Electoral Symposium
Under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) along with the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) and the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES), hosted the 15th International Electoral Symposium and International Awards Ceremony at the Dead Sea from the 4th until 6th of December 2017.
The conference brought together more than 200 participants from the electoral democracy community from over 50 different countries. Almost half of participants were representatives of election management bodies (EMBs) from Middle East and the rest of the world. The event also counted on the participation of around 70 representatives of organisations actively involved in democracy and electoral support, such as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), international organisations, embassies, academic institutions etc. In addition to this, representatives of public institutions such as national parliaments, local governments etc. and global solutions providers, were present.
The opening ceremony was inaugurated by Mr. Matt Gokhool, Chief Executive of ICPS and Chairman, International Centre for Electoral Psychology (ICEP); Ms. Monica Frassoni, ECES President; Egidijus Navikas, Head of Political, Press and Information Section of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Jordan; H.E. Dr. Jim Barnhart , Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the United States of America and H.E. Dr. Khalid Al-Kalaldeh, Chairman of the IEC.
ECES’ President and ECES Executive Director, Fabio Bargiacchi, contributed to the discussions on:
- Preventing, Managing and Mediating Electoral Violence along with representatives of EMBs of Colombia, Kosovo, Burkina Faso and Jordan;
- Technical Specifications for the Application of ISO 9001:2008 for Electoral Organisations in collaboration with the IEC of Jordan and Maria Teresa Mellenkamp, Deputy Director, Electoral Department of the Organisation of American States (OAS), which is the organisation tasked with providing technical assistance for the ISO certification process.
- Capacity Building Programmes for EMBs with the IEC of Jordan and Guiomar Levi Setti, Tutor of the Master on Electoral Policy and Administration, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna.
These discussions were of a particular relevance with regards the upcoming activities of the project ‘EU Support to Jordanian Democratic Institutions & Development, EU-JDID”.
In addition to these, additional high-level discussions focused on the following aspects:
- Fostering Regional Cooperation and Regional Networks,
- the Role of Training and Development for EMB’s to Promote Democracy and Build Trust among Voters;
- Engaging the Youth Electorate and Attracting First-Time Voters;
- the Role of Social Media, Cyber Threats and Digitalisation in Election;
- Elections as Means to Forming Parliamentary Elected Governments.