| Attendance of the 23rdGeneral Assembly of ACEEEO and international consultation to promote A-WEB as an international organization | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Last updated 2014-09-25 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Attendance of the 23rdGeneral Assembly of ACEEEO and
On September 4, 2014, A-WEB Secretary General Kim Yong-Hi delivered a congratulatory speech at the 23rd Annual Conference and General Assembly meeting of the Association of European Electoral Officials (ACEEEO) held in Bucharest, Romania for 3 days. About 100 electoral officials from the European countries and representatives from IFES, IIDEA, UN, and EC attended. In his Congratulatory speech at the opening ceremony, Secretary General Kim congratulated the organizers of the 23rd Annual Conference and General Assembly meeting of ACEEEO. He thanked ACEEEO for its support and cooperation with A-WEB. He noted and welcomed the idea of the Romanian Permanent Electoral Authority to establish European regional office in Bucharest, Romania adding that he will be looking to establish A-WEB local offices in each continent in the future. In his speech the Secretary General Kim urged member countries Commissions for their support and cooperation in converting A-WEB to an international organization. The Electoral Commission of South Africa, Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania expressed their strong support and cooperation on the initiative. In addition, 3 countries (Azerbaijan, Hungary and Ukraine) expressed their intention to join A-WEB as members.
The main theme of the 23rd ACEEEO General Assembly was “PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN ELECTORAL PROCESS AND PUBLIC LIFE” and “PLANNING OF A GENERAL ELECTION”. Participants discussed and presented unique case studies of their individual Countries and Continents. In a meeting with representatives from Ace- project, Secretary General Kim discussed getting into an MOU for cooperation in sharing of election data and election calendar with Ace-project. Further he held talks with the president of IFES, Bill Sweeney about co-hosting of training program and they discussed about developing a suitable common program. Additionally, Secretary General Kim discussed with Tadjoudine Ali-Diabactee, Deputy Director of United Nations’ Electoral Assistance Division about sending instructors through the UN election support program. During the General Assembly, A-WEB co-hosted an international seminar with ACEEEO under the topic “Global and Regional Trends in Election.” A-WEB Senior Advisor Paul De Gregorio and AWEB System Manager Jang Jung-Ae who chaired the second session of the International Seminar introduced A-WEB and its projects undertaking and the Election Visitor Program on local elections recently held on the 4th of June in the Republic of Korea.
After the ACEEEO General Assembly, A-WEB delegation visited Paris and Strasbourg for talks with the major some European institutions. Secretary General Kim visited Conseil Constitutionnel of France and held a meeting with Marc Guillaume the Secretary General of the Constitutional Council, where he requested for French support and cooperation in the process of converting A-WEB to be an international organization. In a meeting with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, the Secretary General Kim mentioned that the cooperation of A-WEB and Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie is indispensable for Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie who enjoys a membership of 32 Francophone countries in A-WEB and occupies the largest portion of the single language area. He also proposed collaboration between A-WEB and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie for the work of French-speaking countries in Africa and Asia. Christopophe Guilhou, Director of Peace, Human rights, and Democracy, responded that the cooperation was a good idea and that he looks forward to a flexible and agile cooperation and to contributing to the development of electoral democracy in Francophone countries through the partnership of Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and A-WEB. Mr. Kim visited Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He proposed to make joint efforts of the institutions for the development of electoral democracy as out of A-WEB members, for European countries have a significant position in A-WEB. The both institutions expressed the hope to find a common ground for a joint project within the border of the EU.
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