The European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) is a not for profit, private, non partisan and independent Foundation with its Headquarters in the capital of Belgium,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. It was established at the end of 2010 via the initiative of Fabio Bargiacchi with Abbot Apollinaire Muholongu Malu Malu and of some other senior electoral and democracy support practitioners co-opted to serve the European Union and its Member states in their electoral cooperation matters with their respective partner countries. ECES operates globally, however, it has implemented projects and activities mainly in Africa and the Middle East, primarily with funding from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and several EU Member states among which are

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. Together with the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

International IDEA The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world, to develop sustainable, eff ...

and th
Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe
ECES is today among the 4 most important implementing partners of electoral support funded by the European Union and its Member States at global level. ECES i
TRACE
and

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

9001 certified for its financial and quality management systems respectively. ECES is a member of th
European Peacebuilding Liaison Office network
the largest European network of 40 independent organisations from around 20 European countries working in the area of peacebuilding and conflict prevention.

History

ECES was ideated by Fabio Bargiacchi, a Senior Electoral Expert with an extensive specific comparative experience, having served in various capacities within global development institutions, in the field of electoral assistance and election observation, including the

and the

. During his career and until 2010, he coordinated the
EC-UNDP Joint Task Force
for the implementation of the partnership between the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

and

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

on electoral assistance. Drawing from his experiences, together with Abbot Apollinaire Muholongu Malu Malu, they co-opted other electoral and democracy practitioners (including

Monica Frassoni Monica Frassoni (born 10 September 1963) is an Italian politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2009 and as co-chair of the European Green Party from 2009 to 2019. In 2018, she was elected at the local Council of ...

and others) to lead a process that birthed ECES. Malu Malu served as the first President of ECES, from September 2010 until June 2013 when he was re-appointed Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission of the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

before his demise in 2016. From July 2013 till date,

stepped in and is still serving as ECES' President, while Fabio Bargiacchi, serves as Member of the Management Board and Executive Director, since its establishment. ECES commenced the implementation of relevant activities funded by the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

at the beginning of 2012, which included electoral coaching and learning activities delivered through a face-to-face and distance learning training for the 10 Electoral Management Bodies of the

Economic Community of Central African States The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS; french: Communauté Économique des États de l'Afrique Centrale, CEEAC; es, Comunidad Económica de los Estados de África Central, CEEAC; pt, Comunidade Económica dos Estados da Áfr ...

. Right after, a project in support of the elections in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

in 2012 was implemented with the funding of the EU. Since then, ECES has implemented activities in more than 50 countries with funding mainly from the European Union and its Member States. Since September 2020, ECES established a Strategic and Advisory Committee. This committee is led by its President,

Joëlle Milquet Joëlle F.G.M. Milquet ( ; born 17 February 1961) is a Belgian politician from the Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH). Education She studied classics at the in Charleroi, before going on to graduate in law from the Université Catholique de Louva ...

, former Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Vice-president, Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi, former senior EU executive as well as former EU Ambassador in Togo, Tanzania and Ghana. Members of the Committee include: * Piero Scarpellini, Executive Adviser to the former President of Italian Ministers’ Council

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prim ...

in charge of relations with Member states of the African Union, *

Elena Valenciano María Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (born 18 September 1960) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. Political career Member of the European Parliament, 1999–2008 Followi ...

former member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, * Erastus J.O. Mwencha former Vice Chairman of the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

, * Samar Haj Hassan, former member of the Independen
Electoral Commission of Jordan
and * Didier de Jaeger also President of the Board o
Altavia.

Strategy

ECES implements activities via its specific and copyrighted approach called "European Response to the Electoral Cycle Support, EURECS". This tailored approach targets the delivery of electoral and democracy assistance activities, in consistency primarily with European values and EU policies. EURECS is implemented through methodologies and tools also copyrighted by ECES and namely the: * Peace Mediation on Electoral Processes * Electoral Political Economy Analyses, * Electoral Security Threat Assessment, *Peace Mediation on Electoral Processes * Project approach to contribute Preventing Electoral Violence and Conflicts, * Cascade training curricula called ”Leadership and Conflict Management Skills for Electoral Stakeholders, LEAD” and "Leadership and Quality Management Skills for Electoral Administrator, LEAD Q”, * Electoral Translator Application, * Innov-Elections approach to distance coaching and capacity development on electoral matters, *

Standard Operating Procedures A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing misc ...

for the implementation of EURECS, * Communication & Visibility Guidelines.

Key Activities

* Electoral Advisory on every aspects of the electoral cycle *Management of Basket Funds for the implementation of electoral support *Political Dialogue over electoral matters *Electoral Crisis mediation/process *Confidence building/dialogue initiatives *Support to religious networks, inter and intra faith dialogue * Logistics and operational support *

Media monitoring Media monitoring is the activity of monitoring the output of the print, online and broadcast media. It is based on analyzing a diverse range of media platforms in order to identify trends that can be used for a variety of reasons such as political, ...

and institutional communication * Implementation of civic-voter education campaigns * Hybrid approach to capacity development delivery through a flexible menu of distance training curricula, * Procurement of electoral material: * Development of innovative information and communication technologies (ICTs) solutions and applications *Design and securitisation of ballot papers * Transmission of election results * Production of visibility plan

Main Projects

*PRO Electoral Integrity via the African Union *Electoral Support in Chad *Pro Observation Mali *Innov-Elections *Prevent, Mitigate and Manage Election-Related Conflict and Potential Violence in Ethiopia - PEV-Ethiopia *European Response to Electoral Cycle Support in Ethiopia - EURECS

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

*EU Support to Democratic Governance in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

-EU-SDGN *EU Support to Jordanian Democratic Institutions and Development - EU-JDID *Project in Support of Enhanced Sustainability and Electoral Integrity in Afghanistan - PROSES *European Resources for Mediation Support - ERMES *Election Observation and Democracy Support - EODS *Prevent, Mitigate and Manage Election-Related Conflict and Potential Violence in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

- PEV-RSA *Prevention and Management of Conflicts and Potential Violence related to Elections in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

- PEV-Madagascar *Prevention and Management of Conflicts and Potential Violence related to Elections in the SADC countries - PEV SADC *Projet en Appui a la Crédibilité et Transparence en Burkina Faso - PACTE Burkina Faso *Projet en Appui a la Crédibilité et Transparence en Guinee - PACTE Guinee *Supporting Democracy in Libya - SUDEL *Projet en Appui a la Crédibilité et Transparence aux iles Comores - PACTE Comores *Project in support of a Peaceful and Inclusive Electoral Process in Zanzibar - PROPEL Zanzibar *Initiative Citoyenne pour la Consolidation de la Paix, Leadership et Stabilité - INCIPALS Madagascar *Projet d'Appui au Dialogue Démocratique au Gabon *Support to Civil Society, Local Authorities and Human Rights in Ukraine *Project in Support of the Electoral Process in Senegal - PAPE Senegal *Support to the capacity development of the electoral commission in Sudan - SDP Sudan *A Political Safari in Ghana, Madagascar, Conakry and Zanzibar using the movie "An African Elections"

Funding

ECES cooperates with several donor organisations to fund its activities, the most important of which are: the European Union, EU Member States such as

and

. The EU funds have come from different financial instruments, including: * European Development Fund - EDF * European Neighbourhood Instrument - NEAR
European Initiative to support Democracy and Human Rights - EIDHR
*

Development Cooperation Instrument Development Cooperation Instrument (2008–2013) covers three components: 1. Geographic programmers supporting co-operation with 47 developing countries in Latin America, Asia & Central Asia, the Gulf region and South Africa. 2. Thematic progra ...

- DCI In total ECES has received funds from more than 25 donors since 2010, including limited contributions from USAID, AUSaid and Canada.

Collaborations and Awards

ECES collaborates with global, regional organisations and electoral networks, such as the: *

, *

ECOWAS The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

,
RECEF
(the Electoral Knowledge Network of the French Speaking countries worldwide), *

Indian Ocean Commission The Indian Ocean Commission (french: Commission de l'Océan Indien, COI) is an intergovernmental organisation that links African Indian Ocean nations: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion (an overseas region of France), and Seychelles. Ther ...

, * ECF-SADC
Electoral Commission Forum of the Southern African Development Community
, * ECONEC (Network of Electoral Commissions of the Economic Community of West African States), * Electoral Knowledge Network of the Central African States (RESEAC), * SADC Electoral Support Network that comprises the platforms of the Civil Society Organisations dealing with Election Observation in the SADC countries. *A-WEB Association of World Election Bodies *

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

ECES also partners with the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa and the

United Nations Institute for Training and Research The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. UNITAR provides training and capacity development activities to assist mainly developing countries with special attention ...

through the delivery of the online
Master on Electoral Policy and Administration – MEPA".
ECES is part of a consortium led by the

College of Europe The College of Europe (french: Collège d'Europe) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with its main campus in Bruges, Belgium and a second campus in Warsaw, Poland. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 by leading ...

to implement th
ERMES project (European Response on Mediation Support)
which provides a tool for the EU to advance its objectives and role in the field of mediation and dialogue. ECES is a member of th
Federation of European and International Association established in Belgium (FAIB)
and is part of th
EU Transparency Register
and th
Transnational Giving Europe Network.
In 2018, ECES was invited at pre-workshop of th
American Association of Political Science (APSA)
titled “New Challenges in Electoral Management, Building Better Elections”. The workshop was organised in Boston at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) by the Electoral Management Network, th
Electoral Integrity Project
and th
MIT Election Data and Science Lab.
ECES' presentation focused on the topic “Mitigating Electoral Violence”. On the occasion of its Preventing and Mitigating Electoral Violence in the Southern Africa Development Community which was funded by the European Union, ECES launched the handbook “Preventing and mitigating electoral conflict and violence: lessons from the Southern Africa” . In November 2020, at the

Paris Peace Forum The Paris Peace Forum is a French non-profit organisation created in March 2018. The organisation hosts an annual gathering of world leaders and heads of international organisations, as well as leaders from civil society and private sectors and t ...

, ECES was selected as one of the best 10 projects among over 850 projects for its "European Response to Electoral Cycle Support" approach also implemented in Ethiopia with an angle to prevent and mitigate electoral conflicts and violence. With this selection, ECES received a 12-month customised support from the Paris Peace Forum, through monthly workshops and targeted advice from two senior mentors (

Stefano Manservisi Stefano is the Italian form of the masculine given name Στέφανος (Stefanos, Stephen). The name is of Greek origin, Στέφανος, meaning a person who made a significant achievement and has been crowned. In Orthodox Christianity the ac ...

and Jean Marie Guéhenno). In May 2021
Bankole Adeoye
the new Commissioner for Political Affairs and Peace and Security of the

, signed with the Executive Director of ECES a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the collaboration in the areas of Electoral Integrity, Prevention of Electoral Conflicts, Human Rights and Women Political Participation.

Publications

ECES via its members or other Experts working for the foundation have authored, co-authored or contributed to specialised publications in the field of electoral and democracy support such as: *Strategic Planning using Quality Management Principle *Media Monitoring, Hate Speech and Gender based violence
SDG 16: An enabler for accelerated implementation of the 2030 Agenda
*''Challenges and Opportunities of Implementing E-Voting in Nigeria: the cases of Indonesia, Brasil, India and Namibia (2021)'' *''Innov-Elections - Delivering Electoral and Democracy Support under COVID-19: ECES Preparedness and Responses (2020)'' * ''Reflections on Election Conflict and Violence Prevention: Lessons from Southern Africa (2018)'' * ''Preventing and Mitigating Electoral Conflict and Violence - Handbook (2018)'' * ''The potential of EU Funded electoral assistance to support the prevention of election related conflict and violence: Lessons from the Southern African Region (2017)'' * ''A European Response to Electoral Cycle Approach - EURECS (2016)'' * ''Using International Standards. Council of Europe Handbook for Domestic Election Observers (2013)'' * ''Biometrics in Elections: Issues and Perspectives, European Centre for Electoral Support, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and National Autonomous and Permanent Electoral Commission of

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

(2013)'' * ''Missing a Trick? Building Bridges between EU Mediation and EU Electoral Support in Conflict-affected Countries, Antje Herrberg, Fabio Bargiacchi and Raphaël Pouyé, MediatEUr (2012)'' * ''Essential Consideration of Electronic Voting published by

(2011)'' * ''

ISPI The Institute for International Political Studies – ISPI (full official name in Italian language, Italian Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale), founded in 1934, is the oldest Italian think tank specialised in international affair ...

Working Paper on the Electoral Cycle Approach: Effectiveness and Sustainability of Electoral Assistance (2011)'' * ''EU and Peace building, Policy and Legal Aspects: EU Electoral Support (2010)'' * ''EC-UNDP Operational Paper on Procurement Aspects of Introducing ICTs in Electoral Processes: the specific case of biometric voter registration (2010)'' * ''EC-UNDP Operational Guidelines. Implementation of Electoral Assistance Programmes and Projects (2006 and 2008)'' * ''ACE Focus on Effective Electoral Assistance (2007)'' * ''

Electoral Assistance Implementation Guide (2007)'' * ''EC Methodological Guide on Electoral Assistance (2006)''

References

* https://www.t20italy.org/2021/09/21/an-enabler-for-accelerated-implementation-of-the-2030-agenda-amid-covid-19/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zYSUdHavfY *https://event.changenow.world/en/session/2aff9988-a9b1-eb11-94b3-000d3a219024 *https://parispeaceforum.org/le-programme/projets-despoir-lexpansion-de-la-sphere-publique-dans-la-pratique/ *https://www.g20-insights.org/authors/fabio-bargiacchi/ *https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/votes-ballots/id1553612057 * https://theconversation.com/le-forum-de-paris-sur-la-paix-nouvel-outil-du-multilateralisme-ou-instrument-du-soft-power-francais-157654 * https://themorningherald.com/news/france-tackles-global-issues-strengthens-multilateral-cooperation-through-paris-peace-forum-the-davos-of-global-governance-issues/0297606 * https://parismatch.be/actualites/politique/474819/epreuves-trahisons-bonheur-nouveau-joelle-milquet-brise-le-silence-pour-paris-match * https://www.huffingtonpost.it/entry/la-democrazia-ai-tempi-del-covid-19_it_5f607389c5b6e27db1322f2c * https://www.lalibre.be/debats/opinions/quand-le-covid-met-les-democraties-en-danger-5f5f889c9978e2322ffc1def * https://www.farodiroma.it/partenariato-con-lafrica-la-nuova-strategia-dellitalia/ * https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/detail_joelle-milquet-a-la-tete-du-comite-strategique-du-centre-europeen-d-appui-electoral?id=10650700 * https://web.archive.org/web/20161214153912/https://eudevdays.eu/sessions/european-response-electoral-cycle-support * http://www.leadingeffectively.com/leadership-explorer/ccl-collaborates-with-the-european-center-for-electoral-support/ * http://www.aceeeo.org/hu/node/191 * https://web.archive.org/web/20161110235719/http://www.diplocat.cat/en/activities/training/election-observation-training * https://sites.google.com/site/electoralintegrityproject4/links2 * https://web.archive.org/web/20161214153925/http://wagner-hatfield.com/index.php/2015/12/12/strengthening-the-electoral-process-in-the-comoros/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20161214153927/http://www.themediateur.eu/news/item/314-barcelona_training * https://web.archive.org/web/20161220132145/http://www.bridge-project.org/en/news2/africa/1466-electoral-administration-workshop-in-mozambique.html * http://www.ispionline.it/it/ispi-school/course-typologies/advanced-diploma/ad-electoral-assistance * https://www.electoralnetwork.org/index.php/user/members * http://phys.org/news/2014-06-satellites-rural-africa.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20161214153943/http://www.leadbeyond.org/dealing-with-election-related-violence-training-course-in-leadership-conflict-management-and-mediation-skills-for-electoral-stakeholders/ * http://www.collateralcreations.com/Video-soutien-a-la-democratisation?lang=en * https://web.archive.org/web/20161214153949/http://www.fasozine.com/elections-des-partenaires-europeens-offrent-du-materiel-a-la-ceni/ * http://www.electionreforms.ge/eng/list/show/826-The-Training-Center-of-the-Central-Election-Commission-of-Georgia-has-shared-its-experience-in-electoral-trainings-at-the-International-Conference-of-the-Association-of-European-Election-Officials-ACEEEO * http://cesko.ge/eng/static/408/mexute-yovelwliuri-shexvedra-2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:European Centre for Electoral Support Organisations based in Brussels Organizations established in 2010