EU funded project to promote democratic process and good governance |12 August 2016
A European Union funded project for the Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles has been launched with the aim of promoting the democratic process and good governance in Seychelles.
The project, called ‘Building capacity for citizens’ participation in the democratic process and good governance in Seychelles’, was officially launched on Wednesday evening at the Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles (Ceps) conference room, Orion Mall.
Through this project Ceps intends to increase fairness, transparency and civic participation in the democratic election process in Seychelles.
It aims at building civic awareness and capacity in order to ensure civic participation and increasing fairness, ethics and transparency in the electoral process via civic education and training.
The project will cost 100,000 Euros and will last for twelve months.
The expected outcomes of the project are that 15 people are trained in civic education with special emphasis on election process; 75% of electorate of the 25 districts of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue are significantly educated on human rights, good governance and voter’s rights; information, education and communication (print and electronic) materials are developed for awareness and educational activities; 50 local election observers are updated on election processes; 50 more local election observers are trained and certified to observe the electoral process effectively, adding to the existing trained observers from CDWS and ARID and six days’ training of all political parties on their rights and obligations in the electoral process as well as on changes in relation to the electoral reform.
Present at the launch were the British high commissioner to Seychelles Caron Röhsler, whose country is the current head of the EU; French ambassador to Seychelles Lionnel Majesté-Larrouy, also representing the EU; Ceps chief executive Marcel Rosalie; Ceps chairperson Jules Hoareau and other officials of Ceps; Citizens Democracy Watch Seychelles (CDWS), the Association for Rights Information & Democracy (ARID), The VOICE – Seychelles and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Remarking that the involvement of citizens in the democratic process is guaranteed under the Constitution, Mr Hoareau said Ceps believes it should not just remain so but as the civil society platform they should take every effort to make sure that they facilitate the participation of all citizens in the process.
“As we are in the campaigning period of the forthcoming parliamentary election, we believe it is an opportune time to start talking about it, start educating citizens on their role in this process,” he said.
Presenting the project to the audience, Monica Servina, commissioner for Gender, Rights & Governance, described it as a significant contribution in strengthening the democratic process in Seychelles.
She explained Ceps embarked on this project because it took into account the fact that the electoral reform process was completed in 2013; the presidential election took place in 2015; there was apathy at voters’ registration; new political parties have emerged; there were allegations of bad practices, as well as the court case ruling on last year’s presidential election.
“Ceps believes there is room for improvement in the participation of the citizens in the electoral process. In collaboration with three of its members – ARID, CDWS and The VOICE – Ceps initiated the project which will be funded by the European Union,” she said.
Delivering her message on behalf of the European Union as the UK holds the presidency, HC Röhsler said following Seychelles-EU political dialogue on democracy, rule of law and human rights held in June, she said progress during the 2015 presidential election process was evident and congratulated the people of Seychelles for their conduct.
But at the same time, she noted there is room for improvement for the electoral process in any country and improving people’s understanding of their rights and responsibility in the democratic process is an ongoing task in any country.
“Through the programme being launched today, the European Union will contribute towards increasing fairness, transparency and civic education in voters in the democratic electoral process in Seychelles,” she said.