EU assistance to Indonesia's general election
EU assistance to Indonesia's general election
To assist Indonesia in its electoral process, the EC is making available a euro (EUR) 7 million (US$ 7 7 million) support package, through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) The objective is to contribute to ensure the fullest possible involvement of civil society at each stage of the electoral process and to observe the process itself by providing assistance to independent national monitoring groups
The support package will comprise two components
Component One: Support to civil society groups (CSGs) and non- governmental organizations (NGOs) will provide financial and technical assistance to the CSGs/NGOs for election-related interventions -- preelection, polling day and postelection monitoring, voter education and media assistance
The UNDP, together with the EC Representation in Jakarta will elaborate a framework document specifying the beneficiaries of EC funding and types of actions to be supported Where appropriate, the EC will try to support actions which also receive bilateral funding from EU member states
The main part of Component One's budget will support national monitoring efforts given the importance the EU attaches to those efforts Potential beneficiaries so far are the two established monitoring groups that gained monitoring experience during the last elections: KIPP and SBSI This will have a long-term impact since it will strengthen their capacities for future elections Other groups like voter education NGOs and media-related groups are also under funding consideration
Component Two: European Observation Unit will comprise a core team plus 30 long-term and 60 short-term observers from EU member states
The core team will be responsible for logistical preparation and operational and financial aspects related to the deployment of observers to be funded out of the support package It will provide the same facilities to any additional observers to be funded by EU member states or the European Parliament, and will undertake coordination with all activities funded under Component One.
Long-term observers will stay from 45 days to 75 days, to observe the whole electoral process until the final result is published Short-term observers will stay for 15 days, on polling day itself and a short period around it Close collaboration with national monitoring organizations will be ensured countrywide
Together with bilateral contributions from EU member states, total EU contribution to the electoral process will be between $14 million and $15 million, making the EU the third-biggest provider of electoral assistance.