Thematic Area: Democratic Governance
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|Progress Report Quarter 3 2007|
|Annual Report 2006|
[Last Updated July 2008]
Project Start Date: October 2006
Project End Date: October 2010
Project Location: Kabul (project will start to work in all provinces by the latter half of 2008)
Status of the project: Ongoing
Partners: Independent Election Commission, Joint Electoral Management Body
Background
As a follow up to the Bonn process, UNDP was given a pivotal role in helping establish viable governance structures. Among these efforts was support to the 2004 presidential and 2005 parliamentary and provincial council elections. Both of these elections were a success with large voter turnout and nationally accepted results. UNAMA was tasked with the political oversight of the elections process, with UNDP holding responsibility for the execution of the 2004 presidential elections and managing all resource mobilization and donor relations for the 2005 parliamentary and provincial council elections. UNOPS was the implementing agent for all electoral activities in 2005.
Presidential elections were successfully held on 9 October 2004 with over eight million voters (42% of whom were women), out of the 10.5 million successfully registered through the Voter Registration Programme, casting their ballots, resulting in the election of President Hamid Karzai.
An addendum forming an integral part of the 2004 Afghan Elections Project was signed on 28 March 2005 reflecting the activities to be undertaken to facilitate the Wolesi Jirga (House of People) and Provincial Council Elections on 18 September 2005. Over 6.4 million voters turned out for this election, representing over 50% of the registered voters. The proportion of women voters also remained high, at about 41%.
Throughout the duration of the election project, capacity building and technical support was provided to the Joint Electoral Management Body, which was temporarily invested with electoral management and administration powers of the Independent Election Commission as contemplated under the constitution, up until the inauguration of the National Assembly on 18 December (per Article 57 of the Electoral Law).
The immediate follow up to the election period – The Transitional Phase
Following the successful completion of the Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council Elections, it was envisaged that the Voter Registration and Elections Project (VREP) 2004-2005 would be closed and, following a three month “transitional phase” was planed. This transitional phase was intended to provide support to ensure the continuation of the Independent Election Commission (IEC). However, for a variety of reasons, the transitional period was extended for an additional six months (until 21 September 2006) to provide critical support to the IEC in order to ensure its sustainability. During this period of time UNDP took over the responsibility to secure the salaries for the staff of the Independent Electoral Commission Secretariat as well as the operational costs to keep the headquarters and the provincial offices functional.
Achievements of the transitional phase (March-September 2006):
• The functionality of the IEC was secured through financial support as well as through the establishment of a consultation mechanism between IEC , UNDP, UNAMA and other stakeholders - an effective advocacy group put in place to support the IEC in political discussions
• An audit was conducted on the Voter Registration and Elections Project (VREP) covering the period of 2004-2005 elections due to the fact that the 2003 activities were already audited.
• Major challenges the IEC was faced with like the retention of staff and the access to the fiscal budget were solved due to the extensive cooperation of all organisations working in cooperation with the IEC and ongoing support from UNAMA
• An evaluation of the 2004-2005 Election project was conducted to capture important recommendation for future elections in Afghanistan, for example a review of the Civil and voter registry, intensive capacity building programmes for the IEC staff, a review of the Electoral law and the legal processes connected to it
Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow (ELECT) Project
On the basis of the recommendations and in close consultation with the IEC and other stakeholders a widely comprehensive project document was developed, “Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow” (ELECT), to support the capacity building process of the newly established Independent Electoral Commission addressing the needs beyond 21 September 2006. The project document was signed and work began in October 2006. A key part of ELECT is an inter-organisational agreement to coordinate activities was reached through which designated organisations take over specific activities in supporting the IEC to avoid duplication of work.
Focusing on capacity building and the need to conduct a new nation-wide voter registration and the hope that this activity could be combined with a national civil registration programme, preparations and fundraising for the Civil and Voter registry pilot project, a sub-activity of ELECT was concluded with the receipt of 336,000 USD$ from the UN Democracy Fund . Other funds were raised from Canada, Italy, Denmark and UNDP.
Achievements (ELECT) 2007:
• The Civil and Voter Registration Pilot (CVR) Project was successfully carried out in the Provinces of Kabul, Bamyan and Nangarhar. Approximately 26,000 people were registered using either a computerized or manual registration system.
• Training of trainers for the CVR Pilot Project took place
• A successful public outreach campaign on the Civil and Voter Registry was launched.
• A gender focal point was employed in order to ensure gender mainstreaming within the IEC and the Electoral process.
• A national seminar on Lessons Learned from the 2003-2005 electoral cycle took place in Kabul. Recommendations from this exercise will help shape how the future elections will be conducted.
• Support to the IEC in establishing basic office infrastructure. Works for a sub power plant begun and is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2008.
• An asphalted road connecting office space within the IEC was constructed
• The new electoral law was drafted and sent to the Parliament for approval
Future Elections
The ELECT projects’ main aim is to provide capacity building to the IEC and to conduct a pilot project on CVR. With the pilot project successfully completed and the imminent electoral cycle coming into force, it was decided to expand the project in order to support the electoral process in all its caveats.
Nevertheless, the first half of 2008 has been witness to a continuing uncertainty surrounding many crucial influencing components needed to expand the project. As of June 2008 the electoral law had still not been approved by the Parliament thus leading to the probability that the 2009 electoral cycle will continue to use the former electoral law. However, despite a delay in defined timelines which inevitably impacted on the project and its new objectives, March 9th welcomed the much awaited announcement of the schedule for the upcoming elections.
It was decided that Presidential and Provincial Council Elections would take place in the fall of 2009 and the Parliamentary and District Council Elections would be scheduled for the summer of 2010. With a definitive schedule set, the ELECT project is now in the position to provide specific technical assistance to the IEC in order to conduct voter registration in the latter half of the year. On the 9th July the IEC announced that they would be conducting a hybrid voter registration update which will begin on the 6th October through to 2nd February 2009. The exercise will be split into four phases and aims to capture those Afghans who will have turned 18 by the next 2009 elections; those who have moved province or have returned to Afghanistan; those who have lost their previous card and those who have not registered till now.
With this massive undertaking, the ELECT project will inevitably expand its assistance to the provinces and regions in order to ensure that capacity building not only takes place at the headquarters level but is also permeated throughout the whole of the country in all of the offices of the IEC. This assistance and capacity building will ultimately aid the electoral cycle and aid provincial offices to build their technical capacity in order to carry out elections over the next two years.
Assumptions and Challenges
• Security will permit an update of voter registration in all provinces and districts
Future Priorities:
• Support for National Voter Registration
• Enhancing Capacity of the Commissioners and Secretariat
• Preparations for Upcoming Elections
• Gender mainstreaming the IEC
• Planning for the 2009 and 2010 elections
Partnerships and Resources:
Target Budget: USD 4.9 million
Received Budget: USD 700,000 (Italy)
USD 336,576 (UNDEF)
USD 530,000 (UNDP)
Donors: Canada, Denmark, Italy, UNDEF, UNDP
Focal Points:
Margie Cook, Project Manager/Chief Electoral Advisor (margie.cook@undp.org)
Charlemagne Gomez, Programme Officer (charlemagne.gomez@undp.org)
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