Pre-Forum Webinar, “From Polarization to Participation: Democratic Narratives in the Americas in a Changing U.S. Context” took place on April 16.
Prior to the Forum, the Programme Manager of the GDC, Elisenda Balleste Buxo, sat down for an interview ‘Un foro para hacer, no solo para hablar: así se impulsa la democracia en las Américas’ with the co-host of the GDC Americas Forum, Alma Civica, on what this year’s GDC Americas Forum was all about. The hybrid GDC Americas Regional Forum took place on April 23 and 24 in Asuncion, Paraguay, co-hosted by Alma Civica. We also released the Americas Regional Month Thank You Democracy podcast episode featuring Kyra Buchko, Co-Executive Director of PartnersGlobal and member of the GDC Steering Group, to explore what democratic renewal looks like across the Americas at a moment of deep polarization, institutional strain, and shifting global influence.
Pre-Forum Webinars:
Prior to every GDC Regional Forum 2026, the GDC Secretariat hosted 2 webinars designed to introduce the main topics that would be discussed during the forum. During the month of April, the GDC organized the following 2 panels:
GDC Americas Pre-Forum Webinar: From Dependency to Resilience: Rethinking Democratic Action in the Americas Amid Shifting Funding Landscapes
This webinar approaches the funding challenge not only as a constraint, but as a moment of transition. It explores how democratic actors in the Americas are moving from dependency toward greater resilience, and what this means for the future of democratic renewal in the region.
GDC Americas Pre-Forum Webinar: From Polarization to Participation: Democratic Narratives in the Americas in a Changing U.S. Context
This webinar approaches these dynamics through a regional lens. Rather than focusing on the U.S. in isolation, it examines how democratic narratives circulate across the Americas and how they shape participation, legitimacy, and democratic renewal in different contexts.
Africa Regional Forum:
Theme: Democratic Resilience from the Ground Up: Lessons from Crises and New Civic Energies Shaping the Future of the Americas
Date: 23 and 24 April 2026
Location: Asuncion, Paraguay
Co-Host: Alma Civica
*The GDC Regional Forums 2026 are sponsored by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.
Background and Regional Context
Across the Americas, democratic governance is under sustained pressure, marked by shrinking civic space, deepening polarization, and declining trust in public institutions. Legal reforms and administrative measures have increasingly constrained civil society activity, while hostile rhetoric and selective enforcement have normalized the stigmatization of activists, journalists, and community leaders. These pressures are compounded by widespread disinformation, algorithmic amplification of polarizing content, and digital harassment, which distort public debate and disproportionately target women, youth, and marginalized groups, reinforcing existing inequalities and deterring participation in civic life.
At the same time, the region is shaped by large-scale human mobility, multicultural transformation, and persistent socio-economic exclusion, all of which are reshaping democratic identities and expectations. Migration, displacement, and urbanization have created new forms of political engagement, but have also fueled backlash politics and exclusionary narratives. Gendered political violence, particularly against women leaders and activists, remains a significant barrier to inclusive participation, while young people face structural obstacles to influence despite being among the most active civic actors. Yet across the Americas, youth, feminist movements, local communities, and territorial actors continue to reinvent democratic practices through grassroots organizing, creative expression, digital experimentation, and local innovation, asserting democratic agency beyond formal institutions. These emerging civic energies highlight both the fragility and the adaptability of democracy in the region, underscoring the urgency of protecting civic space, countering polarization and disinformation, and strengthening inclusive, ground-up pathways for democratic resilience.
Programme Day 1:
Programme Day 2:
Panelist and Speaker Profiles
Moderators
Lightning Talk Participants
Panelists
Watch the full recording here:
Americas Regional Month #ThankYouDemocracy Podcast Episode:
Democracy Without a Physical Address: Power, Polarization, and Democratic Renewal
In Episode 3 for our #AmericasRegionalMonth, we sat down with Kyra Buchko, Co‑Executive Director of PartnersGlobal, to explore what democratic renewal looks like across the Americas at a moment of deep polarization, institutional strain, and shifting global influence.
Drawing on decades of experience working with civil society leaders, mediators, and democratic actors across Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the United States, Kyra offers a nuanced perspective on how power, participation, and trust are being reshaped today. From her early work on mediation and alternative dispute resolution in post‑Soviet contexts to her current leadership advancing locally driven democratic solutions, she reflects on why democracy must be understood not only as institutions and elections, but as lived practice rooted in self‑determination, dignity, and dialogue.
Throughout the conversation, Kyra unpacks what feels fundamentally different about this democratic moment in the Americas. She speaks candidly about the erosion of shared reality, the transnational spread of polarization and disinformation, and the growing gap between democratic promise and democratic delivery. At the same time, she highlights where hope lies, in youth leadership, local democratic innovation, cross‑border solidarity, and coalitions that are intentional about trust, accountability, and whom they truly serve.