On the 24th of May 2023, ECES participated in the Electoral Seminar on Voting Procedures to Facilitate Voter Participation and Preserve Trust, held in Paris. The seminar was organized by the Electoral Skills Network of the Francophonie - Réseau des Compétences Électorales Francophones (RECEF) in partnership with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the French Ministry of Interior and Overseas (Ministere de l’Interieur et des Outre-Mer).
The program of the event was structured around 6 workshops addressing inclusive voting measures and technology, voting issues faced by francophone displaced persons, refugees, youth, and women, and voting support for individuals with disabilities.
Gorka Gamarra, the Senior Advisor for Operations & Administration in our Governance, Peace and Stability Project (initiated by Indian Ocean Community and supported by the Agence Française de Développement), represented ECES in the seminar. His presentation on “Promoting the full electoral participation of minorities”, addressed best practices and means to increase minority representation.
We were also represented by our Founder and Executive Director Fabio Bargiacchi and Filiberto Sebregondi, ECES’ Strategic and Advisory Committee Vice President to interact with the newly established Network of Electoral Management Bodies of the Indian Ocean Community, comprising Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles and Comores in the context of a project implemented by ECES and CFI, agence française de développement médias with funding from France.
ECES has been collaborating with RECEF since its inception back in 2012 in which our former President late Abbot Malu Malu, our founder Fabio Bargiacchi and our head of programme Eva Palmans have always contributed to RECEF’s bi-annual meetings.
