Commonwealth junior election professionals share their knowledge and experience in electoral management
The Commonwealth Secretariat launched its latest training event for junior election professionals from Asia in New Delhi, India, on Monday 2 March 2015, in partnership with the Election Commission of India and its training wing, the India International Institute for Democracy and Election Management.
The five-day workshop explores ways in which electoral democracy can be strengthened within the Commonwealth Asia region. The workshop is attended by junior election professionals from six national Commonwealth election management bodies in the region, namely Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"This initiative is a tangible illustration of how important well-managed and credible elections are to the Commonwealth, which has democracy as one of its core values,” said Mr Martin Kasirye, Adviser and Head of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Electoral Support Section, in his speech opening the training event.
"The quest for electoral democracy is never a completed task. Our hope, therefore, is that this workshop will help your respective electoral commissions to build capacity to deliver more transparent, credible, and inclusive elections across the Commonwealth Asia region."
The Commonwealth Junior Election Professionals (JEP) Initiative is part of the Commonwealth Electoral Network (CEN), which was launched in 2010 with the aim of promoting best practices among Commonwealth election management bodies.
The Commonwealth JEP Initiative is funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is designed to respond to the needs of the CEN. This is achieved through the delivery of a capacity-building programme to nurture the next generation of Commonwealth electoral administrators.
The initiative creates opportunities for junior election professionals to network within the family of Commonwealth election management bodies, and to share knowledge and experience - so advancing their shared goal of delivering credible and inclusive elections.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma has been instrumental in the conceptualisation of the Commonwealth Electoral Network, speaking of the intention to establish a “gold standard” of election management for the Commonwealth.
Addressing the Commonwealth Electoral Network Biennial Conference, in June 2014, Secretary-General Sharma said: “The [JEP] initiative promises to make an important contribution to advancing our shared goal of forging stronger links within the family of Commonwealth election management bodies, and to nurturing the next generation of Commonwealth electoral administrators in their work of organising fair, credible and inclusive elections.”
Mr Ashish Srivastava, Director General of the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, said that the training course has been designed so that participants will learn about the underlying philosophy and principles of electoral democracy and electoral administration.
"By the last day, when the participants talk of the actual administration of elections through polling and counting, they should have developed a good insight into legal-constitutional philosophy, pre-election activities like delimitation and registration, the importance of a level-playing field and codes of conduct," he said.
The workshop this week in India is the fourth Commonwealth Junior Election Professionals (JEP) Initiative event following a pan-Commonwealth pilot workshop in New Delhi in October 2013.
In March 2014, a Pacific region workshop was held in Canberra, Australia, while in September 2014 a Caribbean and Americas workshop was held in Kingston, Jamaica. A further regional workshop is planned for the Commonwealth Africa region later this year.
