A book on “A Decade of ECOWAS Electoral Assistance in West Africa” has been unveiled in Abuja with an official of the German Development Agency, GIZ, which provided funding for the publication commending ECOWAS’ electoral assistance for adding value to elections in the region. “With ECOWAS Electoral Assistance elections in recent past in the region have seen great improvement and the German Government will continue to support this laudable initiative,” declared Ludwig Kirchner, Head of GIZ Support Programme to the ECOWAS Commission. The ECOWAS Director of Political Affairs Dr Remi Ajibewa outlined the various forms of electoral assistance provided to member States which include, financial and logistical support, Observation, Security, Needs Assessment, Fact-finding and Follow-up Missions, Mediation and Preventive Diplomacy. Authored by Paul Ejime, an International Media and Communications Specialist, the work is a rich resource material on ECOWAS’ laudable initiatives at consolidating democracy through the promotion of credible elections and using electoral assistance as a tool for conflict prevention. It traces the genesis of ECOWAS Electoral Assistance started some two decades ago, the progress so far, challenges, lessons learnt and the way forward.

Source: GNN Liberia April 10, 2018 18:00 UTC