On 31 July 2015, Mr Vasu Gounden, ACCORD’s Founder and Executive Director, delivered a presentation on best practices for conflict management in elections at the Southern African Regional Policy Conference on “Effective Policy Interventions for Strengthening Electoral Integrity: Lessons Learnt from the 2013/2014 Elections in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region.” The conference, hosted by the Election Commissioners Forum of SADC Countries and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, convened experts from across the Southern African region to review key election trends and to collaborate on strengthening SADC’s institutional frameworks for the conduct of elections in its member states.
Mr Gounden’s presentation was delivered during the working session on “Strengthening the Legal Frameworks Governing Elections.” During his remarks, Mr Gounden addressed a number of structural issues and election related dynamics that often perpetuate conflicts during election cycles, as well as the various institutional mechanisms available to election management bodies, government stakeholders, political parties, and civil society organisations in order to prevent and mitigate such conflicts.
Among other issues Mr Gounden highlighted four key areas in which the legal frameworks underpinning an election period may perpetuate or accelerate election conflicts: the mandates and functions of election management bodies, election calendars and financing of elections, on issues of border demarcation and constituent management, and on issues of verifying and appealing election results. Mr Gounden also addressed and elaborated upon the various mechanisms available to stakeholders for preventing and resolving election-related conflicts, such as election-based research units, multi-party liaison committees, and election codes of conduct. Through reference to ACCORD’s continental experiences supporting election activities, Mr Gounden provided various anecdotes to highlight the importance of rooting these conflict management tools within the legal frameworks governing elections.
The policy conference served as an important opportunity for individuals and institutions from across the Southern African Region to evaluate past performances from recent elections in SADC Member States and to consider the most strategic opportunities for their work moving forward. Other participants at the conference included: Chairpersons of the independent election commissions from SADC Member States, Dr Brigaliam Bam (former Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa), and Mr Denis Kadima (Executive Director, Electoral Institute of Sustainable Democracy in Africa).
In 2014 ACCORD co-hosted a workshop on Electoral Alternate Dispute Resolution for the election management bodies in the SADC Region in partnership with the Election Commissioners Forum of SADC Countries. The workshop was held in Durban South Africa from 18-20 August 2014. More information about that workshop can be found by following this link.
