Recent Resources for Democracy, Rule of Law and Media Support

This issue highlights a selection of recent publications from TED members and close partners that speak to core themes of democracy, rule of law, media freedom and information integrity.

A new HiiL study on Justice Needs and Satisfaction in Tunisia provides an in-depth picture of people’s everyday justice problems, how they attempt to resolve them and where gaps persist between formal institutions and lived experience. The findings are highly relevant for anyone interested in designing people-centred justice interventions in MENA contexts.

Several OECD resources offer complementary guidance on operationalising people-centred justice. The Toolkit for Access to Justice and People-Centred Justice Systems turns the 2023 OECD Recommendation into a practical menu of tools, self-assessment questions and country examples for policy makers and justice providers, while Supporting Businesses through Better Justice Systems shows how accessible, predictable justice institutions contribute to a healthier business environment, particularly for SMEs and entrepreneurs.

IDLO’s brief People-Centred Land Governance for Peace, Security and Stability explores how land governance reforms, grounded in rule of law principles and community participation, can help prevent conflict, manage climate-related pressures and strengthen social cohesion. It offers examples and entry points that connect closely with TED’s own conversations on land, justice and the Global Gateway.

On media freedom and information integrity, two position papers from GFMD focus on the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Democracy at Risk: Why the EU Must Prioritise Media Freedom in the Next MFF argues that independent journalism should be treated as core democratic infrastructure and sets out concrete proposals for EU funding instruments. The joint letter Invest in Free Media: Europe’s Democratic Foundation, signed by more than 130 organisations, reinforces this message by calling for predictable, long-term and flexible EU support to public interest media at home and abroad.

Two further publications turn to the safety of journalists through a gender lens. From Impunity to Accountability examines how gender, race and other intersecting factors shape attacks on journalists and proposes pathways to strengthen accountability mechanisms, while ARTICLE 19’s Equally Safe: Towards a Feminist Approach to the Safety of Journalists outlines principles and policy recommendations for integrating feminist perspectives into protection frameworks, monitoring and support schemes.

At EU level, several reports and communications provide a broader picture of rule of law and democracy trends. Liberties’ Rule of Law Report 2025 offers a civil society “shadow report” on developments across 21 Member States, identifying persistent backsliding, implementation gaps and the limits of existing EU tools, while also pointing to some positive initiatives. The European Commission’s 2025 Enlargement Package reviews progress on fundamental reforms in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, the Western Balkans and Türkiye, with a strong focus on rule of law, justice and public administration, and sets out priorities for the next phase of accession preparations. 

The Joint Communication European Democracy Shield: Empowering Strong and Resilient Democracies sets out a new EU-level framework for protecting democracy inside the Union. It brings together measures on information integrity, free and fair elections, media freedom, civic space and resilience building, and will be an important reference point for future debates on how internal and external democracy support agendas interact.

Taken together, these publications provide a rich evidence base and a range of practical ideas that TED members may wish to draw on in their own analysis, dialogue and programming.