Southern African Development Community (SADC) conducted Regional Long-Term Election Observers Training in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 8th to the 15th of May 2023. The training which was financed by the European Union under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), facilitated by the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) and supported by the SADC Secretariat technical team was attended by Government officials, Parliamentarians, Civil Society, experts from Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) and independent experts from the SADC member countries.
The training which was held under the “Support to Peace and Security in the SADC Region (SPSS) program, aims to, among other things, enhance the capacity and efficiency of the Peace and Security Architecture.
All SADC Member states are obliged by their sovereignty law to conduct elections in order to create a conducive environment for citizens to contribute to the consolidation of democracy and preserving democratic principles. In this case, Election Observers play a crucial role in enhancing electoral integrity, improving the accuracy of national elections and promoting democratic development and principles. The training consisted of a variety of knowledge building and practical sessions on the use of ICT tools to assess the electoral cycle of which key undertakings are conducted in the pre-election, election and post-election periods.
Going hand in hand with training of Election Observers and within the realm of consolidating democracy, SADC supports its Member states, mainly through the deployment of the SADC Electoral Observation Missions (SEOMs), in line with the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021). In this respect, Articles 6.1.8.1.1 and 8.1.2 as well as Article 14.2 of the SADC Principles and Guidelines, provide that the SADC Secretariat shall not only facilitate the constitution of the Long Term Observation (LTO) Mission but also arrange specialized trainings; and develop a central roster of trained experts from which election observers are to be drawn to support all Missions.
In this regard, SADC ensures full participation of all stakeholders in all member states during democratic elections hence the inclusion of the Civil Society in the observation trainings. Council for NGOs in Malawi (CONGOMA) as an umbrella body of Non-Governmental Organizations in Malawi was invited to represent the Civil Society at the training.
Speaking after the training, Mrs. Mphatso Jezman, who represented CONGOMA at the training, pointed out that as watchdogs, the Civil Society are an important stakeholder in member countries’ elections therefore, she applauded the SADC Secretariat for facilitating the training and including the Civil Society. Jezman also emphasized that the trained observers will contribute a lot to the democratic elections in the Region because they have been equipped with proper training on how they can observe the elections.
Elections coming up in the region this year include; Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe.
The Malawi delegation included Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Council for NGOs in Malawi(CONGOMA).