Africa
THE Governing Board of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC), headed by Chair of Nigeria’s Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu holds a two-day session in Abuja from Thursday 6th July 2017 ahead of its Needs Assessment and Solidarity Missions to Sierra Leone and Liberia which are due to hold crucial elections.
The Abuja meeting, the first by the five-member board since its election at the ECONEC 5th biennial General Assembly meeting in Cotonou, Benin Republic last April, will adopt the body’s Action Plan and activities for 2017-2019 and discuss details of the missions to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Liberia holds key presidential election in October 2017 and the ECONEC Solidarity mission is in support of the electoral management body to deliver a credible and peaceful election in that country, where ECOWAS played a leading role in the restoration of peace and democracy after more than a decade of civil war.
Similarly, post-conflict Sierra Leone holds its presidential election in March 2018. The ECONEC Needs Assessment mission is to determine in what areas the Network could assist.
During their stay in Abuja the ECONEC board members, heads of electoral bodies from Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Cabo Verde and Nigeria, are also expected to meet with the leadership of the ECOWAS Commission and Nigerian authorities.
The ECONEC Secretariat is hosted by the Electoral Assistance Division (EAD), within the Department of Political Affairs Peace and Security of the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.
The Network, made up of electoral bodies of the 15 ECOWAS member States, was established in 2008 to foster cooperation and experience sharing among member States. It also supports ECOWAS in the realisation of its mandate of regional integration and the strengthening of electoral processes with integrity for the deepening of democracy and good governance in the region.
The head of ECONEC’s pioneer board, Burkina Faso’s Michel Tapsoba, was succeeded by Sierra Leone’s Christiana Thorpe (2012-2015), and then Mali’s Gen. Siaka Sangare, who handed over to Nigeria’s Prof. Yakubu at the Cotonou General Assembly meeting.
— Jul 5, 2017 @ 11:00 GMT
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