I did an internship at Democracy International for two months spanning from February 2022 until the end of March 2022. We had limited access to the office due to the situation with COVID-19. Nevertheless, I had a chance to work with DI's team quite closely as we always had daily team meetings on Zoom. My colleagues were always approachable, friendly, and helpful, which made me comfortable when I was working. I always felt I was employed full-time because they gave me full responsibilities within the projects. The team is very capable of working toward the inclusiveness of people in the political decision-making process, and DI's projects are at the cutting edge of direct democracy. I especially liked the idea of empowering citizens to have a say in governing states.

My main tasks were maintaining social media accounts, translating texts, supporting and promoting ongoing projects and events, and producing texts for social media that were mainly related to the projects. I mostly worked with Caroline Vernaillen on the Campaign for a United Nations World Citizens' Initiative (UNWCI). I also had a chance to maintain the International Democracy Community and writing texts regarding the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, which will take place in Switzerland from September 21st to 25th, 2022. Apart from that, I contacted the participants of the Global Forum to add their profiles to our interactive Democracy Network Map.

During my internship at Democracy International, I started to comprehend how an international NGO works toward direct democracy and human rights on the local, regional, and transnational levels. I am deeply grateful for this indelible opportunity and recommend Democracy International to those who are keen on learning about direct democracy and human rights.