A 2-member NEC delegation, headed by the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), is currently in Accra, Ghana, participating in the 7th Biennial General Assembly of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) in the West African sub-region.
The two-day symposium in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, is organized by ECOWAS in collaboration with the Electoral Commission of Ghana, under the theme, “An Effective Communication Strategy for Enhanced Relationship between EMBs and Electoral Stakeholders in West Africa”.
The Chairperson of NEC, Cllr. Davidetta Browne Lansanah, and the Deputy Executive Director for Administration, Sam B. Cole, are representing the Commission, amongst several ECONEC leadership member commissions, civil society organizations, political party’s leaders, media professionals and academic institutions.
According to the dispatch from Accra, the key objectives of the symposium are to serve as a platform for knowledge and the exchange of the experience, value and challenges on developing a strategic communication within electoral management bodies (EMBs) with the aim of engaging effectively stakeholders in all critical phases of the electoral process so as to prevent conflict.
A NEC statement Monday quotes the dispatch as saying the symposium is also in line with ECONEC’s efforts and commitment for the promotion of violent free elections through constructive engagements with elections stakeholders and the proactive dissemination of first-hand information to prevent conflicts.
The NEC statement said, with support from the DeutchecGesellschaft for International Cooperation (GTZ), as part of ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) Project, the European Union and the German Foreign Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, representatives from International institutions and technical bodies, including UN-Women, USAID, IFES, WANEP, WAEON, CDD Ghana, WACSI, AAEA, A-WEB are also participating in the ECOWAS Accra symposium.
The rational of the symposium speaks to recent military coup d’états in Mail and Guinea, against a backdrop of governance crisis, popular uprising, sharp political tensions and disputed elections, call into question the significant achievements of the ECOWAS region in terms of democracy and the positive strides made in relation to the concept of the rule of law.