The European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) is a Brussels-based NGO with a global remit which promotes sustainable democratic development through the provision of advisory services and operational support for the implementation of electoral cycles, capacity development at country, regional and global levels through facilitating peer reviews, exchange of experiences, south-south collaborations and leadership development. ECES’ diverse background brings together experiences in the fields of International Relations, diplomacy and negotiation, peace and security, international economy and trade, human rights, pro-poor development and democratic governance.

ECES has African regional offices in Antananarivo, Madagascar and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

ECES implements its activities and projects with the aim of ensuring sustainability, efficiency and local ownership taking into account national and regional socio-political environments as well as short-, mid- and long term impact of its work. Through the integration of the latest research within the democratic and electoral fields and the promotion of dialogue in its projects, ECES aims at contributing to the strengthening of democracy worldwide.

Services

In the framework of the Electoral Cycle Approach, and with respect to the fundamental principles of sustainability, ownership and mutual accountability, ECES implements three types of activities:

Advisory Services

• -Long-term, ad-hoc specialised and hands-on advisory support in the areas of democratic governance, election observation and electoral assistance. This includes support to: legal frameworks; planning & implementation; professionalisation and training; civic education; voter registration; election day operations; result aggregation and verification; electoral dispute resolution; conflict prevention; post-and intermediate election activities; and parliamentary development.
• -Translation and operationalisation of election observation recommendations into assistance initiatives and activities in order to further strengthen the synergies between the involvement of the international community in election observation and electoral assistance.

Operational Support

• -Identification and formulation of new projects and revision of ongoing ones.
• -Assessing projects’ progress, monitoring external and internal contingencies, opportunities and challenges, developing and implementing corrective measures when required, risk logs and revision of project plans.
• -Conducting end-of project evaluation reviews, identifying opportunities for follow-up actions and so on.

Capacity Development

• -Identification of needs and developing, preparing and conducting general and customised training programmes for EC staff, staff of international, regional and bilateral organisations working in the field of electoral support, members of EMBs, parliamentarians, the media sector, civil society organisations, academics.
• -Conducting research and publishing briefs, papers and reports on election-related issues.
• -Promoting and developing South-South collaboration and the establishment of peer-to-peer networks.

By working in close collaboration with electoral management bodies, national parliaments, political parties, media, justice institutions and civil society organisations of partner countries, ECES aims at bringing on-board local and regional expertise in its projects and activities favouring the transfer of knowledge and supporting local institutions in the implementation of electoral process in line with international standards.

Focus Areas

• -International and Domestic Observation
• -Electoral Systems and Legal/Constitutional Framework and Reform
• -Planning and Implementation of Electoral Operations
• -Professionalise, Training and Civic Education
• -Voter Registration Policies and Operations
• -Election-Day Operations
• -Result Tabulation and Verification
• -Electoral Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
• -Conflict Prevention and Mitigation
• -Post-Electoral Activities