Innov-Elections is the concept drafted and copyrighted by ECES in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. In order to continue delivering electoral assistance activities based on the comparative experience of ECES experts and partners in the field, further enhancing the contextualization of the training programmes to the local realities affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

The Innov-Elections project draws from this innovative approach through funding from the Directorate General for Global Affairs of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Officially launched on 15 December 2020 as part of the announcement by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of its "Partnership with Africa" policy document, the Innov-Elections project was developed in collaboration with the Sant' Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa (SSSA) and implemented with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).  

Innov-Elections project is built around four main areas:

1.    Optimize the COVID-19 confinement by enhancing the potential of electoral stakeholders;

2.    Boost youth and women’s roles and participation in the management of elections;

3.    Enhance electoral stakeholders’ leadership, conflict and quality management capacities;

4.    Contribute to the digitalization of electoral processes.

Since its launch in December 2020, the impact of the Innov-Elections project extends to a total of 35 beneficiary countries and more than 1,088 person representatives of Electoral Management Bodies in Africa, delivering activities in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic. This number is comprehensive of the 901 people reached through the ECES’ Live Coaching sessions and the 187 that are currently attending the Master online on Electoral Policy and Administration that we deliver in collaboration with Sant’Anna University. 

 The countries involved are:

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, CAR, DRC, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania/Zanzibar, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.