UNITED NATIONS JOINS REGIONAL, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT CODE OF COMMON STANDARDS FOR ELECTION MONITORING

UNITED NATIONS JOINS REGIONAL, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT

CODE OF COMMON STANDARDS FOR ELECTION MONITORING

Secretary-General Lauds New Guidelines as Aid to Democratic Process;

‘Tremendous Achievement’, says Former United States President Jimmy Carter

NEW YORK, 27 October (Department of Political Affairs)-- With international election observers playing a critical role in helping nations around the world to strengthen democracy and consolidate peace, the United Nations joined today with nearly two dozen regional and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in endorsing a first-ever set of common standards governing their work.  

Secretary-General Kofi Annan was flanked at the signing ceremony at UN Headquarters by former United States President Jimmy Carter (on behalf of The Carter Center), former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (on behalf of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs), as well as the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza.  Senior representatives of the other endorsing organizations were also present at today’s event.

Secretary-General Annan said the presence of international election observers was able to make a big difference in ensuring that elections genuinely moved the democratic process forward.  The opportunity to assist, however, carried with it a great responsibility, the Secretary-General added:  “And that, in essence”, he said, “is the spirit of today’s initiative -- to ensure that election observers are always making a positive contribution.”

The Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and a Code of Conduct for International Observers endorsed at UN Headquarters today brings participating observer groups for the first time under a common set of standards for professional and effective observation. 

“We have accomplished a tremendous achievement in crafting this Declaration of Principles and Code of Conduct”, former President Carter said.  “This is something that’s long overdue.”

Among its many provisions, endorsing organizations commit themselves to act impartially; to monitor all stages of the election process, and not just the day of the election; and to accept no funding from the host Government.

The common standards also establish prerequisites for observation, such as freedom of movement, freedom to make public statements and free access to information.  Organizations also undertake carefully to select and train members of the observation team, ensuring that they have no political bias that might affect their judgment.  Each and every observer is asked to adhere to a Code of Conduct.

Former Secretary of State Albright said the new guidelines would prove “indispensable” to the work of international election monitors, whose services, she predicted, would continue to be needed years to come.  “Democracies need referees”, she said.

The Declaration is also explicit in committing organizations never to send an election observation mission to a country if its presence would be interpreted as giving legitimacy to an election that is clearly not democratic.  

Secretary-General Annan said “Credible elections can be a crucial step in the transition from war to peace.  However, unfair or fraudulent elections can become detonators of conflict.  Elections can also be misused by those wanting to create an appearance of democracy without permitting its substance.”

The effort to devise common guidelines for international election observation was motivated in part by the proliferation and diversity of organizations now participating in this important activity.  Work on the Declaration of Principles and Draft Code of Conduct began two years ago, as a joint initiative of the Electoral Assistance Division of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs, the Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute. 

The following organizations have now endorsed the Declaration of Principles and its accompanying Code of Conduct:  African Union; Asian Network for Free Elections; the Carter Center; Inter-American Institute for Human Rights; Commonwealth Secretariat; Electoral Institute of Southern Africa; European Network of Electoral Monitoring Organizations; Electoral Reform International Services; European Commission; Francophonie; IFES, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance; Inter-parliamentary Union; International Republican Institute; National Democratic Institute; Organization of American States; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; Parliamentary Assembly - Council of Europe; Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand Electoral Administrators Network; Pacific Island Forum; the Southern Africa Development Community - Parliamentary Forum; and the Venice Commission.

Other organizations active in electoral observation were invited today to endorse the new standards. 

In his remarks, Secretary-General Annan, noted the active role of the United Nations throughout its history in promoting credible elections around the world.  “It is a story interwoven with that of the United Nations itself”, he said.

The United Nations was first called upon to observe elections in 1947 on the Korean peninsula.  Through the era of trusteeship and decolonization, the United Nations supervised and observed plebiscites, referenda and elections worldwide.  UN-monitored elections were key elements of the transitions to peace in places such as Namibia, Cambodia, and Central America -- and in helping bring about an end to apartheid, the Secretary-General said.  He added that today, the United Nations rarely fields its own observers.  This task, he said, is more commonly carried out by regional organizations and international NGOs, frequently in conjunction with national observer groups.  But electoral assistance remains a strategic and high-profile activity of the Organization, particularly in nations emerging from conflict or undergoing fragile political transitions -- from Afghanistan to Burundi to Iraq. 

For further information please visit the United Nations website on electoral assistance:  http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ead/eadhome.htm, or contact:  Jared Kotler, Public Information and External Relations Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, tel.:  917-367-5264, e-mail: kotler@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record