Project profile — Electoral Transition Support - Building capacity of Domestic Observation & Women's Participation

The objective of the Electoral Transition Support envelope of $19.5 million is to contribute to national efforts to strengthen democracy and good governance in Haiti. It supports the organization of free, transparent, and fair elections during electoral processes. It includes technical and material support to the Electoral Council and other key national electoral bodies, and a responsive fund that supports local electoral observation and public awareness programs that encourage Haitians to participate in elections. There are several components and various implementing partners of this initiative. Some activities are implemented by civil society organizations in Haiti, and others offer technical support such as that provided by Elections Canada to Haitian authorities for the organization and management of electoral processes. For the elections in 2015, one component provides support through the National Democratic Institute to build capacity for local electoral observation and for women's political participation.

• Strengthened capacity of neutral Haitian election observers to implement systematic observation methodologies and address gender equality issues. • Targeted political parties develop a better understanding of the importance of the political participation of women. • Targeted political parties identify initiatives and strategies to integrate women as leaders in their structure. • Women obtain the tools and capacities needed to become candidates for public office, in addition to organizers and officials in political parties.

Results achieved as of march 2016 include: (1) capacities of the Jurimedia Haitian NGO were built to develop the information management databases needed to register the observers; (2) over 2,000 observers were recruited, 38% of whom were women;.(3) the use of reliable, statistically-based information was introduced in contrast to the more traditional reporting of anecdotal information. This contributed to a more transparent, inclusive and credible election process; (4) two training cycles at the Académie de Leadership Politique (ALP) were completed, and the graduates include 72 women activists and candidates from seven of the most important political parties; and (5) a total of 27 of these women subsequently ran for office, a significant increase over previous years. To date, no women have succeeded in being elected to Parliament, although two, one for the Senate and one for the House of Deputies, are awaiting their final round at the polls; and (6) a national public opinion survey conducted by the project obtained data to help political parties target voters, and provide women candidates with effective messaging to overcome barriers to them being elected.