Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) functional review initiated up to Inception report stage;
MEC 2018-2022 Strategic Plan drafted, ready for stakeholder validation end of April 2018 validation;
MEC Communication Plan being drafted, ready for stakeholder validation in mid-May 2018;
The SAGE 300 accounting system implementation and training company ‘Binary Systems’ was contracted;
First National Elections Consultative Forum (NECOF) held under the project on 15 December, focusing on the use of new biometric ID cards for voter registration;
Media Code of Conduct review undertaken and revised version signed by 120 media houses;
Study tours undertaken for IT, legal and senior staff to India, Zambia and Ghana respectively;
Selection of 237 master trainers achieved for the later cascade training of all elections field staff;
Support of MEC staff detachment to National Registration Bureau (NRB) to support the interoperability of civil register and voter register systems;
Multiparty Liaison Committees Guidelines reviewed and training curriculum updated;
Electoral disputes handling processes and guidelines ready for stakeholder validation in May 2018;
110 civil society organisations (CSOs) accredited for voter education purposes;
Collection of sex disaggregated data on electoral processes underway;
Gender manual for engaging local leaders finalised and launched;
Two dialogue sessions with district structures of eight political parties’ gate keepers were held. Over 70 participants from key political parties have been reached;
Media training for 20 print and electronic media journalists to heighten their understanding on women political participation in local communities;
National consultation with 45 stakeholders (CSOs; NGO Gender Coordinating Network, Secretary Generals of political parties, Malawi Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare) on how to prevent political violence against women aspirants and voters;
Support provided to ensure the passing of the Political Parties Bill in the November parliamentary session.
Our achievements
Media have an understanding of how to undertake its duties in an electoral period;
Conflict mitigation will be improved through more effective functioning, training and structuring of the Multiparty Liaison Committees (MPLCs);
The basis for digitizing MEC’s workflow and financial management systems was launched;
The optimal structuring of MEC at Headquarters and in the Regional and District offices was launched;
The basis for providing MEC with a clear five-year vision finalized;
MEC soon to be equipped with a new communications plan and a new electoral disputes handling guidelines;
MEC IT, legal and senior staff capacities and skills were strengthened through select study tours to exemplary electoral management bodies (EMBs);
The possibility for synergizing the work on the civil registration and the voter registration was given a significant boost due to the joint work of both UNDP Nation Registration and Identification Systems project and Malawi Electoral Cycle Support project teams;
CVE activities were given added momentum through the accreditation of 110 CSOs