AHEAD Côte d’Ivoire is an 18-month project aimed at supporting the Independent Election Commission (CEI) of Côte d’Ivoire during the new electoral cycle, focusing on the presidential election of November 2025 and the legislative elections that will probably take place in March 2026. Based on EPD’s specific approach “AHEAD” to work holistically on electoral components to promote wider democratic reforms, it focuses on supporting the institutional capacity of the CEI, particularly in training a variety of stakeholders, such as political parties, CSOs, electoral observation groups, and journalists. The project will also enhance the overall CEI capacity of implementing more regular and transparent communication mechanisms to facilitate a steady information flow for citizens. The project’s objectives include enhancing the technical, training, communication and awareness-raising capacities of the CEI teams within the framework of the electoral cycle and support the new CEI (when appointed) in the strategic planning of its mandate. The project will also support the CEI in training key election stakeholders to strengthen their capacities on electoral issues.

Cover photo: © EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid on Flickr.

The projects aims at the promotion of democratic culture and the strengthening of the rule of law in Burundi. Based on EPD’s specific AHEAD approach – Action for a Holistic Electoral Approach for Democracy – to work holistically on electoral components to promote wider democratic reforms, it focuses on supporting civil society organisations (CSOs) in participating in the electoral process before and after the 2025 elections while accompanying institutions (CENI, CNIDH, Ombudsman) during that period.

It’s objectives:

• Strenghening civic initiatives that represent citizens’voices (especially of women, youth and people with disabilities) to enable them to better participate in monitoring the electoral process, as well as in democratic and political processes.
• Accompanying and empower electoral management bodies to improve the quality of the organization of elections, in accordance with international standards.

This pan-African project focuses on multiple facets of the electoral cycle in the continent. It aims to empower civil society across Africa, including citizen observers, in strengthening electoral systems and processes, so as to contribute to higher levels of electoral integrity in African Union member states. 

The underlying methodology of the Action is the AHEAD approach – Action for a Holistic Electoral Approach for Democracy – which focuses on follow-up to election observation recommendations to advocate for democratic accountability. This approach goes beyond traditional technical election support, and connects with longer-term democracy support strategies.

This will be done by:

• Strengthening the capacities of CSOs to collaborate in regional and continental networks on matters of democratic governance, particularly on election observation and follow-up;
• Reinforcing the capacity of domestic citizen observer groups to meaningfully observe electoral and democratic processes;
• Increasing the evidence base on the state of democratic governance and civic space in the African Union member states;
• Reinvigorating spaces for dialogue, coordination and collaboration on electoral observation and follow-up, between CSOs, citizen observers and other stakeholders;
• Launching, accelerating and upscaling civic initiatives on monitoring, observation, dialogue and/or advocacy, incorporating tested civic tech solutions as needed.

This project aims at fostering a more inclusive and transparent democracy in Liberia. Based on EPD’s specific AHEAD approach – Action for a Holistic Electoral Approach for Democracy – to work holistically on electoral components to promote wider democratic reforms, it focuses on supporting the institutional capacity of the Liberian National Election Commission (NEC) in engaging with all stakeholders engaged in the country’s 2023 elections. The project is carried out in complementarity with the UNDP-led support to the NEC.

It mainly aims to:

• Enhance the overall NEC capacity of implementing more regular and transparent communication mechanisms for political parties, CSOs, key electoral actors and strategic partners; and
• Facilitate a steady information flow for the wider stakeholder community through regular information mechanisms.