As part of its mandate to promote free, transparent, and credible elections in the West African region, the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commission (ECONEC) is deploying a hybrid post-election follow-up and needs assessment mission to Cotonou, Benin, from September 15 to 21, 2024.

The Mission is comprised of the President of Senegal’s Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA), a representative of Côte d’Ivoire’s Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), the Head of ECOWAS’ Electoral Assistance Division (EAD), who is also ECONEC Permanent Secretary, and three experts from ECONEC Permanent Secretariat, IDEA and EISA.

The mission aims to assess the state of implementation of the recommendations of the last ECOWAS electoral observation mission during the April 2021 Presidential Election and the technical and material needs of stakeholders in the run-up to the 2026 presidential election.

To this end, the mission will hold meetings with the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA), the administration, political parties and civil society organizations to understand their views and commitment to implementing the recommended reforms.

The ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) is the umbrella organization for electoral management bodies (EMBs) in West Africa. It was created in February 2008 to promote free, fair, and credible elections. The network was inspired by the ECOWAS Declaration of Political Principles, which was adopted by the ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State and Government in 1991.