EISA 2019-2022, ADS IV Africa Democracy Strengthening Programme

EISA PROGRAMME RESULTS OUTCOME 1: CAPACITY OF CONTINENTAL AND SUB-REGIONAL INSTITUTIONS TO ASSESS ELECTIONS ENHANCED Output 1: Sub-regional bodies develop, and improve on, their election assessment and observation approaches in member states. Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) ECCAS has deployed routine PAMs over the course of ADS IV with EISAs in-country technical support. EISA has worked closely with key ECCAS personnel charged with assessing member states pre-election context, election management bodies readiness to hold elections, and engaging with state and non-state actorson whether conditions exist to conduct democratic elections. The PAM methodology has been standardised over the years thanks to EISAs continued technical advice in the field and methodology refinement. In addition to supporting PAMs, EISA has accompanied ECCAS in its deployment of EOMs to the Republic of Congo, Angola, and Sao Tomé & Principe legislative elections in 2022, Republic of Congo, Chad and Sao Tomé and Principe presidential election in 2021, and to the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2020. EISA has contributed towards ECCAS improved observation methodology which now incorporates the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct for International Election Observers (DOP) as a basis for their assessment. EISA has also played a central role in production of knowledge materials and increased election assessment capacity. Two guides were developed - one observation manual for ECCAS EOMs and one for ECCAS staff in EOM planning and management. The staff manual is expected to enable ECCAS to plan and implement EOMs more effectively and in accordance with international and regional standards and practices, thereby improving the quality and output of their EOMs whilst the observation manual provides guidance to the electoral unit on observing elections according to international principles, thereby improving the quality of reports. EISA has also provided trainings in election observation for ECCAS observers; and contributed towards training on voting operations and election reporting for electoral staff and journalists in Cameroon. The training of election observers conducted by EISA in 2019 is part of EISAs commitment to improve on ECCAS election observation methodology and trainees have since been included in the ECCAS observer database and some deployed to ECCAS EOMs deployed in 2021 and 2022. Through the production and dissemination of these technical tools and training of observers, EISA continues to see improvement in the quality of election assessment through the conduct of PAMs and technical support to the EOMs and thereby improving the quality of elections in the region. Following the drafting of the Principles governing democratic elections in Central Africa, EISA and ECCAS conducted advocacy missions to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo. The visits were aimed at sensitising stakeholders in the elections and democracy field on the contents of the manual and implore them to ratify the documents in the various countries. This document is expected to help countries improve the conduct of elections in the region, in line with international standards. Further advocacy visits scheduled during the period were abandoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing travel restrictions. However, during the last partnership meeting between EISA and ECCAS in May 2022 in Libreville, followed by a strategic retreat that adopted the above-mentioned manuals, decision has been made to pursue the endorsement of the Principles governing democratic elections in Central Africa and other relevant manuals by the conference of Heads of State and Government. It should be noted that this strategy provides a great value of money by reducing the travel costs for EISAs and ECCAS staffs. To be able to effectively support member states, an organisation needs to constantly interact with the various stakeholders. Prior to the partnership with EISA, ECCAS had never convened a meeting with the EMBS or civil society in one forum. In line with EISAs plan to ensure ECCAS in a position strengthening partnerships with relevant professional institutions, EISA supported ECCAS in convening an EMB-CSO forum which brought together representatives from these organisations in the member states The platform provided for open dialogue among EMBs present to discuss achievements and challenges over the period of review and an opportunity for civil society groups to engage directly with electoral officials on ways of improving the conduct of elections in their respective countries. This support, which needs to be continued, aims the creation of a sub-regional EMBs Forum. Such a Forum will serve as a platform for knowledge and experience sharing. With the transformation of the ECCAS General Secretariat in a full Commission with a President, EISA has provided substantial support to the electoral division which intends to offer more support to EMBs and other electoral stakeholders within the sub-region. In this regard, EISA has convened representatives of the division to some of its regional activities for more interaction and peer learning. East African Community (EAC) EISA provided technical support to the EAC in their election observation missions deployed to the 2021 Uganda Presidential elections, 2021 Tanzania General elections, and the 2022 Kenya General elections. EISA provided pre-deployment briefing on the electoral process, training on the use of tablets and the Popola system and supported in documentation and report writing. Through the deployment of these technical teams, EISA continues to see improvement in the effectiveness of the regional bodys elections assessment which would then strengthen the EACs decision-making and policy development in the region, based on evidence and analysis from election assessment. The EAC purchased new handheld devices for use during their EOMs. These were first used in the 2022 Kenya mission and EISA assisted to configure the tablets. The EAC also continues to use the Popola system to collect and analyse data in their election observation, further enhancing the organisations election observation capacity. EISA deployed a PAM to Kenya in 2022 as part of its support to the EAC and findings of this mission were a significant value to the EAC and EISA in their EOMs as they both organisations to better understand the pre-electoral context, and recommendations formed part of the EAC preliminary statement. The EAC did not, however, in the lifetime of the project, prioritise methodology development, partially because during the period, there was disruptions caused by Covid-19 which necessitated a shift in priorities for the organisation. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) EISA continued its collaboration with ECOWAS and held consultative meetings annually at the annual EISA symposiums. These meetings accorded the two organisations an opportunity to have a formal discussion about priority areas for ECOWAS. EISA also participates in ECONEC symposiums annually which serve as platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience on various emerging challenges facing EMBs in the region, with a view of finding a common platform for finding solutions. At the 2021 ECONEC symposium, a consultative meeting was held where EISA was introduced to the newly inaugurated ECONEC steering committee and EISA discussed the existing support it offers to ECONEC and imminent modifications to this support. EISA participated in the ECOWAS long-term election observation (LTO) methodology review workshop, in which the discussion on developing a curriculum to be used during in country briefings for LTOs, as part of standardising its approach to long-term observation for all ECOWAS missions was introduced. EISA was also requested to review and update the ECOWAS LTO handbook, but this review was not conducted due to Covid-19 in 2020. EISA further contributed to increasing the pool of key resource persons with a set of specialised expertise who will be deployed in ECOWAS missions by training ECOWAS LTO core team members. It was expected for the participants to fully understand their roles and responsibilities and competently apply the knowledge gained during deployment. EISA trained ECOWAS LTOs annually, except for 2020, in Dakar in 2019, and in Sierra Leone in 2022. This is part of the methodology to create a pool of trained long-term observers to be deployed in ECOWAS EOMs and therefore contributing to the conduct of professional and credible election assessment by ECOWAS. EISA continues to see value addition in training experts as these individuals have been deployed in ECOWAS EOMs and thus contributing to the quality of EOMs. The ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) adopted the Peer Support and Learning Missions (PSLMs) methodology to assess the conduct of elections by regional peers; learn and draw lessons; identify best practices; share experience; and develop recommendations for the improvement of elections management and electoral legislation in the region. In 2021, EISA supported the development of this methodology and deployed technical teams to support the missions to Nigeria and Benin. ECONEC also modified its electoral assessment methodology and combined the Needs Assessment (NAMs) and Post-Election Follow-up (PEFuMs) into one mission to increase efficiency with the resources available to the EAD. The missions that were deployed to Liberia and The Gambia sought to assess developments in the legal framework for elections in the two countries, as well as measures and actions taken by the Electoral Commission to improve the technical quality and credibility of the electoral process in the country. The missions mandate is to also understand challenges facing electoral commissions and possible areas of support for the upcoming elections. Development of methodology and knowledge products was not a priority area for ECOWAS as implementing new or revised methodologies in the field were uncertain considering the COVID-19 context, limited resources and volatility and insecurity in the region. ECONEC originally identified The Gambia and Sierra Leone as target countries to work with EMBs in improving their capacity to deliver credible elections. This was however later shifted to support its EMBs regional briefing and 2022 annual symposium themed Protecting the centrality of the election integrity. Both events were held in December 2022 in Cote dIvoire. International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Following a period where the ICGLR did not have dedicated staff working for the democracy department, new leadership was inaugurated in 2021 and EISA held an introductory meeting with the democracy department in May 2021 and thereafter with the new ICGLR leadership in Zambia in August 2021. A series of other meetings were held where EISA provided technical advice to the new leadership which fomented improved collaboration between EISA and the ICGLR Secretariat. EISA supported ICGLRs democracy strengthening efforts in the region through deployment of technical support teams to EOMs to the Republic of Congo, Zambia, Kenya and Angola. EISA saw value addition in that working closely with EISA teams afforded ICGLR staff direct exposure and experience of best practices in managing EOMs and election observation methods. Overall, the presence of EISA technical teams in ICGLR missions continues to improve the quality of the EOMS. To improve its election observation methodology, EISA held a bilateral technical expert meeting to support the ICGLR in the development of a more harmonised and systematised cycle-based election observation methodology that is in line with best international practice in election observation; and to strengthen ICGLR in its democracy-support initiatives in the Great Lakes region Member-States through comprehensive cycle-based election assessment. EISA drafted an EOM manual that was then tested in ICGLR EOMs to Angola and Kenya in 2022. Southern African Development Community (SADC) EISA continues to be a key resource for SADC through its contributions to shaping its election assessment capacity and methodology by deploying technical teams to support SADC EOMs through conducting incountry refresher trainings to election observers deployed in Botswana, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa and Madagascar in 2019, and Lesotho and Angola in 2022. The teams are also tasked to provide country specific electoral processes briefings to the heads of missions, based on EISAs pre-assessment of the country. SADC continues to use the EISA Popola system for data collection and analysis and EISA has continued to provide its expertise by adapting and modifying election day checklists which contributes a significant edge to the expertise offered by EISA. EISA presented its inception report to the SADC secretariat in Botswana on the development of a standardised training curriculum for SADC EOM core team thematic experts. The report was well received, and EISA will continue to engage SADC and GIZ to ensure that the curriculum is developed in a manner that strengthens SADCs long-term observation methodology. These meetings also served as consultative meetings to chart EISA-SADC partnership. Using the same curriculum, EISA conducted a one-week training for LTOs in 2021 and 2022 who would add to the pool of trained observers to draw from by SADC during its EOMs. In fact, these observers were deployed in the elections in Lesotho and Angola in 2022. EISA has seen improvements in SADCs observation methodology in that following EISAs suggestion, they are now open to including members of the civil society in their EOMS. Previously, deployment was only open to EMBs and government officials from member countries. EISAs partnership with SADC continues to show its value and SADC invited EISA to induct its newly appointed SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) members on the rationale and election observation methodology in August 2022. This activity was not initially in the budget but was made possible by savings from other activities. Deployment of EISA EOMs and piloting EISA follow-up methodology EISA EOMs continue to serve as a conduit for peer learning by bringing together observers from various civil society, members of RECs that EISA partners with, EMBs and academic institutions. In 2019 EISA deployed a joint IEOM with The Carter Center to the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections in Tunisia and a fully-fledged EOM to the 2020 Presidential elections in Tanzania, The Gambia Presidential election in 2021, and the Kenya General elections in 2022. It also deployed a Technical Assessment Mission to 2021 general elections in Zambia. The deployment of these missions was aimed at contributing to the transparency and credibility of the electoral process, providing a platform for sharing good electoral practices and generate recommendations which can serve to improve future processes. Except for Tanzania in 2021, EISA initially piloted in Zambia, and later deployed in all other EOMs the Electoral Integrity tool which is aimed at contributing/ helping the core team qualitatively and quantitative score an election based on contextual variables in an electoral cycle. The vision is for this tool to be integrated into the current Popola system to enhance the analysis of elections and improve the quality of reports emanating from EOMs. After the pilot use of the EIT in Zambia, EISA introduced it in its methodology in The Gambia and intends to share it with its institutional partners, notably the AU and RECs. In addition, through the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) titled ObSERV (Observation of Subnational Election-Related Violence and Security in Africa), there were data and security specialists embedded within the EISA EOMs in Tanzania, The Gambia and Kenya. This project aims to improve election observation in the area of conflict analysis. The comprehensive, constituency-based security assessment tool that has been developed mapped on top of EISAs existing EOM data collection, could provide a unique and significantly improved form of analysis of elections and conflict. Election observation has proven to be effective tools for assessing the conduct of elections and identifying areas in which improvements can be made to safeguard democratic rights and promote long-term electoral development. The recommendations emanating help to identify practical ways in which the host country can improve its elections. EISA piloted its post-election follow-up to its election observation methodology in which EISA presents its final EOM report and follow up on recommendations made by its EOM to promote the translation of proposed recommendations into proposals for legal reforms and to improve the conduct of the next electoral cycle. EISA deployed post-election-follow-up missions to Tunisia in 2020 and Tanzania and The Gambia in 2022. The mission met with relevant stakeholders, Election management body, Government, civil society, and members of the media and discussed support in addressing electoral recommendations through a variety of initiatives. OUTCOME 2 - CAPACITY OF KEY NATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS TO PLAY A CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE IN ELECTORAL PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS STRENGTHENED. Output 2: political parties, citizen observers and electoral officials are equipped to monitor voting processes and complaints and manage election-related conflict. Capacity Building on electoral justice Strengthened the Malagasy EMB in electoral administration and strategic planning: EISA held a training workshop for the commissioners of the electoral commission from May 31 to June 3, 2022 in Andakana, around two selected modules "electoral administration" and "strategic planning" agreed with the electoral commission. This choice was guided by the desire to strengthen the capacities of the new commissioners for the proper execution of their missions and the need for the commissioners to take ownership of the recently validated strategic plan of the CENI. BRIDGE was chosen as the methodology for the training as it is the most comprehensive professional development course available in the field of electoral administration. It was designed by electoral administrators themselves, with solid experience in elections in many different countries and contexts. 25 participants, including six women, took part in the workshop. In anticipation of the 2023-2024 electoral process in Madagascar, EISA organised a multi-stakeholder BRIDGE modular workshop on Gender and Election. This training was held from 5 April to 8 April 2022 at Ilo hotel in Andakana (Antananarivo). This strategic workshop comes at a crucial phase of the upcoming elections, namely the pre-election phase. It focuses on the importance of women's inclusiveness in the process and the need for greater gender equality in the choice of the country's future representatives. The overall objective of this modular training is to build the capacity of election stakeholders on gender and elections, but also to promote the consideration and political participation of women during all phases of the electoral process. During these 4 days, representatives of civil society, political parties, CENI and state institutions (18 women, 9 men) in Madagascar assessed the state of gender mainstreaming in the electoral process, formulated recommendations and designed an operational, feasible and achievable action plan for the upcoming electoral process. The common vision that emerged from this activity is the implementation of effective gender-sensitive legislative reforms and policies to strengthen gender mainstreaming in the process. OUTCOME 3 - CAPACITY OF LEGISLATURES TO BE EFFECTIVE AND RESPONSIVE STRENGTHENED. Output 3: MPs and Parliamentary staff can continuously improve and build on their knowledge and skills to perform their legislative roles and functions and affect gender sensitive legal reforms. Enhanced and improved participation of women beneficiaries in legislative and governance processes 22 out of 29 MPs from the Malagasy National Assembly and Senate benefited from EISAs technical support. The support ranged from capacity building training in bill drafting, budget processes and local governance processes. Committees led be women also benefited from technical support through the external expert contracted by EISA to assist in drafting bills and motions. As a result of the support provided, one motion for a resolution and five bills were proposed by women MPs. Significantly, one of these bills related to the participation of women in public life. In 2021, 18.5% of women MPs proposed a bill against only 2.4% of men MPs in 2021. As a result of the capacity building received from EISA, women parliamentarians appeared more engaged in their work on the development of laws or legislation. Despite the increasing number of women MPs at a leadership level in the Malagasy parliament, including the position of Speaker of the National Assembly, policies and laws that promote women's participation and gender-sensitive legislation have experienced some setbacks. The speaker's initiatives, through the draft law for the promotion of women's participation in public life, were rejected by the Constitutional Court on the grounds of unconstitutionality. Furthermore, gender equality policies are currently on hold as attention has shifted to upcoming elections. Capacity building of parliamentary staff The needs assessment conducted at the beginning of the project showed that the National Assembly Secretariat was understaffed to effectively support committees. As a result of the support provided during the ADS project, the Secretariat has strengthened parliamentary administration and management in different areas including: • Strengthening of the research and information services • Strengthening and increasing the technical staff in charge of supporting committee works • Other capacity buildings and institutional strengthening such as the development of the National Assembly Strategic Plan and the Communications Plan. Over the course of the project EISA trained approximately 155 parliamentary assistants and 62 parliamentary staff from the National Assembly and the Senate. Capacity building topics ranged from budget process, public policy evaluation, local governance processes, gender sensitive legislation, and research and information services for parliament. Support to CSOs for social dialogue and parliamentary accountability The social dialogues provided a platform for MPs, local -level government officials, civil society, judiciary branches, and traditional leaders to convene and discuss issues emanating from, and related to, local communities. At a follow-up visit by the EISA team in the Atsimo Atsinanana region in 2020, community stakeholders commended the dialogue model as an important innovation through which all stakeholders could convene and discuss issues other than elections. Debating gender equality such as women inheritance rights was considered very bold and a positive step towards gender equality. There has been considerable progress since ADS III with regards to the relationship between civil society organizations and parliamentarians, and ADS IV built on this progress to make this engagement a trend in the capital and strengthened through various thematic social dialogues during the program. Due to the success of the model, the National Assembly started to take its own initiative to replicate the mechanism in the Haute Matsiatra region with little to no support from EISA. The Senate also initiated a similar dialogue model with local governance representatives to discuss issues of municipalities in different constituencies. Despite the challenges, most MPs interviewed during the program said they would like the support to continue because it provided professional development opportunities and helped them gain skills for working with constituents and CSOs. Some of the MPs admitted that they did not have an idea of what their job entailed before they were trained by EISA, especially in relation to the Finance Bill. Thus, overall, even if not all the skills and competencies provided have not yet been used, for example in terms of public policy evaluation, beneficiaries expressed their appreciated for the technical support provided by EISA. International womens day celebration Over the course of the program, EISA continued to celebrate the International Womens Day celebration and Pan-African Womens Day through different activities with Parliament and the Ministry of Population in charge of the promotion of women. As a result, EISA is in the process of signing an MoU with the Ministry of population and the Ministry of Youth to help promote womens and young womens participation in public life and in the political process in general as the country is preparing for general elections in 2023. 2.4 OUTCOME 4 - CAPACITY OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE, DEMOCRATIC AND INCLUSIVE OF WOMEN AND YOUTH STRENGTHENED. Output 4: Political parties are exposed to new approaches to address inclusion and participation within their party structures. Political party diversity audits EISA worked towards strengthening inclusion in political parties through diversity audits with a primary focus on political parties as vehicles for driving inclusion and empowerment of women and youth in political processes. The gender and diversity auditing concept was launched in 2018 initially targeting political parties in Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi. By the end of ADS IV, EISA had successfully engaged political parties on the value of gender audits in Botswana, Zambia, Senegal and Madagascar. Engaging with the key leadership of over 40 political parties through consultative meetings and workshops as a gateway into the structures, policies and procedures of political parties. EISA has learned that because gender audits require sensitive political information from political parties, it is important to factor in more time to receive the necessary buy-in from the leadership. In addition, a key project assumption was that once political parties expressed their interest to participate, it would be easy for them to work independently and provide EISA with necessary information required to complete gender audit reports. However, political parties still require technical and logistical support primarily since all political parties tend to be under-resourced and lacking in terms of coordination especially in the pre-election and postelection period. Although originally conceived as a diversity audit focusing on both women and youth, after consultation with political parties, the scope was narrowed back to gender as an important entry point into the inclusion of other marginalised groups such as youth, persons living with disabilities and the LTBTIQ community. By exposing political parties to the gender audit tool, all political parties expressed their satisfaction on the adaptability of the tool as it enables the political party to embark on a realistic targetbased approach to achieving the commitments on not only women participation but also other key party objectives such as growing youth membership. EISA recorded the most success in Botswana, where political parties completed the second phase of the project, with encouraging feedback from political parties. All six political parties represented in Botswanas parliaments that we engaged with, noted an improvement in the representation of women in key political party positions following the party congress outcomes. EISA was further invited to consider observing the extent to which Party Congress policies and procedures in supporting women to advance to higher structures of leadership. Ultimately, EISA has managed to raise awareness of the importance of reflecting on how internal party culture and practices can be improved for the betterment of the political party, contributing to inclusive political processes at national level. In Madagascar, EISA engaged with all twelve political parties represented in the National Assembly presenting the gender audit tool as a way to enhancing more equitable participation of men and women in political parties. The consultations took place beginning of 2021 and all parties expressed their interest in EISAs support to utilising the tool. Following the consultations, a workshop was convened where party members were taken through the gender audit questionnaire as a first step in carrying out the auditing process. Eleven out of twelve parties completed the questionnaire, and a final workshop was held in December 2022 the content of which was based on the results of the analysis of the gender integration tool completed by the parties. Other than the objective of promoting womens participation and gender equality with partys structures, the workshop also aimed at supporting parties to draft their respective action plans based on the results from the gender audit tools. A total of 33 participants attended the workshop from representatives of party leadership to women, and youth wings. The workshop increased awareness and understanding of womens participation as political party members and voters. Mapping exercise on political parties in Africa To support EISAs party support programmes, a political party mapping exercise was undertaken between 2020-2021 to better understand the basic tenets and functionings of political parties in Africa. The mapping exercise, developed from EISAs engagement with political parties in Botswana, Zambia, Lesotho, Malawi, Senegal and Madagascar through the gender audits, culminated in a typology of political parties in Africa research paper. The political party mapping exercise brought together 13 political party experts and practitioners, with deliberations resulting in the development of a useful typology of political parties reflective of the African context. The typology has provided a valuable framework to further refine the gender audit initiative under ADS, as well as other EISA work with political parties, for example the ongoing review and updating of the Benchmarks for enhanced political party performance for democratic governance in Africa under the USAID-funded programme Supporting Transitions and Electoral Processes(STEP). EISA continued to demonstrate its expertise in capacity building for political parties and with a focus on widely disseminating the framework to be used by other practitioners working with political parties. OUTCOME 5 - CAPACITY OF CIVIL SOCIETY TO MOBILISE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND INFLUENCE REFORMS STRENGTHENED Output 5: Social cohesion initiatives developed that address citizen participation. Development and piloting of social cohesion initiatives EISA explored the efficacy of social cohesion as a necessary component for democratic advancement. Advancing forward a citizen centered approach to social cohesion initiatives. Between 2020 and 2021, EISA conducted a wide scale assessment on the impact of social cohesion on democracy especially during elections. EISA produced a research paper to develop a tool EISA utilised its expertise to develop social cohesion survey tools to test out the main theories posited in the paper. EISAs leveraged on the August 2022 national elections and conducted two rounds of surveys before and after the elections. The survey targeted Kenyan citizens across four four regions of Kenya, with a total of 16 focus Group Discussions with over 100 participants. Survey findings indicate that citizens strongly believe that social cohesion can be best improved through good governance. Based on a culture of continuous public participation especially over decisions that are made on behalf of the public. As this research was conducted during the 2022 general elections, EISAs key objective was to understand whether there is any deviation between levels of cohesion that exist before and after the election. The findings showed that citizen sentiments did not change significantly through both electoral phases as their concerns remained the same. Across age groups, sex, economic status, and tribe Kenyans all have the same needs that they want the public representatives to take seriously. The survey tool has been designed in manner that enables replication in other countries and this is an important move towards ensuring that citizen voices are amplified during important democratic processes. EISA was successful in engaging citizens on their perspectives on social cohesion and its role in influencing processes of democratic governance. OUTCOME 6: EISA IS A PROFESSIONAL, WELL-MANAGED, INNOVATIVE, AND INFLUENTIAL ORGANISATION Output 6 - EISA delivers quality relevant programmes and innovations, exercises prudent financial management and facilitates institutional learning. Innovation and methodology development • Methodology on Internet Governance and Democracy Recognising the increasing role of technology in electoral processes, EISA conceptualised a series of policy briefs focused on key thematic areas of lessons learned across the Continent. The series provided a platform for experts to share best practices and disseminate knowledge on methodologies on Internet governance. A total of five policy briefs were produced and widely disseminated during the last half of 2021. The policy briefs were successful in garnering the interest of a wide range of stakeholders. EISA then hosted a webinar in 2022 to reflecting on key policy alternatives brought forward by the series of policy briefs, participants concurred that technology was not a means to an end but rather a tool that should be utilised responsibly, in respect of fundamental principles of democracy and human rights. Through the policy briefs and webinar, EISA contributed to a body of evidence and learnings that can inform policymakers and civil society actors in ongoing digital transitions at the local context. Enabling democratic practitioners to draw lessons for their work in the space of digital democracy. Knowledge contribution towards international and regional elections and governance Networks EISA continues to manage the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network web portal and participate in-person and virtually in international and regional peer-learning networks and forums. Events included: the DOPsteering committee and annual meeting, the ECOWAS annual symposiums held in Ghana at the beginning of 2021 and in Cote dIvoire in December 2022, engaging, and convening of the AU, RECs, and other international EOMs in the field. This contributes to ongoing learning and exchange among different development actors and promotes ongoing coordination and cooperation of different actors implementing democracy and elections-strengthening work on the continent. EISA chaired and led the sub-committee on Online Campaigning for the DoP 2022 meeting which took place in Brussels, Belgium. The concept note was shared and discussed with other DoPs endorsers, and the presenters selected. This was the first physical meeting since the spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The next event will be hosted by the AU. Institutional lesson learning EISA Symposium During the reporting period, EISA conducted 2 symposiums, the first in 2019 and the second in 2021. The events provide a platform for dialogue among practitioners in the fields of elections and democracy such as representatives of EMBs, civil society, academia, as well as the AU and RECs. The outcomes of the symposiums, the discussions, the contacts made and maintained and the presentations and reports generated, allow EISA to contribute to knowledge that strengthens the field of democracy. - EISAs 14th annual symposium, was held on 24-25 September 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa, titled Electoral Integrity in Africa: under imminent threat? The symposium focused on the most recent elections in Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, the DRC and Zimbabwe. Symposium generated policy-oriented recommendations with a view to shaping future directions in fostering and contributing to the integrity of electoral processes in Africa. - EISAs 15th annual symposium took place on 23-24 November 2021 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire with the theme Contributing to credible elections in Africa through improved international observation practices, in adapting election observation practices to respond to changes in the conduct of elections especially the adoption of technology. Institutional lesson learning EISA retreat The EISA retreats are an essential component of the organisations development and learning. Over the course of the ADS IV reporting period, two long serving senior staff members left EISA: Denis Kadima, Executive Director (replaced by Baidessou Soukolgue in November 2021); and Ilona Tip, Operations Director. The themes and topics of the retreats are framed by significant internal changes as well as shifts in the organisations operating contexts. The outcomes of these retreats play a significant role in inform how EISA responds to these developments. • 2019 - (1) Reflection on the 2016-2020 EISA Strategic Framework and consider which outputs are still relevant to EISAs work; (2) growing the regional office in Abidjan, Côte dIvoire and how Johannesburg and field offices will support this office; and (3) reflection on previous space EISA occupied in the Southern Africa region and ideas documented on re-engaging national and regional stakeholders in specific thematic areas. • 2020 The development of EISAs five-year strategic plan (2020-2025) - Key to the three-day exercise was a commitment to reflective discussion that would lead to consensus on critical institutional questions and produce content that would be used to develop the strategy document. • 2022 - (1) Post-Covid-19 reflection and adaptation to the external environment; (2) Discuss the organisational structure and processes and changes being considered for EISA to better respond to the context; (3) Overview of ongoing projects and new methods, tools and technologies tested by project teams over the 2020-2021 period (4) review EISAs monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management structures and processes. Knowledge Production Journal of African Elections The JAE is the only internationally accredited journal that is devoted entirely to African elections. Through the publication of the JAE, EISA continues to build on the body of disciplinary knowledge and research in African elections. It is published twice a year and is distributed in Africa and beyond and is available in both print and electronic format. During the reporting period EISA published a total of eight volumes of the JAE. The online availability of the JAE has become the most effective and efficient dissemination method.

The long-term impact objective is: More credible electoral and democratic political processes in Africa Programme outcome objective: Stronger and more effective democratic institutions with greater citizen participation at sub-regional and continental levels and in selected African countries EISA will work toward these goals by providing technical support to Regional Economic Communities in Africa to strengthen their engagement in member states' electoral processes and by conducting training in election-related issues to political parties. In addition, EISA works on national level - in Madagascar, Senegal and other countries based on needs and opportunities - to strengthen parliaments and to foster inclusive democratic culture, policy and practice.