EU Deploys Election Observation Mission to Zambia

The European Commission is deploying an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) for the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Zambia scheduled to take place on 28 September 2006. The EU EOM will be led by Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, Belgium Member of the European Parliament. The EOM is a further contribution by the European Commission to supporting democracy in Zambia.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, said: "The forthcoming elections provide an opportunity to re-establish public and international confidence in the Zambian electoral process following earlier problematic elections. Holding the elections in accordance with international standards would be an important step forward in the further development of multi-party democracy in Zambia. Because of the importance that the EU attaches to these elections, I have decided to deploy an EU EOM which will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the entire election process. I am confident that Annemie Neyts-Uttebroek will do an excellent job. "

The EOM Core Team consists of the Chief Observer and 8 experts. Thirty-six Long Term Observers (LTOs) will be deployed on 9 September to assess the campaign period and pre-election preparations around the country. Forty-eight Short Term Observers (STOs) will be deployed over the election period to observe voting, counting and the tabulation of results. They will be joined by locally recruited STOs from diplomatic missions of EU Member States resident in the country.

EU Election Observation Missions are an important instrument for building confidence in the democratic processes of a country and are deployed in line with the EU's commitment to promote democracy, human rights and the respect for the rule of law. The EU has made available some €2.9 million from the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), for this mission.

The European Union is one of Zambia's most important partners and is providing funds to assist the country in implementing its development policy reform agenda. Assistance is being provided to a number of important sectors, including private sector development, transport, social sectors/poverty alleviation, food security and non-state actors.

For additional information, see also:

http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/eidhr/index_en.htm

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