voices GPECS - UNDP · • A new video documentary on political participation, indigenous identity and democracy in Mexico ... elections to local and regional councils as well as

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GPECSGlobal Programme for Electoral Cycle Support

GLOBALSupporting the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission: •a new model to explore for future trainings in electoral procurement for EMBsProcuring and using technology in electoral management: •solutions and risksElections, violence and conflict prevention: tackling the crucial •issues New online toolkit for electoral assistance coming soon•ACE Electoral Knowledge Network in Arabic•

REGIONALResponding to the current challenges in the Arab region•Paper on electoral administration and the Arab world•Electoral advisory service in the Arab region•What roles are Palestinian women playing in the building of the •state? Improving electoral operational planning in the West Africa •RegionImproving quality and credibility through professional election •observation and monitoringNorth Africa and Eastern Europe: viewpoints and shared experi-•ences of transitionRegional CoP on electoral cycle support in Bratislava•Understanding Electoral Violence in Asia receives substantial •media coverageA new video documentary on political participation, indigenous •identity and democracy in Mexico

2nd quarter 2011Democratic Governance Group / Bureau for Development Policy

United Nations Development Programme

UPCOMING EVENTS

GENDERMapping regional activities on women’s political participation•Case studies on women’s participation in political processes in •the Europe and CIS region

COUNTRYSuccess story: EC-UNDP electoral cycle support to Niger •GPECS Advisory support to countries•

Carmina Sanchis RuescasGPECS Programme Manager

Editorial

voices

1We are pleased to share with you the second issue of Voices, which includes entries on a range of interesting topics such as electoral-related violence, electoral procurement, operational planning, and democratic transition experiences.

GPECS has contributed to several initiatives such as the publication of the study ‘Understanding Electoral Violence in Asia’, which was also featured on the UNDP Facebook page, and a successful thematic workshop on elections, violence and conflict prevention, held in Barcelona, which raised interest in the media.

GPECS also supported the training on electoral procurement of the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission; South-South cooperation initiatives such as the training on electoral operational planning in Sierra Leone; and an international workshop on democratic changes, during which Romania’s democratic transition experience was shared with representatives of state institutions and civil society from Egypt and Tunisia.

We welcome your feedback and feel free to contact us at:[email protected] for the news items you would like to feature on Voices.

We hope you enjoy this issue!

Supporting the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission: a new model to explore for future trainings in electoral procurement for EMBs

As part of its post-election activities and lessons learned, the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) had identified a need to strengthen its public administration, including planning, procurement and contracting.

Upon request from the IHEC, UNDP therefore supported the facilitation of a comprehensive training on procurement and elections in Copenhagen, from 17-25 May 2011. The training was the result of a successful cooperation between UNDP’s Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support (GPECS) and the Quality Assurance and Professionalization unit (QAP) of the organization’s Procurement Support Office (PSO).

GPECS and PSO customized and facilitated the training for 10 IHEC staff members covering different roles and departments ranging from audit, finance and legal, to contracts and tenders. Also participating were two staff members of UNDP Iraq and one staff member from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

A key advantage of this initiative was that participants benefited from the UNDP/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Procurement Certification programme, which has been entrusted to UNDP by CIPS in the United Kingdom since June 2010. Through this initiative, UNDP offers procurement certification courses that have been accredited by CIPS, one of the leading bodies in this field, and thereby ensures compliance with high international qualification standards. The certification is accredited externally by CIPS and participants are required to pass two formal tests/exams.

The CIPS training was modular-based and covered a wide spectrum of issues such as the theories and practices of the principles of public procurement, procurement planning and risk assessment, writing specifications, sourcing suppliers, evaluating bids/proposals, contract and supplier relations management, incoterms (international commercial terms) and insurance. All modules were supported by election case studies and exercises, building on the electoral cycle approach.

A much-appreciated and valuable element of the training was the IHEC staff members’ visit to their Danish electoral management body (EMB) counterparts for an introduction to a government-centred model that is quite different from their own independent EMB. In Denmark the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for performing tasks in connection with general elections, referendums, elections to local and regional councils as well as elections of Danish members to the European Parliament. The ministry also manages the political party subsidy scheme of the central government and acts as secretariat to the Election Board and the Eligibility Board. Throughout the visit participants showed particular interest in understanding issues of transparency and management models, as well as national ballots printing and political party schemes, among others...

GloBal

araB StatES

read more... click hereh t t p : / / w w w. b e t a . u n d p. o r g / u n d p / e n / h o m e / o u r w o r k /d e m o c r a t i c g o v e r n a n c e / g l o b a l _ p r o g r a m m e s / g l o b a l _programmeforelectoralcyclesupport/highlights/supporting_the_iraqiindependenthighelectoralcommission.html

Procuring and using technology in electoral management: solutions and risks

The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can positively impact electoral management, especially in making some processes quicker and more efficient. But according to a new study from the European Commission, UNDP and International IDEA, ICT solutions also carry numerous risks. Strategic, operational and procurement planning are therefore central to the successful introduction and use of ICTs in elections.

The past decade has seen a significant increase in the use of ICTs in electoral management, a development that has considerably changed election administration in many countries. The use of ICTs can positively impact election management, especially in making some processes quicker and more efficient. But ICT solutions also carry many risks. They often suffer from unrealistic expectations, and they may not be appropriate in all contexts...

GloBal

iCts

http://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/ourwork/d e m o c r a t i c g o v e r n a n c e / g l o b a l _ p r o g r a m m e s /g l o b a l _ p r o g r a m m e f o r e l e c t o r a l c y c l e s u p p o r t /h i g h l i g h t s / p r o c u r i n g _ a n d _usingtechnologyinelectoralmanagement0.html

read more... click here

GloBal

workShop joint taSk forCE

Elections, violence and conflict prevention: tackling the crucial issues

Recent experiences in countries such as Afghanistan, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and Zimbabwe have shown that the non-acceptance of electoral results can lead to electoral-related violence, even if the root of such violence is caused by other underlying factors.

This reinforces the need for electoral practitioners to look beyond the mere technicalities of electoral administration and seek to understand the links among elections, violence and conflict prevention.

To that end, the EC-UNDP Joint Task Force on Electoral Assistance organized the second thematic Workshop on Elections, Violence and Conflict Prevention, held in June 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. The numerous requests received to participate confirmed the course as an initiative of great interest and one that offers real value added by combining electoral assistance with conflict prevention perspectives.

Altogether, there were 83 participants, including two consultants who prepared the content of the training and facilitated most of the sessions. A team of 23 resource persons collaborated with the consultants in the preparation of the material for the working groups and led the work during the entire training. Of the participants, nearly half (47%) were from EMBs, 28% were from the EC, and 25% from UN/UNDP. Women represented 43% percent of the participant pool. The methodology and relevance to participants’ jobs were rated as good or very good by over 90% of respondents to the post-workshop survey.

“We have come to learn and not only to share what is happening in Kenya, to learn from what is happening in other countries and what international community is doing to help elections commissions all over the world to try to stop and prevent violence in elections.

Ahmed Assan Chairman IIEC

Over five days in Barcelona, the training provided a detailed framework of the interconnections between elections and violence, the ways in which violence can erupt throughout the electoral cycle, and how observers and policymakers can identify preventive measures that can potentially be taken in order to prevent electoral violence.

Also, many participants shared their experiences, and several case studies from individual countries were presented. The case studies covered areas such as legal framework, specific timeframes, and cooperation between security forces and EMBs. They were useful in helping identify recommendations for the future.

The workshop received widespread media coverage. International experts and UN colleagues were interviewed by journalists, and special radio programmes were organized on the topic of electoral-related violence. You can find the articles and interviews on the JTF Facebook page and a video on the elections and conflict will also be available there soon.

http://www.facebook.com/ec.undp.jtf

New online toolkit for electoral assistance coming soon

The UNDP Bureau for Development Policy, through its Global Programme, is developing an ‘Online Toolkit for Electoral Assistance’.

This toolkit is based on the 2007 Electoral Assistance Implementation Guide and designed to guide colleagues at different stages of electoral cycle projects (from formulation to implementation to monitoring and evaluation) by explaining core concepts at each stage, procedures to be followed, and linking to useful tools that are available both in UNDP and outside of UNDP. The toolkit will have a similar look and feel as existing UNDP’s corporate toolkits such as the communications toolkit, resource mobilization toolkit, and change management toolkit. GPECS has supported the development of this toolkit through its headquarters advisors. The toolkit is planned to be launched soon and will be available on Teamworks, UNDP’s platform for knowledge products. Notice will be circulated through the GPECS newsletter, Web sites and other UNDP knowledge networks when it is launched.

ACE Electoral Knowledge Network in Arabic

Since 2010 the ACE Secretariat has intensified work on the Arabic version of the network’s Web site, which is an online knowledge repository that provides comprehensive information and customized advice on electoral processes.

Over time, more and more ACE content has been translated into Arabic and today the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network offers a comprehensive set of tools to Arabic-speaking users, thus reaching new targets in knowledge dissemination. The effect on overall users has meant that Arabic users now constitute 10% of overall ACE users, in contrast to 1% before the current effort at translation and uploading content. GPECS has contributed to this process, which can be expected ultimately to have a positive impact on the electoral processes in this region and serve as a valid resource for practitioners and international community.

GloBal

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http://aceproject.org/index-ar?set_language=ar

http://aceproject.org/index-en?set_language=enThe ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, through its Web site and other functions, features in-depth articles, global statistics and data, an encyclopaedia of elections, information on electoral assistance, observational and professional development, region- and country-specific resources, daily electoral news, an election calendar, quizzes and expert networks. The Web site is freely accessible to all, and the number of visitors is constantly growing; as of April 2011, the ACE Web site had more than 1.5 million visitors per year from 232 countries and territories.

Responding to the current challenges in the Arab region

Planning a strategic course of action for UNDP in the area of electoral assistance in the Arab States region was one of the main objectives of the Electoral Cycle Regional Community of Practice (CoP) meeting for the Arab States held in Cairo in May 2011.

The initiative was particularly timely in light of the transitional processes already underway in Tunisia and Egypt and the transformational trend throughout the region. At the conference, the chief of the Country Operations Division of the Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS) presented the regional strategy, which responds to the current challenges in the region. It focuses on governance and economic issues with high consideration given to youth and women’s engagement.

A key part of the meeting was discussions on the UN policy and state of the art in electoral assistance and how to tailor the electoral cycle approach in light of the transitional elections that many countries in the region are experiencing. Participants also considered the applicability of this approach in tribal communities and polarized ones.

Additional topics explored included i) how electoral assistance is delivered in the region; and ii) the need for a regional space for electoral national partners of UNDP to exchange experiences with each other and with key election stakeholders from outside the Arab region.

An important moment of the meeting was the presentation by the Electoral Assistance Division of the UN’s Department of Political Affairs (UN EAD) of the latest revised guidelines between DPA and UNDP on electoral assistance and the role of each organization. These guidelines aim to strengthen the partnership between DPA and UNDP, and clarify the division of labour between them...

More than 80 participants attended the meeting. They included representatives from 13 UNDP country offices; UN EAD; the Government of Egypt; development partners; national partners from Tunisia, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon; the Election Commission of India; the Mexican Federal Electoral Institute (IFE); several embassies in Cairo (including those of Spain and Sweden); and independent institutions such as Cairo University, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), and the Kawakibi Centre.

Media coverage was also present through: UN Feed, Egyptian journalists from Al-Ahram, Al-Gomhuria, Al-Masry Al-Youm (English), the Middle East News Agency (MENA) and The Daily News Egypt.

“It was a unique opportunity for me and the governance team to learn more about the electoral cycle approach and our work in the area. Please count on us for further exchanges and collaboration, as I am sure we will also be in touch to ask for your kind support and guidance.

The Democratic Governance Team Leader from Yemen

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read more... click herehttp://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/our work/democraticgovernance/global_programmes/global_programmeforelectoralcyclesupport/highlights/responding_to_thecurrentchallengesinthearabregion.html

Paper on electoral administration and the Arab world

New transitional governments in the Arab States region are engaged in the process of developing new EMBs, and substantial requests for assistance have been received to that end. A paper was commissioned to provide comparative and analytical elements on electoral administration in relation to the specific processes underway in the region. The paper was translated into Arabic and French and presented at the Electoral Cycle Regional Community of Practice meeting in May 2011. The paper has been used thus far as a reference in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia to support the ongoing discussions on EMB models.

Relevant links to versions: English I French I Arabic

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Electoral advisory service in the Arab region

Over the last few months policy and programming support was provided by GPECS to country offices in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia.

Support to Tunisia was more technical in nature because the electoral assistance is already in the implementation phase. Services included support to finalize the GPECS expression of interest (EOI), referral services and support with resource mobilization.

The Lebanon County Office was supported for the submission of a second GPECS EOI.

Different types of support were provided to Egypt and Jordan because electoral assistance projects are not yet in place in those countries. GPECS engagement included liaising with UN EAD and reviewing a concept note for potential areas of electoral assistance in Egypt, and providing the Jordanian Country Office and national partners with information on the UN electoral assistance framework and with substantive input on electoral management design.

http://bit.ly/nNpBEf h t t p : / / b i t . l y /qzWFod

http://bit.ly/mZGTKj

What roles are Palestinian women playing in the building of the state?

How can women voice their concerns and opinions on a future Palestinian state and develop an agenda for actions to be taken in the coming months? What is the role of women in political parties? What is the role of women in the upcoming electoral process?

These were some of the topics discussed on 5-6 July 2011 in Ramallah and Gaza City during a UNDP Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP) workshop on the topic of Palestinian statehood and women’s involvement to which GPECS has contributed.

Given the expected UN vote on Palestinian statehood, questions on citizen inclusion have become more sharply focused. What such questioning reveals is a striking absence of women from the current statehood discourse and their invisibility in the public political space that produces it, despite their important contributions over many generations.

With GPECS support, participants at the workshop benefited from the contribution of two renowned experts on state building and female participation. Professor Shireen Hassim, a South African expert on post-conflict state building and female participation, offered a public lecture titled ‘Gender and the Making of a New Democracy: Some Contentious Issues from the South African Experience’, and Spanish expert Clare Castillejo, author of a working paper titled ‘Building a state that works for women: Integrating gender into post-conflict state building’, presented her paper’s findings and discussed their relevance for Palestinians. Both speakers offered overviews of the latest comparative knowledge on gender, statehood and women’s organizing for democratic participation, in order to share lessons learned from other transitional and post-conflict states...

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read more... click herehttp://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/ourwork/democraticgovernance/global_programmes/global_programmeforelectoralcyclesupport/highlights/palestinian_women.html

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Improving electoral operational planning in the West Africa Region

“It was an opportunity to listen to the Nigerian and Sierra Leone experiences on biometric voter registration and learn about the challenges they encountered as well as what worked and what didn’t work for them. These exchanges will go a long way to improve registration operations in the region.”

With these words Peninah Immaculate Kassait, director of voter registration and electoral operations at the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) of Kenya, acknowledged a productive session on ICTs in voter registration at a June 2011 workshop in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital. Kassait also shared with the assembly the voter registration process the IIEC undertook in 2010.

The workshop on electoral operational planning was organized by GPECS with the support of the UNDP Country Office in Sierra Leone and in association with members of the EC-UNDP Joint Task Force on Electoral Assistance and the Procurement Support Office (PSO).

The workshop brought together representatives from UNDP, EMBs and relevant stakeholders from across the continent that are and will be working together in the management of electoral processes. Attendees discussed their experiences and practices of planning, budgeting and procurement for electoral cycles. They considered lessons learned and good practices in these domains, and offered operational recommendations to improve the administration of electoral processes and projects supporting such processes...

“These exchanges allowed people from different backgrounds and different regions of the continent to better understand what was done elsewhere and to highlight, by comparison, what practices should be generalized

President of Guinea’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Lousény Camara

read more... click hereh t t p : / / w w w . b e t a . u n d p . o r g / u n d p / e n / h o m e / o u r w o r k /d e m o c r a t i c g o v e r n a n c e / g l o b a l _ p r o g r a m m e s / g l o b a l _p r o g r a m m e f o r e l e c t o r a l c y c l e s u p p o r t / h i g h l i g h t s / i m p r o v i n g _electoraloperationalplanninginwesternafricanregion.html

The July 2011 workshop took place in Libreville, Gabon and was jointly sponsored by GPECS – through both the Johannesburg and Dakar regional windows – and the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa’s Regional Governance Programme. The workshop’s total cost was approximately US$191,000.

Although the AU has over the last two years conducted similar trainings across the content, including in Southern, Eastern and West Africa, this was the first training that took place in the Central African region and also the first where UNDP rendered this type of support to the AU and the RECs...

Improving quality and credibility through professional election observation and monitoring

UNDP recently supported efforts to improve the quality and credibility of elections in Africa through professional election observation and monitoring.

Working in conjunction with the African Union (AU) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), UNDP sponsored a three-day training in July 2011 of 50 election observers who were drawn mainly from the Central African region (Burundi, Cameron, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon).

Other participants came from RECs such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The training programme forms part of UNDP support to promoting credible and transparent elections in Africa and supporting institutional strengthening, with particular focus on strengthening the regional institutions’ capacity to undertake effective electoral support and election observation. In 2009 UNDP and the AU signed a cooperation agreement titled ‘Consolidating Participatory and Democratic Governance in Africa’ which covers, among other things, support to the AU and the RECs on strengthening democratic processes and institutions.

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“Working with UNDP, the AU will be able to produce a critical mass of African citizens thoroughly equipped to assess elections on the continent thereby enhancing democratic consolidation.

Ambassador Emile Ognimba, AU director for political affairs

“The training workshop was an important step for me personally, and for the African Union as an institution, to equip ourselves with the skills and knowledge we need on how to observe and monitor elections on the continent. The training will go a long way go a long way to increase the professional and skills capacity of AU observers to undertake credible and effective election observation across Africa.

Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, chairperson of the Burundi Electoral Commission

read more... click herehttp://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/ourwork/d e m o c r a t i c g o v e r n a n c e / g l o b a l _ p r o g r a m m e s /g l o b a l _ p r o g r a m m e f o r e l e c t o r a l c y c l e s u p p o r t /h i g h l i g h t s / i m p r o v i n g _qualityandcredibilitythroughprofessionalelectionobserv.html

EuropE & CiS

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North Africa and Eastern Europe: viewpoints and shared experiences of transition

UNDP Romania and the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly organized in Bucharest an international workshop on democratic changes titled ‘North Africa and Eastern Europe: viewpoints and shared experiences of transition – a bridge over 20 years.’

Held from 13-15 July 2011, the workshop highlighted and shared Romania’s democratic transition experience with representatives of state institutions and civil society from Egypt and Tunisia.

The workshop, to which GPECS contributed funding support, focused on the turning point of the first post-authoritarian elections that were designed to entrench a new, democratic regime through a free, credible and transparent ballot. Discussions were organized in nine sessions addressing topics ranging from electoral administration and observation, voter registration, out of country voting, women’s participation in elections, electoral campaigns, voter education and public information campaigns, preventing electoral fraud and administering electoral justice, constitutional review and participatory democracy.

The workshop was an excellent opportunity for Egyptian and Tunisian participants as well as for third parties observers to consider the similarities and differences of the two transition processes.

The workshop gathered over 80 participants, of which 20 were from Egypt and 20 from Tunisia. They included high level representatives of public institutions and EMBs from those two countries as well as Romania, Moldova and Mexico; international electoral experts; and representatives of Romanian, Egyptian, and Tunisian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), media outlets and academia.

read more... click here

Regional CoP on electoral cycle support in Bratislava

Identification of UNDP’s electoral assistance in the Europe and CIS region needs to take into consideration the great intra-regional variation - in terms of pluralism, democratic development and electoral administration.

At the same time, identification of synergies and promotion of effective collaboration and coordination with other partners, such as the European Commission and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), will enhance project implementation in the field and avoid duplications.

Those were two key findings of the Europe and CIS Electoral Cycle Practice Meeting held in Bratislava, Slovakia in May 2011.

EuropE & CiS

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A total of 31 people attended the CoP meeting. They included electoral practitioners from national and international partners as well as representatives from UNDP country offices, the UNDP Bratislava Regional Center (BRC), the UNDP Brussels office and UNDP Headquarters

“I do believe UNDP engagement in support of electoral cycle in Tajikistan would be another opportunity to foster democratic governance in the country. My fellow colleagues and I at UNDP Tajikistan will be more than glad to cooperate with you and other stakeholders in this regard.

Zoirjon Sharipov, programme associate at UNDP in Tajikistan Country Office

“Excellent meeting, very well organized, and truly fruitful in regard of our bilateral collaboration

Anna Sólyom, project manager, Association European Election Officials (ACEEEO)

The conference was one of the significant activities under the GPECS Regional Component for Europe and CIS and was the first step of the Strategic Assessment of UNDP regional programming for electoral assistance. The conference served also to collect initial feedback from stakeholders and to identify areas of capacity gaps of both UNDP country offices and other partners.

The initiative was timely as there are new areas of electoral support where UNDP can play a central role in the region to foster social inclusion such as in local election processes. Electoral support can contribute to expand UNDP’s capacity to mainstream the electoral cycle approach and guarantee that it is embedded in the democratic governance programming in the region.

Three other important findings were i) the need to focus on the mainstreaming of gender into electoral administration and within the instructional and professional capacity of EMBs, ii) the need to improve procurement capacity of electoral managers, and iii) in some cases, the need to ensure greater independence of electoral management within the national political context.

Finally, EMBs concurred that more attention needs to be placed on the participation of youth in the electoral support to the region for the long-term sustainability of democratic processes.

“This two day meeting has been an effective, productive and informative event for the CEC delegation of Georgia. It gave us many new ideas based on the work and experience of EMBs of different countries. I believe that this practice meeting will contribute to better development of EMBs and that it will support improvement and extension of our relations. We are looking forward to our further cooperation in the future.

Zurab Kharatishvili, chairperson of Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CE)

Electoral Cycle

A new video documentary on political participation, indigenous identity and democracy in Mexico (Valid until the second quarter of 2011)

latin amEriCa and CariBBEan

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How are indigenous people represented? What is the status of indigenous women? Is political participation still a challenge?

The questions above are among those examined in a documentary ‘Indigenous Identity and Democracy in Mexico’ that GPECS produced in cooperation with Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute (IFE). GPECS is currently funding the release of 1,000 DVDs of the video, which explores the indigenous reality in Mexico.

The documentary focuses on three key issues. The first is about political representation and the clear statement about indigenous people’s demands for more participation in the areas of national and local discussion. For example, at the national level and because of the demographic weight, there should be at least 50 indigenous deputies out of a total of 500 federal deputies (currently there are only eight).

Second, the theme of the coexistence of indigenous legal systems and the federal constitutional system is tackled. One main emphasis is that the tensions that might arise between them should be resolved peacefully and lawfully.

Third, the video presents the problems outstanding relating to indigenous political participation. It highlights the current situation of indigenous women, who not only suffer double discrimination as women and as indigenous but are also absence from the decision making space. The documentary subsequently touches upon the need to meet the other rights of indigenous peoples, particularly those having to do with their socioeconomic conditions.

All the above topics are presented and discussed by experts, electoral authorities and indigenous leaders. In addition to presenting specific cases and issues, the documentary provides relevant recommendations gathered in meetings funded by both GPECS and UNDP’s Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Regional Centre. It captures and reflects on the Mexican reality but also identifies potential solutions and actions that can be useful for other countries in the region.

The video is the first step of a GPECS-LAC strategy to develop (with IFE and the UNDP Mexico Country Office) a set of video products instrumental in delivering visual and media capacity building; strengthening dialogue; and sharing experiences, best practices and disseminating knowledge in the region.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkIFJY5TRyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbTzs88iUW0)

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Understanding Electoral Violence in Asia Receives Substantial Media Coverage

The study ‘Understanding Electoral Violence in Asia’ was a launched and generated considerable interest within the community of practice.

The publication was also featured on the UNDP Facebook page and was the focus of substantial comments on Twitter. Also, Radio Australia interviewed the GPECS Asia-Pacific regional advisor to discuss the study and topic. Click here to listen to a broadcast of that programme.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201106/s3257587.htm

h t t p : / / w w w. b e t a . u n d p. o r g / u n d p / e n / h o m e / o u r w o r k /d e m o c r a t i c g o v e r n a n c e / g l o b a l _ p r o g r a m m e s / g l o b a l _programmeforelectoralcyclesupport/highlights/undp_study_on_understandingelectoralviolenceinasia.html

h t t p s : / / w w w .f a c e b o o k . c o m / U N D P /posts/10150251200292830

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Case studies on women’s participation in political processes in the Europe and CIS region

A new initiative is under way that aims to systematize some of the strategies and good practices used by UNDP and other actors in the Europe and CIS region to enhance women’s electoral participation both as voters and as candidates.

These case studies will focus on three thematic issues affecting women’s political participation in electoral processes: i) electoral regulatory frameworks that create the environment in which women’s political participation as voters and candidates occurs; ii) challenges of women’s participation as voters by focusing on issues related to family and proxy voting; and iii) women’s electoral participation and political parties.

The case studies and key lessons learned will be presented at the Regional Forum on Equal Opportunities in Decision-Making organized by the Bratislava Regional Centre (BRC) later in 2011.

GEndEr

Mapping regional activities on women’s political participation

GPECS seeks to enhance the credibility, transparency, effectiveness and inclusiveness of electoral institutions and processes. Central to the work of GPECS is ensuring that electoral assistance addresses gender inequality and promotes the empowerment of women.

With this aim in mind and due to the fact that to date there is little systematic tracking of gender and elections programming in UNDP country offices and limited baseline data to measure results in this area, a mapping is being conducted to obtain information from country offices and to assist them in providing adequate technical assistance including advisory support.

This survey forms the basis of global research and gathering of lessons learned on gender mainstreaming in electoral processes, such as enhancing women’s participation as voters, building capacity of women candidates and gender mainstreaming in EMBs. The information gathered through the survey will be analyzed to provide insight into how country offices are programming their activities on gender and elections, and enable such offices and Regional Service Centres (RSCs) to share information on best practices and lessons learned across regions. These findings will be used to create a database on programming to support gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment in electoral processes and the lessons learned will be collated.

We kindly invite you to complete the survey using the online facility, please click http://svy.mk/nl2meE. If you experience internet problems a word document is available as well (please contact the GPECS gender advisor Julie Ballington if this is the case).

A separate questionnaire has been developed which aims to collect information about EMBs and their practices with regard to gender mainstreaming in their work. The mapping of EMBs will result in baseline data on practices to promote women’s participation in electoral administration. The questionnaire is still to be launched at a global level.

A comprehensive strategy for obtaining the questionnaires was developed with the Europe and CIS regional colleagues. Mapping surveys were circulated both to UNDP country offices and EMBs in the region.

Success story: EC-UNDP electoral cycle support to Niger

Raising awareness of the role of women both as candidates and voters in Niger throughout the electoral process was at the heart of the civic and voter education campaign strategy that was implemented by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2010 with the support of UNDP.

An integrated set of audio and video messages was broadcast on national and private television and radio stations in French and in several local languages. A face-to-face campaign was also undertaken in which civil society organizations along with INEC reached out to young, elderly and marginalised people with a special focus on women as electors. The result of the campaign was that approximately 70% of the estimated 6.74 million voters were reached.

These activities to which GPECS contributed played a key role in mobilizing citizens and helped lead to

a massive turnout of women’s vote at the December 2010 regional and local elections. The result improved the impact of women as voters and the credibility and legitimacy of the overall electoral processes.

The challenge in Niger was to conduct credible elections efficiently and smoothly. Due to the country’s high illiteracy rate (over 70% of the overall population and 90% of women are illiterate), substantive information, education and information campaigns (IEC) were required to explain the different levels of elections that were conducted, the process and the stakes. IEC for women was a key to the process. Although women represent 51% of the population, their participation has been hampered over the years by factors such as i) lack of information and misunderstanding of their rights, and ii) lack of key documents for their participation to electoral processes such as a birth certificate, national identity card or voter card.

The campaign was successful in increasing the share of registered voters who were women. By the time the elections took place on 31 December 2010, women constituted about 51% of 3.56 million registered voters.

GPECS support to the electoral process was coordinated with the EC-UNDP Joint Task Force on Electoral Assistance. The result was a synchronized contribution to the resource mobilization and finalization of the electoral budget in 2010 over a period of six months. This enabled the INEC to conduct six crucial electoral events, culminating in the election of a new president and the end of the transitional period following the February 2010 coup d’état.

StoriES

CountrY

Advisory Services by Region

2nd quarter statistics

GpECS adviSorY Support to CountriES

CountrY

Advisory Services by thematic area

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TOTAL: advisory services in the 2nd quarter44

GPECS is made possible through the generous support of the Government of Spain

united nations development programmeBdp/dGG

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Mail us at: [email protected]/gpecs

upCominG EvEntS

• Electoral Assistance in Asia Community of Practice (CoP) meeting September 2011, Manila, the Philippines

GPECS Asia is supporting preparation for the CoP in Manila, which will give UNDP country offices and national partners such as electoral commissions an opportunity to learn

more about the electoral cycle approach and its relevance for UNDP programming in the region. The meeting will also provide an opportunity for country offices

and national partners to share experiences on preventing electoral violence, increasing women’s and indigenous people’s political participation, and

developing a better understanding of electoral reform and political party work in the region. For more information please contact Simon Finley, Asia Pacific GPECS regional advisor.

•Regional BRIDGE implementation workshop in Budapest, Hungary from 3-7 October 2011, organized by ACEEEO in partnership with UNDP. More information is available at: http://bit.ly/qdtuT2

• Conference on the use of ICTs in voter registration processesThe conference is expected to take place at the beginning of 2012 and it will gather participants mainly drawn from EMBs, UNDP and other electoral assistance implementing partners.The event aims to assist EMBs considering technical upgrades as well as UNDP and other implementers and donors contemplating pros and cons when considering whether to support such initiatives.

• Regional training course in Ecuador for indigenous women journalists and media professionals

GPECS Latin America and Caribbean will be organizing the first regional training course for indigenous women journalists and media professionals

on the electoral cycle and support to indigenous women political participation in Ecuador. The course will be held in the second half of the third quarter, with

dates and venues to be confirmed shortly.

For more updates on upcoming events, dates and venues, check the GPECS website on a regular basis!

GpECS - Global programme for Electoral Cycle Support UNDP - Brussels Office: Square de Meeús 35, 6th floor Brussels 1000 Belgium [email protected]