Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The Election Commission of India (ECI) is scheduled to host the 4th General Assembly of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) at Bengaluru on September 3, 2019. India will take over as A-WEB’s Chair for the 2019-21 term. Over 50 countries across the globe will join the meeting at Bengaluru from September 2 to 4, 2019. An International Conference on “Initiatives and Challenges of Social Media and Information Technology in Elections” will also be held on September 4, 2019.
The Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) is the largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide. A-WEB was established on October 14, 2013 in Song-do, South Korea. The permanent secretariat of A-WEB is located at Seoul.
A-WEB’s vision is to foster efficiency and effectiveness in conducting free, fair, transparent and participative elections worldwide. Its activities are guided by its mission to identify latest trends, challenges and developments in democratic electoral management and electoral processes, and to facilitate appropriate exchange of experience and expertise among members with the objective of strengthening electoral democracy worldwide.
The Election Commission of India has been very closely associated with the process of formation of A-WEB since 2011-12. ECI has been its Executive Board Member since AWEB’s inception in October 2013 for two consecutive terms (2013-15 and 2015-17). At the last A-WEB General Assembly held in Bucharest on August 31, 2017, Romania took over as Chair and ECI was unanimously elected as Vice-Chair of A-WEB 2017-19. India is all set to take over as Chair now for the 2019-21 term, according to a PIB release.
At present A-WEB has 115 EMBs as Members & 20 Regional Associations/Organisations as Associate Members. Twenty-four EMBs from Asia, 37 from Africa, 31 from America, 17 from Europe & 6 from Oceania presently are members of A WEB. The ECI will continue to remain on the Executive Board of A-WEB for 2021-23 in its capacity as immediate former Chair of A-WEB.