AMEL Institute Graduates Largest Cohort Ever 

We are thrilled to share the incredible success of the Summer 2025 AMEL Institute, our largest cohort yet! Over 600 passionate changemakers from across Africa and the Middle East were accepted into the intensive multilingual program, exploring topics including nonviolent movements, Holocaust education and genocide prevention, conflict transformation and more. Not all were able to enroll due to various circumstances, but by the end of the program, 386 activists had participated from nearly 50 countries throughout Africa and the Middle East. Beyond numbers, trainees shared inspiring stories of transformation, courage, and community, calling it a “life changing experience.” AMEL Institute's Regional Alumni community is now more than 1,400 changemakers strong, and a full alumni calendar of online sessions will provide further training, networking and empowerment opportunities to them throughout the Fall and Winter. This includes a pilot series exploring the intersection of conflict and democracy challenges with Byron Bland, former Associate Director of the Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation. Meanwhile we’re preparing for the opening of applications for our next cohort in early 2026. Read more about AMEL Institute's impact.

As Global Leaders Seek to Address the Sudan Crisis, AMEL is Already Laying the Groundwork 

This week, President Trump announced the United States will work with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and regional partners to address what he called "the single biggest humanitarian crisis"—Sudan. As international attention finally turns to this devastating conflict, AMEL's Sudan Democracy Action Project is already doing the critical work any lasting peace will require: training the democratizers, researchers, and civil society leaders who will rebuild Sudan once the guns go silent. Just as we have done in numerous conflict areas, we have been doing the critical work behind the scenes to prepare young leaders for the day after.

Over the last few months, AMEL’s Sudan Democracy Action Project (SDA) has empowered hundreds more democratizers and changemakers from all parts of Sudan through a variety of activities. This includes 261 trained through our online democracy course, bringing the annual total to nearly 650, in addition to 40 changemakers who were trained in research methodologies and public policy writing as part of the SDA fellowship program. This Summer, the top 11 fellows were awarded mini-grants to complete research projects on key democracy topics, helping to inform international discourse and decision-making on Sudan. Meanwhile, our online forum series continued to foster important discussions between the international community and local humanitarian actors, such as members of Emergency Response Rooms, through several convenings. The impact will continue to grow with ongoing engagement of thousands of alumni, as well as replication of the Fellowship, online courses and international forum series through September 2026, thanks to support from the National Endowment for Democracy.

AMEL Human Rights Senior Director Nicholas Opiyo Completes Residency at Dartmouth

In the last half of October, we teamed up with the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI) and Dartmouth College to bring the expertise and experience of AMEL Senior Director for Human Rights, Nicholas Opiyo, to New Hampshire students. As part of RDI's Frontline Fellows Dissident-In-Residence program, Nicholas spent two weeks sharing knowledge with students and faculty at Dartmouth, as well as with nearby Thetford Academy and Middlebury College. Learn more about the residency at Dartmouth's John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding here, and stay tuned for more news about bringing AMEL expertise to US campuses and our recent participation in the Athens Democracy Forum.

AMEL at the Berlin Freedom Conference

Finally, on November 10, AMEL President Mohamed Abubakr and Senior Director Human Rights Nicholas Opiyo both gave addresses at the inaugural Freedom Conference in Berlin, Germany.  The Conference—organized by Axel Springer Freedom Foundation, Visit Berlin and the World Liberty Congress—brought together the world's leading dissidents, democracy activists and peacemakers to commemorate 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and to mobilize to protect freedom and civil liberties. More to come in a future dispatch about their remarks - and their impact.