The UN and UNDP in Brussels

UNDP Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support

On 1 July 2009, UNDP launched a three-year global initiative to help countries improve their electoral laws, processes and institutions and enhance the participation of women in electoral processes. The programme is made possible through a generous contribution from the Government of Spain, as well as the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support (GPECS) seeks to enhance the credibility, transparency, effectiveness and sustainability of electoral institutions and processes, with a particular emphasis on capacity development, south-south exchanges, inclusive participation and women’s empowerment. The GPECS take an electoral cycle – as opposed to election day – approach to assistance, while seeking also to integrate electoral assistance into a wider framework of democratic governance. Activities will be implemented at the global, regional and country levels.

At the global level, GPECS will develop and maintain an innovative policy agenda, global knowledge products and tools in cutting-edge areas, and the elections community of practice. At the regional level, the GPECS will focus on the exchange of good practices, peer networking and knowledge creation and dissemination in all regions – Africa, Asia-Pacific, Arab States, Latin America/Caribbean and Europe/CIS. At the country level, the GPECS will seek to reinforce the capacity of electoral management bodies to play their role in the professional, transparent and credible administration of elections at the national and local levels; to enhance the relationships between electoral management bodies and key electoral stakeholders such as political parties, civil society and the media; and to reinforce women’s political and civic participation.

The focus of the country-level activities will be in Sub-Saharan Africa, given the volume of UNDP’s electoral assistance in this region. GPECS will also bolster UNDP internal capacity to deliver effective electoral assistance by placing additional electoral and gender expertise in headquarters units and in the regions to support country offices and national stakeholders.While led by the Democratic Governance Group of BDP, the GPECS is a joint endeavour between BDP, the UNDP Regional Bureaux and Regional Centres, UNDP Brussels and the Procurement Support Office in Copenhagen. It will be implemented in close collaboration and coordination with the Electoral Assistance Division of the Department of Political Affairs and will draw on and support ongoing global and regional initiatives such as the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, the BRIDGE project and the Joint EC UNDP Task Force. The Programme Management Team of the GPECS is based in Brussels, implemented by the UNDP Brussels Office and co-located in the same office premises of the Joint EC UNDP Task Force.

GPECS & Joint Task Force

The GPECS will support the work of the Joint Task Force to ensure that country and, in some cases, regional level projects designed through the country window of the GPECS benefit from the early collaboration of other potential partners such as donors to this Programme. GPECS will support the regionalization of the work of the Task Force through expanding the reach of the JTF with additional staff and consultants based in the Brussels UN/UNDP office. A closer coordination and harmonized cooperation between the JTF and the GPECS advisors in the regional centres would also strengthen the JTF work. Due to the expertise that the JTF has acquired during the last years in the areas of resource mobilization, operational support, training activities, guidance for formulation and implementation of projects and having in mind the overall benefits to national electoral processes from performance of JTF, the GPECS will deliver the electoral cycle support at the national level drawing on the expertise of the JTF. The Country Component will be coordinated by the Senior Electoral Assistance Advisor/Coordinator of the Joint EC-UNDP Task Force including the relevant work of the HQ Policy Specialists and Procurement Specialists.

For countries that fall within regions where there are Regional Advisors posted under the GPECS (Africa and Asia/Pacific), the Regional Advisors will be the frontline responders to country-level demand. For those countries that fall in regions where there are no Regional Advisors posted under GPECS (Arab States, Latin America and Europe/CIS), the HQ Policy Specialists, the GPECS Programme Manager, the Senior Electoral Assistance Advisor and the JTF Electoral Assistance Specialist will be the frontline responders.

Therefore the Joint Task Force will work in close coordination with, will be supported by and will in turn provide support to the UNDP Regional Centres in Dakar, Johannesburg and Bangkok, which are the frontline providers of Africa and Asia/Pacific regional and country level support and which also represent UNDP as JTF’s members in various JTF activities in the regions. The GPECS will provide further support to the JTF to perform its duties following the revised Operational Guidelines, particularly for formulation missions; joint monitoring and Quality Support Mechanisms; implement research and studies on issues related to the role of the contribution of the EC and EU Member States in UNDP electoral assistance programmes at country level; deliver and further develop training on effective electoral assistance; interact and coordinate with the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network and Training Programme of IFE Mexico; and cooperation with regional institutions.