EISA support in DRC

The overall objective of EISA’s DRC electoral programme is to help enhance the capacity of key election stakeholders to participate in the process of designing Congo’s institutional, constitutional and legal frameworks, with a view to ensuring that the new political institutions, the new constitution, the electoral system and relevant laws contribute to the prevention of violent conflict and the consolidation of peace and democracy. The field office in the DRC was eventually and unanimously entrusted with the task of establishing and coordinating interactions between the Constitutional Commission and all the other international organisations and institutions operating in the DRC. EISA co-ordinated the expertise, both national and international, provided to the Constitutional Commission’s Drafting Committee, whose mission was to prepare the draft constitution. Finally, EISA helped arrange the deployment of a group of senators to South Africa to observe the April 2004 elections. This was an opportunity for senators to learn from electoral experiences and meet with other stakeholders in the SADC region.