In news– India has been unanimously elected as the new Chair of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) for 2022-2024.
About AAEA-
- AAEA was conceived to promote and institutionalize open and transparent elections, independent and impartial election authorities, professionalization of Asian election authorities, citizen participation in the electoral and civic process, information sharing, and the development of resources for election-related information and research.
- It was established in 1998, in pursuance of the resolution passed by participants of the Symposium on Asian Elections in the 21st Century held from January 26-29, 1997 in Manila, Philippines.
- The AAEA aims to provide a non-partisan forum in the Asian region for sharing experiences and best practices among election authorities to discuss and act upon ways to promote open and transparent elections to support good governance and democracy.
- AAEA is also an Associate Member of the 118 member Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB).
- Currently, 20 Asian EMBs are members of AAEA.
- The new members of the Executive Board now include Russia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
- The members of AAEA include: India, Russia, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, S. Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a founding member of the Election Management Body (EMB) of the AAEA.
- India also served on the Executive Board of the AAEA as the Vice-Chair during 2011-13 and Chaired during 2014-16.
- The decision of electing a new chair was taken at the recently held meeting of the Executive Board and General Assembly in Manila, Philippines.
India’s association with AAEA-
- In India, India International Institute for Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) has been regularly conducting International Training Programmes which are attended by the officials from many AAEA member countries.
- Since 2019, more than 250 officials from AAEA member countries have attended these programmes.
- Further, IIIDEM also conducts customized capacity development training programs for specific AAEA member countries.
- Delegates from AAEA have also been regularly participating in the International Election Visitors Programme organised by Election Commission of India.
- 62 officials from 12 AAEA members participated in the 3rd International Virtual Election Visitors Programme (IEVP) hosted by ECI during Assembly Elections in 2022.
Further reading: https://journalsofindia.com/association-of-world-election-bodies-a-web/
Source: AIR
