EURECS+

New Project in Ethiopia starting soon!

ECES is excited to announce the launch of a new project in Ethiopia: the European Union Support to  Electoral Cycle in Ethiopia – Plus (EURECS +), which complements the existing projects implemented by ECES in Ethiopia as part of the EU democratic package.

The EURECS+ project aims at strengthening the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) in order to raise the profile of an independent, credible and effective institution that will deliver inclusive and democratic electoral processes in Ethiopia.

Therefore, the NEBE is the main beneficiary of the EURECS+ project activities, implemented by ECES and its partners based in Ethiopia for over a decade, the Forum of Federations  (FoF) and GOInnovation.

The EURECS+ project will last 12 months and is financed by KFW on behalf of the German government though the EU Delegation to Ethiopia.

ECES Founder and Executive Director, Fabio Bargiacchi, commented:

“I am very happy to see ECES being entrusted once again by Germany with strenghtening democracy and the electoral process in a strategic country such as Ethiopia. Germany has already financed ECES with more than 17.4 million €.”

“Indeed, expectations on the 2021 elections are high as the starting point for a fundamental shift in the conduct of elections in Ethiopia, also goven the challenges rised by Covid-19 pandemic.”

“EURECS+ is expected to enhance the transparency, credibility and public confidence in the NEBE, as well as in the electoral process. EURECS+ will reach these objectives not only by providing capacity building and institutional support to NEBE, but also offering an opportunity for on-the-job training for key NEBE staff by jointly planning, implementing, and evaluating activities foreseen within this project.”

EURECS+ is part of the EU “democratic package”, composed by four different interventions related to the overall context for the general elections 2020 and beyond:

• European Response to Electoral Cycle Support in Ethiopia (EURECS Ethiopia) (16.55M EURO, funded by the European Union under the European Development Fund (EDF) and by KFW on behalf of the German government and implemented by ECES);
• Prevention, mitigation and management of election-related conflicts and potential violence (PEV-Ethiopia) (3.6M EURO, funded by the European Union under the IcSP-FPI and implemented by the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES);
• Supporting the Ethiopian Political Parties Dialogue (1.8M EURO, funded under IcSP-FPI and implemented by the Netherlands Institute for Multi-Party Democracy (NIMD));
• Establishing an environment for inclusive, knowledge-based dialogue on the political process in Ethiopia (1M EURO, funded under the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace of the Foreign Policy Instrument (IcSP-FPI) and implemented by International IDEA.