The African Elections Project was selected to be a part of 33 key projects out of 223 innovative projects submitted from around the globe and joined the rest of selected projects to participate in the World Bank Innovation Fair held in South Africa from the 12 – 15 of April with one of its partners International Institute for Sustainable Development.
The main theme for the occasion was "Innovation Fair: Moving beyond conflict" with a focus on two critical challenges of development in fragile states namely Communications for Governance and Service Delivery and Conflict and Violence Prevention. This initiative is directed towards uncovering a long lasting route to peace and security across the world by soliciting ideas from participating organizations. Selected participants came from over 40 countries which included India, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Yemen, DR Congo, Guinea-Bissau and Kenya.
This African Elections Project (AEP) was chosen for its work in the area of Communication for Governance and Service Delivery because of its innovative use of social media to develop capacity and monitor governance process prior to, during and after the elections. The project leverages the free, fair and unbiased media and the crucial role they play in elections such as providing impartial information thereby contributing to peace building during elections. .
Kwami Ahiabenu II, the representative for the African Elections Project opined that "the fair provided a platform for the exchange of ideas on how to replicate one project in a different context and how to improve ideas based on experience to reduce conflict conditions or the fear of a potential conflict.
The African Elections Project is aimed at developing the capacity of the media in ICTs in elections coverage while stimulating the provision of elections information and knowledge via its portal www.africanelections.org and other new media tools. African Elections Project has so far covered elections in Ghana, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Botswana, Togo, and Namibia with planned coverage of Cote d'Ivoire, Niger and Guinea in the pipe line. The project is coordinated by the International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) working hand in hand with key partners www.osisa.org and www.osiwa.org .
Signed
Jerry Sam, Project Manager,
http://www.africanelections.org/
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