From 10 to 12 December 2025, the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) participated in the 20th Anniversary of the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, held at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva. The anniversary meeting brought together endorsing organisations, international institutions and electoral stakeholders to take stock of two decades of implementation of the Declaration and to reaffirm a collective commitment to credible and professional election observation worldwide.
The programme comprised a high-level segment on recommitting to the Declaration, together with thematic sessions addressing key aspects of election observation, including election integrity in the digital context, disinformation and artificial intelligence, political polarisation, elections in high-risk security environments, and the adaptation of tools and methodologies to evolving political and funding contexts.
Endorsing organisations adopted a Joint Press Statement reaffirming their shared commitment to the principles of credible, impartial, independent and professional international election observation, as well as to continued cooperation in addressing evolving challenges affecting electoral processes worldwide. ECES supports this Joint Press Statement and its reaffirmation of the Declaration of Principles, which are fully aligned with the organisation’s mandate and ongoing work in the field of election assistance and democratic governance.
On this occasion, Fabio Bargiacchi, Founder and Executive Director of ECES, addressed participants, reaffirming ECES’s long-standing commitment to supporting electoral integrity across the entire electoral cycle. In his intervention, he clarified ECES’s role within the broader election observation community, emphasising that the organisation does not conduct election observation directly, but instead focuses on supporting domestic election observation organisations in the countries where it operates.
Our Executive Director outlined ECES’s structured approach, centred on three complementary areas of work. First, ECES provides electoral analysis, including Electoral Political Economy Analyses and Electoral Security Threat Assessments, carried out in close cooperation with civil society organisations, electoral management bodies and other key electoral stakeholders. Second, ECES invests in capacity development and training, notably through long-term programmes for civil society and electoral stakeholders implemented in partnership with academic institutions such as the University of Sant’Anna, as well as through close cooperation with the African Union, including peer learning initiatives and civic education activities. Third, ECES develops and deploys digital tools supporting domestic election observation, media monitoring, conflict mapping, and the aggregation and dissemination of observation findings.
The words of the ECES Executive Director (https://www.eces.eu/en/fabio-bargiacchi) echoed the spirit of the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, reaffirming the importance of credible, professional and internationally recognised standards in safeguarding genuine democratic elections. ECES’s participation in the anniversary meeting underscored its continued engagement with the international election observation community and its commitment to strengthening democratic processes.
