The ‘Strengthening Democracy and Electoral Governance in Zambia’ (PRO-DEM Zambia) project is being implemented by ECES as lead partner and sole signatory to the grant agreement, in partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which implements activities under Specific Objective 2 through a service contract with ECES. Funded by the European Union (EU Delegation to Zambia), the project has a total budget of €5,000,000 and is being implemented over a period of 36 months, with its operational headquarters in Lusaka.
The project, aligned with the 2024 Annual Action Plan for Zambia and Priority 3 of the EU’s 2021–2027 Multi-Annual Indicative Programme, aims to make the country’s democratic governance more participatory, accountable and inclusive, with more responsive institutions and more informed civic engagement, ahead of the general elections in 2026.
The project pursues two specific objectives: (SO1) to improve the capacity of state institutions to effectively carry out their democratic mandates and to promote legal reforms; (SO2) to enable civil society to exercise robust and non-partisan oversight of political and electoral processes, contributing to more transparent, accountable and inclusive elections.
the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the National Assembly (NAZ), the judiciary (including the ACEM and the Judicial Training Institute), the Ministry of Justice and the Human Rights Commission, as well as civil society organisations, primarily the Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG), with technical support provided by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) to strengthen domestic election observation and civic oversight.
The project adopts the EURECS methodology, developed by ECES, and is based on consultations with national stakeholders and a formulation mission carried out in Lusaka in March 2025. It also builds on the recommendations of the EU Election Observation Mission (2021) and the EU Election Follow-up Mission (2024) to support democratic reforms and strengthen electoral governance in Zambia.
