It is now widely understood by all those involved that electoral assistance has to take stock of all the steps of the electoral cycle: this approach, however, presents challenges of its own that are still to be fully appreciated. Chief among these are the problems caused by post-electoral fatigue among electoral officials, institutions and development agencies’ decision makers alike; and political indifference in the post-electoral period towards any type of electoral, political and administrative reform that impacts election administration. A recurrent problem is the underestimation at the political level of the financial and administrative consequences that accompany decisions labelled as purely technical (for example, the decision to go ahead with a crucial electoral administrative reform like the transition from an ad hoc voter register to an integrated permanent civil registration). Analysis of the various challenges facing attempts to improve the effectiveness of electoral 
assistance shows that professional development of electoral officials must be factored in as a permanent activity by assistance providers and partner institutions. This offers the best chance of ensuring institutional sustainability for the electoral institutions of the partner countries and a successful gradual disengagement strategy for the development agencies of the development agencies countries.
Changes in electoral procedures and increasing sophistication of the processes are such that even the most experienced staff cannot rely on experience alone in order to adequately perform their tasks. Furthermore, EMBs must cope with the typical “brain drain” that often leads the most qualified staff to move to better paid positions in the private sector or with international organisations, and the consequent loss of institutional memory. However, the benefits of training and professional development activities are not immediately tangible and offer little visibility for development agencies, unlike ballot boxes or voter education and information materials. EMBs in partner countries generally have a difficult time persuading governments to approve budgets that contain sufficient funds for these activities. It is a typical area where external assistance is requested, sometimes at a very late stage in an electoral cycle, when electoral officials are already too absorbed by operational duties related to the upcoming electoral event. Furthermore, a lack of qualified personnel in other sectors of the partner country’s structure can be an additional factor preventing the sharing of other partner countries’ resources in electoral processes.
Effective electoral assistance in this sector should mean greater awareness of the professional development and institutional capacity needs of recipient EMBs rather than focusing solely on training needs for procedures related to a given electoral event. Organisational and staff development (OSD) for the EMB’s long-term staff should address their capacity-building and skills requirements, and also take into account staff career development. OSD aims to unify the EMB’s strategic objectives and
the skills required to attain these through the career development goals of its staff. Staff development may take a number of basic forms, such as customised short-term informal training, mentoring of staff by senior EMBs or another organisation’s officials, and long-term formal training in the form of courses or academic development programmes.
The tendency for electoral assistance providers and development agencies to focus too much on national elections, envisioning top–down democratisation, also requires careful reconsideration. Local elections can be as important as national ones for the democratic development of a partner country and also require targeted capacity building programmes.
One of the key issues for effective assistance is the promotion of legislative reforms that provide the EMB’s highest officials with the means to protect institutional memory and continuity. This can be achieved by introducing staggered terms for EMB members or a clear delineation of responsibilities between the Electoral Commission (or Board of Commissioners) and the EMB Secretariat. It is crucial to help the EMB develop a coherent vision for its role between elections – which may form part of long-term electoral reform proposals. The possibility of enhancing the career development of EMB staff should be identified and supported, including if possible international secondment.
Next: Existing Knowledge and Capacity Building Services
