Deepening Democracy and Election Support

Results achieved as of July 2014 include: (1) providing support to train and deploy 10 500 election observers in hotspot areas throughout the country; (2) supporting the National Human Rights Commission to train 750 election security police officers 500 Nigerian security defense corps and 150 military and road safety officers during the Presidential Elections in April 2011; (3) organizing a conference to share knowledge on best practices and lessons learned in organizing and conducting elections in March 2012 (with the participation of election management bodies from 22 countries in Africa); (4) supporting a skill enhancement and capacity building training session for 112 electoral officers for the Summer 2014 gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun states and for the February 2015 general elections; (5) organizing an event to validate the draft National Youth Agenda on political participation developed by youth leaders of political parties; (6) supporting the participation of 77 political party leaders in workshops to develop a Joint Memorandum on the Constitutional Review that articulated the views of participants on issues they would like to see amended in the Constitution; (7) developing a training manual to improve the ability of states and civil society organizations to strengthen their engagement in democratic processes; (8) supporting the Ministry of Justice to publish 12 000 copies of the reviewed guidelines for the Freedom of Information Act reporting for ministries and agencies; and (9) promoting awareness among the public and civil society by supporting public advocacy and developing information and communication materials to aid popularization of the Freedom of Information Act. These results are contributing to improving electoral reform processes and the functioning of key electoral and democratic institutions in Nigeria.