5th Global Electoral Organization (GEO) Conference
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The GEO host organizations traditionally maintain high levels of peer consultations through the establishment of the steering and advisory committees that include reputable global, regional and national organizations.
During the 2007 Conference in Washington DC, the GEO steering committee agreed that International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), with the support of EISA (formerly Electoral Institute of Southern Africa), lead the hosting of the next GEO conference in Africa. Consultation regarding the hosting of the GEO resulted in the addition of SADC Electoral Commissions Forum (SADC ECF) as a partner and the decision was made to organize the Fifth GEO Conference in 2011. The acceptance of the Botswana Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to host the event in Gaborone came in mid-September 2010 and resulted in the IEC becoming a partner in this event.
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The Fifth Conference is envisaged to be biggest GEO event to date. It is expected to bring together over 300 participants; funds permitting; from all global regions, EMBs, international organizations working in the democracy and electoral assistance fields, the academic community, donors and democratic governance policy makers. The Fifth GEO Conference will be one of the central global democracy events in 2011. It aspires to influence the global policy agenda and enhance practical understandings and solutions among policy makers and practitioners. The profile of participants and the vibrant discussions on a range of relevant topics will make this event memorable for all those who participate. The conference outcomes will, most certainly, maintain importance in years to come. |
Partners and collaboration
International IDEA, SADC ECF, EISA and the Botswana IEC will co-host the event. As with previous GEO events, a steering group of with other partner organizations will be established. Communication will be through regular teleconferences. It will include previous host organisations and other key organizations involved in electoral support, such as IFE, Elections Canada, IFES, and the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD) etc.
The GEO Objectives
The GEO’s general objectives are to bring together electoral practitioners and experts to exchange knowledge and share experiences, to provide a forum for networking, to present opportunities for provoking debate and promoting initiatives. Specific objectives of 2011 GEO will include:
- Share experiences, achievements and lessons learned between national and international election practitioners and assistance providers;
- Establishment of new and strengthening of existing networks among and between practice communities;
- Explore new opportunities for cooperation between election support and other areas of democracy support;
- Highlighting and capturing election-related experiences and best practices and including them into comparative knowledge resources and sharing them with participants;
- Promoting practical debates and joint solution seeking;
- Forging stronger partnerships among EMBs; and
- Creation of a forum where international donor organisations can better appreciate and absorb the successes and needs of EMBs around the world, especially those of developing democracies.
Due to the fact that the elections community is not able to meet on this scale often, it is proposed that the 5th GEO event works towards a conference declaration at the end of its deliberations. Such a declaration would stand as the “Gaborone Declaration” and allow future GEO events to reflect on progress made from the previous event.
In Partnership with:
