The National Elections Commission (NEC) on Monday commenced a five-day Mid-Term Plan Review of the Strategic Plan of the Commission in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. The Monitoring and Evaluation Section (M&E) of NEC is driving the process under the theme, “Reviewing Our Past And Projecting Our Future”.
Since the adoption of the six-year strategic plan of NEC in 2018, the Commission has grappled with two major issues: the delay in funding, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission is instituting measures to address these issues to meet current realities.
The NEC is also addressing the issue to transition to Biometric Voter Registration (BVR), the technology to be used during the pending 2023 general elections.
According to a NEC release issued on Monday, the governments of Ireland and Sweden, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Democracy International (DI) and the United States Aid for International Development (USAID) are providing funds for the NEC 2022 strategic plan review.
Speaking Monday, September 5, 2022 at the opening, the NEC Chairperson, Davidetta Browne Lansanah, said the strategic plan review comes at a time when the commission is in the process of the much-anticipated 2023 general elections in Liberia.
The NEC boss said the strategic plan review is important to the electoral process for the commission to clearly identify approaches it should take to achieve its mission, balance the demands of stakeholders, exploit opportunities and respond to the threats of limited funding.
The NEC boss said the commission must be in the position to chart a way forward on how the NEC can create value in its electoral cycle and the sustainability of the Commission in the immediate future.
Also speaking, two donor representatives, Naiomi G. Kennedy, Chief Education Program Officer, Democracy International (DI), and Zage Filiposki, Capacity Development and Strengthening Specialist, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), pledged to continue collaborating with the NEC.