AAEA Solidarity Mission
ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN ELECTORAL AUTHORITIES (AAEA) SOLIDARITY MISSION TO KENYA
On 6th of August 2022, the European Centre for Electoral Support was happy to welcome a delegation from the Association of African Election Authorities (AAEA), who were in Kenya for a Solidarity mission ahead of the 9th August 2022 General Elections.
On their first day, the AAEA solidarity mission delegates paid a visit to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission situation room, where they received a brief on how this Command Centre operates. The NCIC Situation room is an integration of a Media Monitoring Unit and an Early Warning, Early Response Mechanism. This ‘Situation Room' is an Integrated operational asset of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC).
Through the Pro-Peace Kenya project, a partnership between the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) and NCIC, the Situation Room covers key areas related to the electoral process towards addressing hate speech. Aligning with ECES’ strategic objectives to empower as well as transfer skills and knowledge towards promoting a peaceful environment for upcoming elections and beyond, the NCIC Situation Room incorporates the media monitoring component and early warning system under one fully integrated operational unit of the Commission. Furthermore, together with other partner organisations, the Situation Room brings together a network of more than 80 Cohesion Monitors, Media Monitors, and Regional Coordinators covering the eight regions of the country.
Coordination of this mechanism is ensured through supervision by Senior Advisers from NCIC and ECES, supported by other partner organisations. A unified weekly report reflecting two key areas - early warning and early response and media monitoring, with in-depth analysis at the regional and county levels, will be regularly released regularly.
After the Situation room visit, the AAEA team had a tour of the Pro-Peace Kenya offices and interacted with the project team.
The pro-Peace Kenya project is a collaboration between the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) with funding support from the European Union.