EU-funded project EU support to Jordanian Democratic Institutions &  Development (EU JDID) held its second steering committee meeting session for component 2 “Electoral Assistance” on Monday, 12th of September, 2017 at the Independent Election Commission (IEC) premises. 

 

The meeting aimed to provide guidance and quality assurance on the main directions of the action and to approve the annual work plans and annual reports under each component. Her Excellency Commissioner, Samar Haj Hasan, from the IEC, opened the Steering Committee meeting. She expressed her gratitude for the partnership between the EU and the IEC and emphasized that the EU support to IEC has been a cornerstone for the establishment and strengthening of the organization. 

 

She articulated her appreciation to the new implementing Consortium led by ECES for the support provided the cooperative and inclusive approach and for the very smooth transition between the past and the new project, facilitated by the knowledge of the new team of IEC needs and previous experiences. “This partnership should continue to base itself on the progress already made during the past years while ensuring their institutionalization and sustainability”. She added. 

 

Mr. Gonzalo Jorro Martinez, Programme Manager for Democratic Governance – EU Delegation to Jordan pointed out that the EU key objective is to promote democracy and Human Rights around the world, and highlighted that cooperation on good governance is a key element of the EU-Jordan partnership. The EU is indeed very proud of this long-lasting successful partnership which has also been translated in the support to the IEC since its establishment. 

 

ECES Executive Director, Mr. Fabio Bargiacchi, highlighted the important endeavor to contribute to the institutional efforts of the IEC to become a regional hub for electoral studies, research, and training. In this context, he highlighted the support provided to develop the IEC Regional Training Center and the steps already taken by the project in this direction with the support of the organization of the Global Conference of International Centre for Parliamentary Study (add website)  planned in Dead Sea area in December 2017. 

 

The activities, developed in close collaboration with the IEC, were presented by Mr. Said Sandiki, the Project Director, for discussions and comments by the two parties. Commissioner Haj Hasan claimed that the well-built partnership between EU and the IEC would continue to base itself on the successful progress already made during the years. 

 

The EU Funded Project “EU Support to Jordanian Democratic Institutions & Development (EU-JDID)” is part of the broader Programme “Enhanced Support to Democratic Governance in Jordan”. EU JDID which is composed of four components is managed by two entities, a consortium which is led by ECES and includes four European non-profit organisations: European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WfD), Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) and French Agency for Media Cooperation (CFI), and the fourth components which is managed by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)