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Result Area 1: Conflict Prevention

 

 

Activity 1.1: ECES support to the Association of African Electoral Authorities (AAEA) General Assembly and 7th Annual Continental Forum of EMBs in Maputo.

The current electoral context in Africa is undermined by the complexity of the political, socio-cultural, technological, economic, legal, security and ecological situations.  These contexts constitute a significant challenge for EMBs to organise free, transparent and democratic elections in accordance with both international and continental standards.

In light of the above, ECES supported the African Union Commission (AUC) in organising the  7th Annual Continental Forum of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) on: “Building resilience of election management bodies to safeguard democracy in Africa” on 14-15 November 2022 in Maputo, Mozambique as well as the General Assembly of the Association of African Electoral Authorities (AAEA), on 16 November 2022, hosted by the Electoral National Commission (CNE) of Mozambique. ECES support was in logistics, visibility, accommodation, translation and interpretation materials.

Almost 130 people participated in the 7th Annual EMBs Forum, including chairs person and other senior officials of Electoral Management Bodies from all the AU Member States, the AUC Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, members of the Association of African Electoral Authorities, Regional Economic Communities networks of EMBs, International Organizations in the electoral field, Civil Society Organisations and academia working in the elections field and another key democratic governance actors.

The discussion revolved around 7 main thematic areas, namely:

  1. Diagnosing the challenge of EMBs resilience in Africa;
  2. Safeguarding institutional longevity: confronting the problem of high turnover of EMB leadership in Africa;
  3. Promoting gender in EMB leadership: experiences of women chairpersons of EMBs in Africa.
  4. Overcoming economic challenges through sustainable financing of EMBs.
  5. Developing sustainable risk-mitigation strategies for addressing the ecological impact on election management.
  6. Addressing electoral security and cyber-security to safeguard electoral integrity in Africa.
  7. Let’s talk elections 2023: challenges ahead and exploring strategies to foster resilience in election management.

 

During the first session, the Founder and Executive Director of ECES, Fabio Bargiacchi, presented on EMBs: Examining Internal Institutional Challenges to Strengthening Resilience in Election Management in Africa. It was also the opportunity to launch ECES’ publication produced in the framework of this project titled: Strategic Planning for the Electoral Management Bodies: using Quality Management Principles. ECES presented strategic planning for EMB’s, to provide guidance on how to draft a sound strategic plan, departing from the constitutional and legal basis of Electoral EMBs with innovative solutions and methods on how to build effective strategies to deliver elections, considering their biggest challenges.

 

In presenting its strategic planning tools and methods, ECES contributed to share its experience to build EMBs institutional resilience in contexts of conflicts with 40+ participating EMBs across the continent.

 

Overall, beyond the promotion of a common culture of prevention of electoral violence, the success of the forum contributed to build a community of EMB leaders who share common values, jointly work towards the consolidation of integrity in elections and support each other especially when facing challenges related to their offices, hence helping achieve the expected outcome of the project.

The Continental forum was followed by the General Assembly of the Association of African Electoral Authorities (AAEA). The AAEA have received the support of the Italian MOFA first with the Innov-Election phase III project and after in the context of this project. The AAEA used this meeting to renew the general assembly committee of the AAEA. The new President of the General Assembly elected was the CNE of Mozambique, Libya the Vice-Presidency and the regional representative won by Benin (West Africa), Tunisia (North Africa), Malawi (southern Africa), DR Congo (central Africa) and Kenya (East Africa).

 

 

Activity 1.2: Convening of Workshop on ACDEG strategy in Abidjan in August 2022

 

The ACDEG School Curriculum Project aims to entrench the culture of democracy, good governance as well as respect of rule of law and human rights within the future generation in line with the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and governance and as part of the implementation of the African Union Agenda 2063. Associated goals include the vulgarization of ACDEG and advocacy for its ratification and implementation.

 

In the spirit of building a democratic continent and awareness of the younger generation   of   the   instruments   available   to   strengthen   democracy  and accountability mechanisms, A workshop was convened from the 12th to the 14th of August in Abidjan on the “Validation of the AU strategy for the inclusion of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance in the school curricula” to look at the Development of a long-term strategy / Road map in the promotion of the African Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance through education institutions.  

The project is structured to unfold in six main phases, notably:

  1. Feasibility studies on the Strategy;
  2. Development of the ACDEG Strategy and Curriculum;
  3. Design of implementation roadmap;
  4. Pilot phase;
  5. Monitoring and Evaluation;
  6. Readaptation and Expansion to all Member states.

 

The workshop was conducted in a participatory approach where the training materials was presented by experts, followed by a plenary discussion on questions comments and amendments. The workshop gathered all relevant stakeholders from the AUC-DPAPS, the team of experts working on the project, national platforms working on curricula development, RECs and RMs representatives in order to ensure that all the relevant information of the ACDEG strategy are included in the final Roadmap as well as adopted by member states and RECs and RMs Representatives. Each document was adopted by participants, RECs and RMs before their submission to the STC on Education, Science and Technology and the February 2023 Summit as per the decision from the 4th coordination summit.

 

This meeting had the objective to validate the strategy and tools and action plan on how to integrate the Values of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance in the school curricula as well as in teacher training, in order to ensure that the values of Peace and Democracy are sowed in the minds of the next African Generations.

 

ECES provided financial, administrative and technical support to the organisation of the meeting. In particular, ECES emphasised the importance of incorporating election-related material and election cycle analysis into the Teachers’ Training Manual, which was approved by the audience.

 

As such, this activity met its expected result as it led to the adoption of the ACDEG values’ promotion roadmap and validated the training material that was developed by the experts.

It included an emphasis on elections as part of the civic education and conflict prevention.  The documents could move to the next stage with the development of the teacher’s manuals and pedagogical tools.

 

 

Activity 1.3 support the creation of the African Union Guidelines on Constitutional Amendments workshop in Niamey, Niger in August 2022

 

The African Union Commission requested ECES to support the work of the AU on Constitutional Guidelines Amendment. The first workshop supported on the theme of “the African Union Guidelines on Constitutional Amendments”, was held in Niamey - Niger, from August 24 to 26, 2022.

 

This seminar promoted by the AU and more specifically by the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security is the third to be held with high-level experts on the potential principles that the AU wants to establish for constitutional changes, regularly source of tension and conflict, including around elections or referendums.

 

The seminar addressed issues such as the existing gaps in the AU's normative framework, the AU's preliminary draft on constitutional changes in Africa and the existing perspectives.

 

ECES accompanied the AU in this high-level work, to reinforce the work of the AU in combating military and institutional coups d'état that disturb and disrupt regular electoral cycles that are considered the standard in a democratic framework.

 

ECES supported the organization of the workshop financially and also brought administrative and technical support. We also used the opportunity to emphasize the need to strengthen and promote democratic values on the continent.

 

This activity was a success since following this workshop, the guidelines were finalized and sent to the validation stage.

 

 

Activity 1.4 Technical and logistical support to the Validation meeting for the AU Guidelines on Constitutional Amendments in Niamey, Niger, in October 2022

 

Following the workshop held in Niamey in August during which the experts exchanged about the guiding principles for constitutional amendments, ECES supported the (AUC) in organizing the Validation meeting for the AU Guidelines on Constitutional Amendments held in Niamey on October 17-18, 2022 by bringing technical and logistical assistance. 

 

The opening of this meeting was chaired by the delegate minister in charge of African Integration, Mr. Youssouf Mohamed El Mouctar. 

 

After an initial consultative workshop on AU guidelines on constitutional amendments held in Niamey from 24 to 26 August 2022 in order to receive technical and constructive inputs to finalise the draft, this meeting was held in order to finalize and validate the guidelines by the AU organs and by the Regional Economic Communities. The validation meeting is the latest step in a process that was initiated in fulfilment of the mandate of the Peace and Security Council, which in August 2018 requested the AUC to expedite the development of guidelines for constitutional amendments within member states. This effort is also in line with the Accra Declaration of March 2022 which called for the early finalisation of guidelines to be used as a basis for all constitutional amendments to the constitutions of African Union member states.

 

ECES’ experts held a meeting with the Italian Ambassador to Niger to exchange about this topic and other matters of common interest and took this opportunity to thank Italy for its important support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They shared the press releases made by the AUC as well as press reports mentioning the Italian support to the activity.

 

As a result of this activity, the AU guiding principles for constitutional amendments are adopted and sent to the policymakers for their endorsement and validation. Hence contributing to reach the result area objective.

 

 

Activity 1.5 Partecipation and support to the conference organized by the African Union in Kinshasa, RDC in November 2022.

 

ECES supported the AUC in organising three days expert meetings held in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo from the 28 to 30 of December 2022 on:

  • the teacher’s guide as part of the inclusion and mainstreaming of the African charter on democracy, elections, and governance in school curricula of African union member states,
  • the African union pedagogic toolkit for the rule of law stakeholders in Africa,
  • the development of a roadmap for the au guidelines on constitutional amendments in Africa.

 

Thirty-five high-level experts participated in the meetings; the African Union selected them as a pool of experts who were active in the previous meetings organised by the AU, including the Niamey one in October 2022, also supported by ECES.

 

The opening ceremony included speeches by Mrs Michelle Ndiaye, Representative of the African Union in the DRC, Mrs Joelle Milquet, President of the ECES Strategic and Advisory Committee and Prof André Mangu, Vice President of the National Assembly of DR Congo.

 

The first meeting’s objective to adopt the guidelines with the RECs and AU under the support of ECES has been reached as the objective met, was to accompany the critical stage in the finalisation of the third phase (Design of Implementation Roadmap) of the continuum for the development of a long-term strategy in the promotion of the AU shared values instruments through educational institutions and in particular, the principal instrument on democratic values and principles, namely the ACDEG.

 

A Validation meeting of the pedagogic toolkit took place in Abidjan from August 12-14, where RECs and RMs recommended that the toolkit undergo further in-depth review and work. The expected result was a harmonised training framework for capacity building; targeted advocacy for customised and cascaded use of toolkit at the national and regional levels; increased partnerships between stakeholders and Constitutionalism and Rule of Law Unit.

 

The second meeting’s goal was the finalisation of the African Union's pedagogical tool for rule of law actors in Africa, with the provision of a platform for experts to finalize the document.  More specifically, the meeting was convened to ensure all relevant information was captured in the teacher’s guide. It is also to set the stage for the effective implementation of the Pilot Project in selected countries to take place in early 2023.

 

The two first meetings followed the Abidjan meeting of August and concluded the work at the technical level. As such, they also significantly contributed to sustain the efforts towards elections as a conflict prevention phenomenon by rooting the civic education at a systemic level.

 

The last meeting aimed at AU guidelines on constitutional amendments. The meeting was a follow-up to the one in Niamey from October 17-18, 2022, to adopt the guidelines with the RECs and AU under the support of ECES.  During the meeting, as recommended, a roadmap was developed for the popularisation and implementation of the Guidelines in Africa.

 

ECES’ experts held a meeting with the Italian Ambassador to the DRC to exchange about this topic and other matters of common interest and took this opportunity to thank Italy for its important support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They shared the press releases made by the AUC as well as press reports mentioning the Italian support to the activity.

 

In the light of the above, ECES support to the activity reached its goal to strengthen the continental environment towards peace, security and stability.

 

 

Activity 1.6 Organization and delivery of a panel on Mediation in electoral processes in the context ot the EU Commission’s Community of practice  (CoP) in Brussels in October 2022

 

ECES organised a panel within the EU Community of Practice on Peace Mediation (CoP), a High-Level event which took place on the 26-27 October 2022 in Brussels.

 

This activity was not included in the initial workplan but could be added as it was deemed relevant by the African Union Commission and contributed to advocate and raise awareness on the relation between election support and conflict prevention, which is the core topic of this result area.

 

The CoP is an annual event, that convenes EU and international actors, policymakers, mediation practitioners, experts and representatives of civil society from around the globe, allowing discussions on the current state and the future of EU mediation. The EU peace mediation system is currently facing unprecedented challenges, and the European but also global peace and security architecture is once again concerned.

 

Within the two days of the event, the European Centre for Electoral Support organised a Panel on the topic of “Mediation support in electoral processes or crises”, which took place on Thursday 27th October.

 

The objective of the panel was to share awareness and experience on peace mediation in electoral processes, focusing on the potential of mediation and dialogue as a tool that holds great value all-around the electoral process.

 

Organised and animated by Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi in the role of Moderator - a member of EEAS pool of Mediators and Vice President of ECES Strategic & Advisory Committee - the high-level meeting brought together, among others:

 

  • Wafula Chebukati, Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Bouderies Commission (IEBC) of Kenya and Chairperson of the Association of African Electoral Authorities.
  • Jean Adukwei Mensah, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana 
  • Amb. Calixte Aristide Mbari, Head of Division, Democracy, Governance, Human Rights, and Elections at the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union
  • Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, Chairman of the National Cohesion Integration Commission (NCIC) of Kenya
  • H.E. Erastus Mwencha, former Secretary General of COMESA and former Vice Chairman of the AU Commission, member of ECES strategic & advisory committee
  • Rindai Vava, Director of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, representing the Electoral Support Network of South African Development Community (ESN SADC) 
  • Cristina Castagnoli, Head of the Elections Unit of the European Parliament
  • Eldrige Adolfo, Senior Dialogue and Peace Mediation Adviser of the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA).

 

Through the contribution of these highly referenced experts, and their first-person experience in managing elections the panel attempted to address specific questions and lead to considerations of the role and relevance of EU-funded and supported peace mediation on the one hand, and electoral support on the other. Moreover, the panel also highlighted the different natures of election-related conflicts and crises from other social and political conflicts, the scope of action for mediators in this domain, as well as the role of Electoral Commissions and other Peace-building bodies/actors in mediating peace around elections.

In light of the above, ECES achieved successfully the goal of the activity as knowledge was shared from several experts and a discussion paper was produced on the importance of the peace mediation in electoral contexts.

 

 

Result Area 2: Post-Conflict Peace-Building (C)/ (NAMS)

 

 

Activity 2.1 Support the organization and provide technical knowledge to the 6th African Forum on Transitional Justice in Lome, Togo in September 2022

 

After the political context changes in Guinea and Burkina Faso, and the following cancellation of Activity 2.1 ECES was requested by the AUC to support in the technical and logistical organization of the 6th African Forum on Transitional Justice held in Lomé from 7th to 9th September 2022.


Transitional Justice remains a central topic when it comes to post conflict and structural peacebuilding. One of the key goals of transitional justice is to ensure guarantees of non-repetition and preventing future eruption of conflict through addressing the root causes of conflicts. 

 

Transitional justice involves people coming together to address the legacies of horrendous atrocities, or to end recurring cycles of violent conflict, by developing a range of responses. These responses may include reforms of the legal and political systems and institutions that govern a society, as well as mechanisms for uncovering what happened and why and for determining the fate of those who were detained or forcibly disappeared. They may include judicial and nonjudicial processes, such as national or international criminal prosecutions to hold perpetrators accountable. These responses, whether implemented alone or in combination, help a society transition from conflict to sustainable peace, from authoritarianism to democracy, from a legacy of mass human rights abuses to respect for human rights, and from a culture of impunity to one in which citizens are treated with dignity.

 

They are applicable in countries still torn apart by war, in those emerging from conflict or repression, and in developed democracies dealing with unaddressed human rights violations associated with systemic racism and marginalization. These are some of the reasons why the AU asked us to support the 6th Forum on TJ in Lomé and the African Youth for Transitional Training in Malabo.

 

The Forum was chaired by the Togolese Minister for Human Rights Mr Triuma and the President of the National Reconciliation Commission (HCRRUN) and Ombudsperson of Togo Mrs Awa Nana-Daboya.

 

The Forum is an annual multi-stakeholder platform aimed at reviewing the state of Transitional Justice (TJ) in Africa with the goal of strengthening TJ mechanisms and practices. At the heart of this review is the identification of emerging issues that present new opportunities for transitional justice theory, practice and policy interventions. The 2022 edition of the forum was an opportunity to address the interconnected concerns of development and justice as the majority of armed conflicts today occur in countries with low levels of development. Poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment may not in themselves cause armed conflict and human rights abuses, but they can be contributing or enabling factors. Moreover, armed conflict and authoritarianism, as well as disputed and violently contested electoral processes, and the humanitarian disasters and massive human rights abuses that may accompany them, can have an immensely negative and long-lasting impact on development. As a result, transitional justice is often pursued in a context of severely affected and underdeveloped economic and social institutions, widespread scarcity of resources – which strains social cohesion within and across social groups. Enhancing or reconstructing social cohesion is often mentioned as one of the aims of transitional justice in post-conflict settings. Consequently, the AU theme also offers an opportunity to bring to the fore the link between transitional justice and social cohesion and concretize the possible effects.

 

ECES’ experts held a meeting with the Italian Ambassador to Ghana and Togo Ambassador Daniela D’Orlandi to exchange about this topic and other matters of common interest and took this opportunity to thank Italy for its important support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

Given the growing political instability in Africa, this forum was conveyed to build security in accordance the AU’s agenda 2023. In order to generate concrete and practical ideas on how to effectively implement both the AUTJP and Study on Transitional Justice and Human and People’s Rights in Africa (TJ Study) to address existing and ongoing challenges as well as new threats to Africa’s peace and democratic order, ECES supported the entire event in logistics and with experts provision this important activity that conveyed major experts and stakeholders in the transitional justice domain. The activity was concluded as foreseen in the concept note of the African Union and therefore constitute a success for both ECES and the AU.

 

Activity 2.2 Support to the African Youth for Transitional Training in Malabo, Guinea Equatorial, in November 2022

 

The African Union organized the third edition of the African Youth for Transitional Training from 2 to November 2022, in Malabo, Guinea Equatorial, with the overall objective to promote youth participation in the conceptualization and implementation of transitional justice mechanisms in AU Member States. Specific Objectives included:

  1. Promote Youth understanding of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy;
  2. Increase the numbers of transitional justice experts in Africa through capacity building and training of youth on the concept and objectives of transitional justice;
  3. Induct more youths into the already established continental Youth Platform on transitional justice for experience-sharing, mentorship, and research on post-conflict reconstruction processes.
  4. Strengthen youth participation in ongoing transitional justice programmes across various AU member states.

 

ECES due to the several activities implemented in parallel in different projects, and the short notice given by the AU was not able to support the technical side of the event. In this case we only provided our logistical support to the team that the AU deployed in Malabo. The event aimed at providing a platform for the youth to start thinking and developing solutions for TJ.