Consortium for Electoral and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS)

Provinces	Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daykundi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor, Hilmand, Hirat, Jawzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktya, Panjsher, Parwan, Samangan, Sari Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan, Wardak, Zabul
Program	Democracy & Governance (Strengthening election and political processes)
Dates	March 2003 - June 2011
Partner	Consortium For Elections, Public Policy Services
Website

OVERVIEW
The CEPPS Support for Increased Electoral Participation in Afghanistan (2009-2010) program strengthens the ability of political stakeholders to articulate, organize, and compete in elections, as well as to increase public awareness and oversight of the electoral process. Through this program, USAID aims to increase broad-based participation in the electoral process, including at the sub-national level.  It is implemented by the Consortium for Electoral and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), comprising the International Foundation for Elections Systems, the International Republican Institute, and the National Democratic Institute.

ACTIVITIES

• Strengthening the ability of independent candidates and political groupings to effectively articulate, organize, and participate in the 2009/2010 elections.
• Building issue-based coalitions around the country. 
• Encouraging transparent and accountable elections through increased citizen participation in the electoral process, with an emphasis on outreach to remote areas of the country.
• Building the capacity of Afghan organizations to monitor electoral and political processes.
• Training party poll watchers and candidate polling agents to effectively participate in election day activities; training journalists in elections coverage.
• Establishing an election-related website, which will enable citizens to more easily monitor the elections and report potential irregularities.
• Developing a national and local debate series between candidates.

RESULTS

• Conducted elections-awareness workshops for 200 women in Nangarhar, Hirat, Mazari Sharif, Kabul, and Bamyan provinces. Participants shared their new knowledge in their villages.
• Provided 102 journalists (20 women) with skills to improve the quality of elections reporting.
• Trained more than 1,000 party activists (approximately 20 percent women) on the basics of democracy, campaign planning and management, and party building.
• Enabled six political groups to articulate platform and policy agendas effectively to voters.  These groups included the Afghanistan Parliamentary Youth Caucus, the Afghanistan Parliamentary Counternarcotics Caucus, and the Afghanistan Parliamentary Business Caucus.
• Expanded the participation of women, youth, and marginalized groups in elections and political processes through assistance to 18 independent social organizations. These included the Afghanistan National Youth and Social Organization, Movement of Afghan Sisters, United Hazara Assembly, and District Shuras. 
• Launched The Candidate television series, which increased the Afghan public’s understanding of their election rights and responsibilities.
• Released a national public survey to establish a baseline understanding of opinions leading up to the presidential elections.
• Increased the ability of political parties and independent candidates to compete effectively in the elections through training that reached  more than 200,000 individuals.
• Strengthened the ability of local organizations to monitor the electoral process through a plan to monitor up to 50 percent of the voter registration centers during the registration period.

 

All Democracy & Governance activities