NEBE Accredits 143 CSOs to Provide Voter Education for the 7th General Election

The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) accredited 143 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that will provide voter education for the 7th General Election. Teklit Yimsel, a member of the Board, stated in his opening speech that, in order to ensure the voting base has enough knowledge, the role of civil society is indispensable in providing all-inclusive education that is participatory and transparent. He stressed that the education must be available in all languages to reach everyone, with a particular focus on women and persons with disabilities. Leaders of the CSOs and their trainers must be independent of any political activity, and these organizations must ensure that the trainers have the required knowledge to provide the education, Teklit said. The Board has prepared a training manual, and the education will be monitored in accordance with the Voter Education Accreditation and Code of Conduct Directive, he emphasized.

In line with accrediting the CSOs, a basic onboarding briefing conducted by the Board’s experts has taken place regarding NEBE’s mandate and legal frameworks related to Civic and Voter Education, the roles and responsibilities of accredited CSOs in voter education activities, and guidance on inclusivity, outreach strategies, and ethical conduct.

While appreciating the Board's efforts in conducting pre-election activities, the participant expressed their concern about the timeliness of providing every training material in Braille, expanding the Board’s monitoring, and increasing the number of languages in which the educational materials are prepared.

Following the experts' addressing of the concerns of the participants, the Board’s Chairperson, Melatwork Hailu, explained the Board's efforts to enhance CSOs and expand Civic and Voter Education in her closing speech. While affirming that the Board will continue to support the CSOs to the best of its capacity, she encouraged the CSOs to collaborate on mapping efforts to divide labor effectively and reach all eligible voters inclusively. 'The Board is developing a system that enables incident reporting, in addition to the Board's series of monitoring team assessments on the ground,' she said. Melat stressed that the CSOs should not limit their educational efforts to encouraging IDPs to be voters, but also to become candidates.

The Board is mandated by the Ethiopian Electoral and Political Parties Registration and Election Code of Conduct Proclamation 1162/2019 to accredit legally registered local civil society organizations or accredited higher learning institutions that work on elections and related matters.