New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is hosting a two-day international conference on October 31 and November 1, 2022 on the theme ‘Role, Framework & Capacity of Election Management Bodies’ at the national capital. The conference will be inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Rajiv Kumar.
The ECI has also invited UNDP and International IDEA, apart from Electoral Managment Body's and Government counterparts dealing with the conduct of elections worldwide. At the conference, nearly 50 participants from 11 Election Management Bodies (EMBS) from 11 countries including Armenia, Mauritius, Nepal, Cabo Verde, Australia, Chile, Federal States of Micronesia, Greece, Philippines, São Tomé and Príncipe, USA and 3 international organisations namely, IFES, International IDEA and UNDP India are expected to participate.
While the first two sessions on the first day of the conference will have discussions on the present and future challenges being faced by the EMBs with respect to their role and framework to ensure ‘election integrity’, the session on the second day will have presentations from IFES Country Director (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), representative from UNDP and Head of the Department of Electoral Rolls and Results, Directorate of Elections, Ministry of Interior, Hellenic Republic and Greece.
The 'Summit for Democracy’, was an initiative launched by the US President and hosted in December 2021. Earlier on December 9, 2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the Leaders Plenary Session. It has been proposed that a "Year of Action" will be held on events and dialogues on themes related to Democracy and to host an in-person ‘Leaders' Summit for Democracy’ subsequently. The Summit also developed two platforms, 'Focal Groups’ and ‘Democracy Cohorts’ to facilitate participation in the Year of Action.
As part of the ‘Summit for Democracy’ Year of Action, India through the ECI, is leading the ‘Democracy Cohort on Election Integrity’ to share its knowledge, technical expertise and experiences with other democracies of the world.
