[{"bbox": [698, 105, 1150, 159], "category": "Page-header", "text": "Media capacity will be enhanced to promote, document and analyse women participation."}, {"bbox": [79, 163, 298, 187], "category": "Text", "text": "The main risks include:"}, {"bbox": [80, 200, 1148, 253], "category": "List-item", "text": "* Lack of political will among national authorities hinder implementation of EOM recommendations and critical electoral reforms;"}, {"bbox": [80, 254, 1148, 334], "category": "List-item", "text": "* The government might take decisions that could undermine the electoral calendar/process, such decisions include the conduct of a mid-term census which could alter electoral boundaries and the possibility of a constitution amendment process that would necessitate a referendum;"}, {"bbox": [80, 334, 1081, 360], "category": "List-item", "text": "* A resurgence of the COVID-19/Ebola pandemic could derail the implementation of the election calendar;"}, {"bbox": [80, 361, 987, 388], "category": "List-item", "text": "* Electoral violence erupts despite preventive measures and early warning response mechanisms;"}, {"bbox": [80, 388, 946, 413], "category": "List-item", "text": "* Insufficient or inefficient allocation of national resources towards the Electoral operations;"}, {"bbox": [80, 414, 1148, 467], "category": "List-item", "text": "* Low institutional capacity and government effectiveness hinder efficient and effective management of national or donor resources, implementation of the action and electoral operations at large."}, {"bbox": [79, 478, 1150, 639], "category": "Text", "text": "Risks will be mitigated by the action and through EU active engagement and continuous political dialogue and coordinated action with the international community. Notably, specific attention will be paid to project governance structure and accountability mechanisms, donor coordination and aid effectiveness. Enhanced governance and accountability in the context of the Electoral multi-stakeholder Steering Committee (ESC) chaired by the Chief Minister and UN Resident Coordinator shall also mitigate risks and leverage prospects of electoral reforms and inclusive, fair and peaceful electoral processes."}, {"bbox": [79, 664, 240, 690], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## Lessons Learnt:"}, {"bbox": [79, 717, 1150, 850], "category": "Text", "text": "The action design draws heavily on the lessons learnt from previous electoral cycles and the recommendations issued by domestic and international observers, as well as the lessons learnt from the actions and research undertaken in the framework of the ongoing EIDHR and 11th EDF EU funded programmes and projects in support to democratic governance (notably the EU funded³, EC-SL/PPRC assessments, capacity & gaps analysis gender and inclusivity assessment and the outcomes of the national conference on electoral legal reforms held in August 2021)."}, {"bbox": [79, 876, 1150, 1007], "category": "Text", "text": "The action also builds on the outcomes and recommendations of assessments and research drawn by other development partners, most notably the preliminary findings of the UN Needs Assessment Mission conducted in March 2021, IDEA EC-SL/PPRC gap analysis, USAID governance evaluation, Irish Aid/EU funded CSO-led evidence based studies on women in politics and decision making. Further elements are expected by the UN NAM report and UNDP Conflict assessment."}, {"bbox": [79, 1035, 1150, 1090], "category": "Text", "text": "**Monitoring and implementation of the previous Electoral Observation Missions is a key political and programmatic priority for the European Union.**"}, {"bbox": [79, 1114, 1150, 1352], "category": "Text", "text": "Election observers made a number of recommendations after the challenging elections of 2018. The recommendations included institutional and legal reforms to strengthen the independence and powers of the election management bodies – the Election Commission of Sierra Leone (EC-SL) and the Political Party Registration Commission (PPRC), and the judiciary and Office of National Security (ONS) as well as the delineation of powers between the EC-SL and the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) on voter registration. The reforms also seek to address politically sensitive issues such as the question of dual citizenship, the timeframe for resignation of public office holders before an election, positive gender discrimination (quota of reserved seats), and predictability of the date of elections within the electoral cycle. Other less sensitive issues like the sequencing of elections, nomination fees, are also priority recommendations."}, {"bbox": [79, 1365, 1150, 1447], "category": "Text", "text": "**Recommendations to EC-SL** focus on the need to strengthen results management procedures and transparency, and enhance inclusivity of elections by focusing more on the needs groups living in vulnerable situations such as women and girls and people with disability."}, {"bbox": [79, 1458, 1150, 1592], "category": "Text", "text": "Numerous observer missions have noted that there is dire need to **strengthen the judiciary**, revise the Court's procedural rules to ensure that elections petitions are adjudicated within a reasonable period which are compatible with electoral timeframes. This is particularly true for the Supreme Court's dealing with presidential election disputes. Another recommendation from observer missions is to support the establishment of an election offences court which has a mandate that runs through the entire period of hearing electoral disputes."}, {"bbox": [71, 1639, 1157, 1690], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³ Support to Governance DEC 038586; TA Governance CTR 396380; TA Civil Registration CTR 398504; EU/UNDP Basket Fund CTR 390345; Grant with 50/50 Group CTR 409334; Grant with NEW CTR 415580"}, {"bbox": [1040, 1690, 1157, 1714], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 18 of 33"}]