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Policy Dialogue on Elections in Africa hosted by UNDP and International IDEA

02 December 2024

14:15- 16:45 GMT+3

UNDP Regional Service Center for Africa, Addis Ababa and Online

electoral processes

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Electoral Processes

Governance and Peacebuilding in African Elections

The UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa, in partnership with International IDEA, will convene a policy dialogue in Addis Ababa to examine and explore ways to make elections more meaningful to African citizens beyond the ballot.

2024 has been billed as the “super elections” year due to the number of elections taking place. At least 3.7 billion people, almost half of the world population in at least 72 countries, will participate in elections, most of them for the first time.

The hybrid policy dialogue will bring together policymakers, representatives of the diplomatic corps, Civil Society Organisations, Election Management Bodies, and academia.

However, in Africa, every year is a super-election year as the continent holds the most significant number of elections in the world. In a rather dynamic calendar, more than 20 countries are scheduled to hold elections in 2024 in Africa. Despite the mixed democratic quality of electoral processes in Africa, the appetite for democracy remains high. International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy (GSOD) 2023 Report indicates that across every region of the world, democracy has continued to contract, with declines in at least one indicator of democratic performance in half of the countries.

This event is being organised within the framework of the global Memorandum of Understanding between International IDEA and the UNDP.