Experts to meet on creating conflict-free electoral processes
ECA Press Release No. 89/2010
Addis Ababa, 18 November 2010 (ECA) - Governance experts from across Africa will assemble in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 29-30 November at the United Nations Conference Centre to discuss the preparation of the national country reports of the African Governance Report III on the theme: Elections and the Management of Diversity in Africa. Independent national research institutions that will undertake the AGR III country reports will be present at the meeting. The AGR III covers 45 African countries.
Organized by two sister UN agencies - United Nations Economic Commission (ECA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - the 2-day meeting builds on a similar one held in Nairobi in July, where the experts agreed that Africa needs to create an electoral process and cycle that effectively manages diversity, prevents conflicts, promotes peace and stability and brings people together.
“Africa has made progress on elections, with elections becoming the 'game in town' as a hallmark of democracy, regretably, conflicts and violence remain enduring part of the process, with the quality and substance of those elections highly contested in some cases", notes Said Adejumobi, the AGR Coordinator, adding: “What we want at the end of this process are clear policy recommondations on how Africa's brand of electoral products can respect its divesity, promote inclusiveness, guarantee the freeness, fairness and transparency of the electoral process, while linking up with the socio-economic development of the continent".
"We want to believe that it is possible to promote inclusion and non-discrimination and conduct violence-free elections in Africa, which is what AGR III will squarely address”, says Adejumobi.
Forty-five countries are expected to participate in the third edition of AGR, which is seen as an indication of the relevance, strategic importance and increasing contribution of the AGR project to improving governance in Africa.
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Addis Ababa Ethiopia
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