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Support to the Zambian Electoral Cycle (2009-2012)

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Project Document

Strengthening Electoral Process in Zambia: Support to the Electoral Cycle 2009-2012

ZMB10/00071651

Republic of Zambia

UNDP Zambia


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Government of Zambia

United Nations Development Programme

Title of Project

Strengthening Electoral Process in Zambia:

Support to the 2009-2012 Electoral Cycle

Brief description

The Project aims at providing support for strengthening the electoral process in Zambia by supporting capacity development of the Electoral Commission of Zambia, national institutions and civil society organizations in organizing and managing the electoral process. In particular the project will support three distinctive actors. These are (1) the Electoral Commission of Zambia, (2) the Department of National Registration of the Ministry of Home Affairs and (3) Non-State actors. The overall support provided is targeted at improvements in: (i) institutional capacity development of ECZ, (ii) implementation of a continuous voter registration; (iii) digitalization of civil registry, (iv) review of legislative framework, (v) facilitate participation of women in electoral processes, (vi) enhance effective media monitoring mechanisms, (vii) enhance civic, voter education and domestic observation programmes and (viii) enhance political parties’ capacities.


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ACRONYMS

ACC AFIS

Anti Corruption Commission Automated Fingerprint Identification System

AU BRIDGE

African Union Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections

COMESA CSO

Community of Eastern and Southern Africa Civil Society Organization

DNRPC Department of National Registration, Passports and Citizenships

EC

ECZ

European Commission

Electoral Commission of Zambia EIMS

EISA EMB

Electoral Information Management System

Electoral Institute of Southern Africa Electoral Management Body

EU European Union

ICCPR ICT

IDEA

International Convention on Civil and Political Rights Information & Communication Technology

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

JTF

NCC NDI

Joint Task Force

National Constitutional Conference National Democratic Institute for International Affairs

NGO NRC

Non-Governmental Organization National Registration Card

OMR

SC

Optical Mark Recognition

Steering Committee SADC

ToT TST UNDP

UNDPA

Southern African Development Community

Training of Trainers Technical Support Team United Nations Development Programme

United Nations Department of Political Affairs ZCID Zambian Centre for Inter-party Dialogue

ACRONYMS


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CONTENTS

TITLE OF PROJECT......................................................................................... 1

ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................... 2

CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ 3

I. SITUATION ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 5

II. PAST SUPPORT .................................................................................. 10

III. STRATEGY AND PROJECT JUSTIFICATION .............................. 12

IV. NATIONAL STRATEGY ...................................................................... 14

V. PROJECT STRATEGY ......................................................................... 15

VI. PROJECT ACTIVITIES ...................................................................... 16

1. Enhanced organizational effectiveness and efficiency of ECZ .................................17 2. Continuous voter registration ..............................................................................................20 3. Support to the Department of National Registration, Passports and Citizenship (DNRPC) .....................................................................................................................................................25 4. Legislative reviews process supported in line with revised Constitution .............31 5. Enhanced Female Participation in the Electoral Process ............................................32 6. Capacity of Media actors’ enhanced and effective media monitoring mechanisms in place .............................................................................................................................33 7. Civic, Voter education and domestic observation programmes enhanced .........34 8. Political Parties Capacity Enhanced ............................................................................................36

VII. PROJECT BENEFICIARIES .............................................................. 38

VIII. LOGICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................... 39

IX. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS ... 49

X. AUDITING ............................................................................................ 54

XI. REPORTING ............................................................................................. 54

XII. MONITORING AND EVALUATION.................................................. 54

XIII. LEGAL CONTEXT ................................................................................ 55

XIV. RISKS .................................................................................................... 55

XV. PROJECT WORK PLAN,BUDGET & REPORTING TIMELINE . 57


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XVI. BUDGET SUMMARY: SOURCES OF FUNDS ................................ 57

XVII.REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS & TIMELINE................... 58-59

XVIII. SIGNATURE PAGE ........................................................................... 60


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I. Situation Analysis The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) was established under Articles 76 (I) and (II) of the Constitution of Zambia and has the mandate to organize

national elections.

The 2006 Tripartite Elections took place against a background of

proposed reforms to the electoral system. After the disputed 2001

elections and subsequent loss of confidence in the management of the elections, the government appointed an Electoral Reform Technical

Committee, and a Constitutional Review Commission to review the electoral and legal framework. Numerous recommendations were

made but not all were incorporated into the new Electoral Act No. 12 of 2006, under which the tripartite elections were finally conducted.

The Electoral Act was revised in 2006 for a strengthened mandate of

the ECZ to independently manage elections in Zambia. Among other issues, the Act empowers the ECZ to:

Conduct elections;

Make regulations providing for the registration of voters; Maintain and update the voters‘ roll on a continuous basis;

Conduct voter education;

Manage electoral conflicts and election petitions.

The Act also introduced stiffer penalties for corruption, illegal practices and election offences. Although not perfect, the Act provides a

sufficient framework for the Commission to consolidate and build upon its achievements of 2006.

The Electoral Act, supplemented by comprehensive new electoral

regulations which included the revised Code of Conduct provided a conducive environment for the Commission to exercise greater

autonomy and leadership in managing elections, increasing transparency and improving public confidence in the overall process,

as recognized by international and domestic observers.

The Commission was also able to enforce the Electoral Act and the

Electoral Code of Conduct which led, for example, to the prosecution of individuals that registered as voters more than once. Furthermore, the

Commission prescribed the weekly television coverage of presidential candidates during the campaign period. These developments positively

impacted on improving public confidence in the electoral process and


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the effectiveness of the support that the Commission received for the

2006 elections, from cooperating partners.

Other aspects that exhibited marked improvements include:

a record number of registered voters (3.9 million) ; a voter turnout of 75% of the registered voters;

efficient organization of polling day activities; adequate election materials, timely distribution of election

materials; and the introduction of a comprehensive voter education campaign

which reached more than 1 million people.

Not all innovations were successfully implemented or tested due to time constraints. A number of modules of the Electoral Information

Management System (EIMS) were within this category. As a result a

small number of voters had their names omitted from the register despite having verified their details. The results management system

was used as a backup rather than the main source of data. These are some of the shortcomings of organizing elections as an event rather

than following the electoral cycle approach.

Owing to the overall improved environment and management of elections by the Commission, the 2006 elections were widely praised

by international observers, national monitors, and other stakeholders. The EU Electoral Observer Mission Final Report states:

‘The conduct of the tripartite elections demonstrated improvement in

comparison to the elections of 2001. The high turnout on Election Day suggests a strong commitment of the people of Zambia to further the

democratic development of their country. Overall, the elections were

marked by increased transparency and confidence in the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) throughout most of the electoral

process, a generally successful voter education campaign, a pluralistic campaign environment in which freedom of assembly was respected,

as well as active participation in the electoral process from numerous civil society groups’.

However, notwithstanding these remarkable achievements, the

international and domestic observer groups issued a series of recommendations as follows:


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It would be advisable to consolidate and simplify all election-

related legal instruments into one uniform and consistent law for all elections;

The ECZ should aim to become a more independent autonomous body in terms of the appointment of its members, its funding

and performance; All electoral stakeholders should be encouraged and supported in

their efforts to promote the role of women in political life; The tabulation and transmission of results should be improved;

The regulatory framework for the Media should be improved; Coordination between the Ministry of Home Affairs‘ Department

of National Registration Passport and Citizenship (DNRPC) and the ECZ should be enhanced so that all eligible citizens are

issued with a Zambian citizens‘ National Registration Card (NRC) before voter registration. To this end, the DNRPC should be

supported to computerize its operations;

During the post 2006 period, the ECZ continued therefore to grapple

with a series of shortcomings identified by various post-election evaluations and assessments commissioned both by the ECZ and the

donor community. These valuable exercises resulted in the drawing of a series of recommendations outlining the need to shift technical

assistance from an event-driven perspective to a long-term approach, encompassing the entire electoral cycle while addressing the identified

election administrations that needed development in a more systemic manner.

As part of knowledge management and collating lessons learnt, the

Commission with the support of cooperating partners contracted the SADC Parliamentary Forum and IDEA to carry out a midterm review of

the 2006 Elections Trust Fund and audit of the 2006 elections process

respectively. In addition, the Commission also carried out an internal review of the 2006 elections. These exercises together with other

independent research studies such as the one by the Steadman Group in which 1500 people were interviewed country wide, resulted in the

drawing of the following main lessons:

It is important for external support to be extended to ECZ early for capacity development;

High priority should be placed on longer term support to enhance the capacity of the Commission, to ensure early preparation for

supporting the constitutional review process and the 2011 elections.


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Priority should be accorded to enhancing the integrity of the

register. Coordination between ECZ and the DNRPC is instrumental in

increasing the number of registered voters. The ECZ would benefit from an advocacy and communication

strategy that addresses Election Day issues and those of a preparatory nature which fall in between elections.

Efficiency gains could be made through improvements in logistics and planning capacities.

For increased effectiveness, voter education should be implemented on a continuous basis at community level as well

as in schools, electronic and print media. There are significant time gains and transaction cost reductions

to be achieved through implementation of coordinated development assistance.

A deliberate effort to invest in capacity building of CSOs to better

engage stakeholders in promoting gender equity can positively contribute to an increased participation of women as candidates

and voters.

In addition to the above lessons, eight strategic areas were recommended as capacity development priorities, for maintaining the

momentum and ensuring the transition of elections as events into elections as processes that continue even between two elections.

Further, these areas would be even more urgent if the referendum on the Zambian Constitution Review Process is taken into account.

The eight areas are:

Increase the ECZ‘s organizational effectiveness so as to be able

to respond to emerging challenges in a timely and cost effective

manner; Increase the enfranchisement of potential voters through

increased accuracy of the register and its inclusiveness including strengthening of national institutions with direct impact on the

accuracy of the voters‘ register; Review of the legislative framework;

Increase the participation of women as candidates and as voters;

Access to media by political parties and ECZ media strategy and advocacy;

Enhance civic and voter education; Strengthen capacity of domestic monitors; and

Strengthen capacity of dispute resolution.


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The non systematic issuance of National Registration Cards (NRC) was the single most important variable that adversely affected the

registration of voters and is likely to continue if it goes uncorrected.

After completing an in-depth review served by the numerous reports, evaluations and assessments, the ECZ identified key areas for donor

support, emphasizing continued capacity building to improve the overall performance of its administration of elections, and ultimately

public confidence in the electoral process. The ECZ began to implement some of the measures in January 2008 with resources from

a Preparatory Assistance Project jointly funded by the EC and UNDP.

However, the ECZ had to organise a Presidential Election in 2008 in a very short time frame, which did not allow for all activities to be

implemented in the best possible way. The ECZ was able to cope with

all major activities in an appropriate manner, a fact which was acknowledged by national and international observers. However, two

aspects were singled out as having presented the biggest challenges for the 2008 election. These relate (1) to the electoral registration and

(2) to the media.

With regard to the first aspect, the voters‘ register was not updated for the elections, and therefore the 2006 register was used. Citizens who

had turned 18 years old since 2006 and those who changed their place of residence were de facto disenfranchised. With regard to the media,

it was widely recognised that the state-owned and private media did not adhere to ethical standards and in some cases did not interpret the

electoral process correctly, thereby contradicting the Electoral Code of Conduct on many occasions.

Support to the continuous voter registration and media, which were already part of the support foreseen after 2006, were singled out as

being continued priority activities.

In planning this project, there has been cognisance of the possibility that there will be a referendum in 2010 to adopt a new national

constitution. This relates to the work undertaken by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC). Some of the aspects discussed deal

with the electoral framework and will have serious repercussions on the election preparations. The various partners would need, should this

referendum take place, to evaluate the possibility of providing support to the ECZ if required as done for the 2008 Presidential election.


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Further it should be noted that there will be a census in 2010 due to

two main factors, (i) a census is conducted every 10 years, the previous one was done in 2000; and (ii) it is a requirement under the

legislation on referenda that a census be conducted to estimate the number of eligible voters prior to the referendum1.

II. Past Support

UN involvement in electoral assistance is guided by UN General Assembly Resolution 46/137 of 17 December 1991 and its successor

resolutions, as well as the internal agreement between UNDP and the Department of Political Affairs (UNDPA) of the UN Secretariat commend

UNDP for providing advisory services and technical assistance to Member States, and acknowledge that UNDP plays the lead UN role at

the country level in coordinating donor assistance and the activities of a broader range of international and national actors.

Support to 2006 Elections

Through a UNDP managed Trust Fund, nine cooperating partners namely Canada, the European Commission, Finland, Ireland,

Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United States of America and UNDP provided support for the 2006 Elections. The funds, totalling US$7.3

million supported six key areas as follows:

(i) the development of a Roadmap for the Implementation of the

2006 elections; (ii) establishment of a continuous voter register;

(iii) implementation of civic/voter education programmes with the involvement of civil society;

(iv) engagement of the media in dissemination of electoral information;

(v) documentation of lessons learnt; and, (vi) developing support systems for the coordination of

international observers and training of local election monitors.

The Trust Fund provided a practical example of the harmonization of development cooperation as defined in the Paris and Accra

Declarations on Aid Effectiveness: it was based on a national

programme, implemented by a national institution, and had a national budget. The pooled funding had clear advantages in terms of

improved coordination of activities, targeting resources and expertise,

1 More than 50% of adult population from age 16 onwards are needed to vote in favour of a constitutional amendment


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and lessening the burden on implementing partners. A review of the

Trust Fund, carried out in September 2006, by the SADC Parliamentary Forum concluded that:

‘the (Elections) Trust Fund is widely regarded as an important

institutional mechanism and it can be safely concluded that its interventions are highly relevant and strategic in advancing the

professional management of election-related processes at different stages, namely the pre election phase, voting phase and post election

phases.’

Preparatory Assistance

In 2008 a preparatory Assistance funded by the EC and UNDP was set up with a view to supporting ECZ and DNRPC in addressing capacity

development, and assessments of the DNRPC. Some of the

improvements achieved with this support relate to development and implementation of a curriculum for training and certification of

electoral officials, revisions to the results management system, input to legal reform and training of permanent ECZ staff in electoral

administration. In addition, a needs assessment study of the DNRPC was conducted to elaborate support required by DNRPC for the

creation of a more secure and accurate electronic civil register. Such a register would facilitate the implementation of continuous voter

registration.

Support for the 2008 Presidential Elections

For the 2008 Presidential election, cooperating partners provided similar support to the one extended to the 2006 elections. This support

amounted to USD7.1 Million. In addition to these funds assigned to the

Trust Fund managed by UNDP, various partners engaged in a separate Trust Fund to support activities undertaken by Civil Society

Organisations (CSOs).

Some organizations (AU, SADC, COMESA, etc.) sent election observation missions, while the European Union sent an Election

Expert Mission (EUEEM) to assess the election and support international and domestic observers.


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III. Strategy and Project Justification Since this is now a 'quiet time' in the middle of the election cycle, the project will provide a vehicle for capacity development of national

institutions associated with the Zambian electoral process. In this regard, there would be adequate time to address the pre voting

preparations and post voting strategies of the electoral cycle rather than the voting period (operations)-see Fig. 1. The project will also

provide a platform for dialogue on electoral policies, legal framework and procedures.

In addition the project makes full use of the window of opportunity for

effectively contributing to the on going constitution making process by identifying pieces of legislation that can benefit from experiences from

past Zambian elections and from other countries. The purpose of

electoral assistance in Zambia should be to promote the meaningful and comprehensive participation of voters and all stakeholders in

elections throughout the electoral cycle. This will require a mixture of support to various activities and interventions in support of the

organisation of elections. Agreeing on suitable benchmarks will also be politically important.

Further, improvements to the issuance and the quality of national

registration cards will contribute towards a reduction of potential corrupt practices.

Figure 1-The Electoral Cycle


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Zambia is a signatory to a number of treaty and non treaty electoral

and human rights standards2 notably the ICCPR, the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the African Union Principles for Democratic

Elections (Durban 2002). The ―Electoral Cycle Approach‖ to assistance has been developed by the European Commission and International

IDEA3 and has now been officially adopted by UNDP and the EC. In the last three years many electoral assistance projects managed by UNDP

with EC contributions have followed this approach. In short, this approach views electoral assistance as an ongoing or cyclical activity

rather than being event driven at discrete points in time such as general, by-elections and referenda.

The approach is to provide selected assistance activities throughout the different 8 phases in which the electoral cycle may be divided (see

figure above). Six clear outcomes are discernable with this approach:

increasing participation in the democratic process; developing shared democratic values;

enhancing the integrity and accountability of the process; promoting sound electoral management practices;

efficient use of national resources; and the

2 Zambia has signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Convention of the

Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), but has not signed the Convention on the Elimination of all form of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) or the Convention on the Political Rights of Women (CPRW). 3 See EC Methodological Guide on Electoral Assistance, the IDEA Handbook of Electoral Management and the UNDP

Implementation Guide on Electoral Assistance


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development of desirable synergies with other state institutions.

IV. National Strategy

Zambia has put democratic governance as one of the priorities in the

Fifth National Development Plan 2006-2010 (FNDP-Chapter 31) and thus recognises the importance of achieving national development

objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals. Chapter 31 focuses specifically on constitutionalism, human rights, transparency

and accountability, administration of justice, and democratisation. Therefore, the Zambian Government reiterated its commitment to a

broad programme of good governance, including Constitutional,

Parliamentary, and Electoral Reform.

In this regard, electoral systems represent a crucial element in the

effective promotion of sustainable democratic governance and are recognized as one of the most important ways citizens can participate

in decisions that affect their lives and hold their representatives accountable for results. Further, the citizens have a direct relationship

with a range of issues related to democratic governance such as:

political participation and representation;

access to human rights such as freedom of expression and assembly;

an open public policy dialogue;

active civil society; and

strengthening the rule of law.

Another important aspect is the constitution making process. In this

regard, the government established the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in 2007 which has been discussing amendments to

the Constitution. Parts of these amendments relate to improving the electoral process. It is anticipated that the first draft by the NCC will

be presented in June 2009 and the recommendations passed to Parliament after popular consultations by the end of 2009. These

possible changes will affect the way in which elections are managed in Zambia and will relate therefore directly to the implementation of this

project. It is anticipated that the 2011 elections will be guided by the provisions of the new constitution.


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V. Project Strategy The overall objective of the project is to support capacity development

of the ECZ and DNRPC, related national institutions and the electoral process. This broad objective is expected to increase national capacity

to address emerging national electoral challenges as well as increase the integrity of the electoral process and public confidence in electoral

systems in Zambia. Building on the previous findings, a broader civic

education outreach will be enhanced through the engagement and strengthening of CSOs. Through these, grassroots level participation in

the democratic process will be facilitated along with the wider civic education campaigns. The media as one of the main actors in the

democratic development process will also be supported to increase their professionalism and improve the understanding of the electoral

process. This project will be funded by cooperating partners and the regular governmental budget.

The project strategy will focus on longer term support for the electoral

institutions, systems, and processes that underpin a democratic society. In this regard, the project will address:

Institutional capacity development of ECZ;

Implementation of a continuous voter registration;

Digitalization of civil registry; Review of legislative framework;

Facilitate participation of women in electoral process; Enhance effective media monitoring mechanisms;

Enhance civic and voter education and domestic observation programmes;

Enhance political parties‘ capacities.

A cross-cutting concern will be the fight against corruption in election processes. All activities shall take into consideration appropriate anti-

corruption measures which will in turn improve public confidence in the electoral process. Stakeholders will be involved in anti-corruption

initiatives which will be mainstreamed throughout the implementation of the various elements of the project.


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VI. Project Activities All the activities that will be implemented were planned on a

consultative basis with national stakeholders taking into consideration the previous reports of domestic and international observation

missions as well as international comparative experience linked to the introduction of technological innovations in civil and voter registration.

The activities will be organized alongside the targeting of several

outputs. The following eight outputs aim to address the strategic areas that were recommended as capacity development priorities by the

aforementioned actors (See Table 1):

Table 1: Strategic Areas and Planned Outputs

Strategic Area Outputs

Increase ECZ‘s organizational

effectiveness so as to be able to

respond to emerging challenges in a

timely and cost effective manner;

1. Enhanced organizational

effectiveness and efficiency of

ECZ

Increase the enfranchisement of

potential voters through increased

accuracy of the register and its

inclusiveness including

strengthening of national

institutions with direct impact on

the accuracy of the voters‘ register;

2. A workable continuous voter

registration system developed;

increased number of registered

voters

3. Digitized National Register

created; new biometric NRCs

issued to Zambian Citizens

Review of the legislative

framework;

4. Revised Legal Framework

(Electoral Act, Code of Conduct

etc) and dispute resolution

mechanisms. Strengthen capacity of dispute

resolution.

Improve gender equality in the

election process at all levels

5. Increased women‘s participation

in the electoral process

Increase the fair access to media by

all political parties; refine ECZ's

media strategy and advocacy;

6. Capacity of Media actors‘

enhanced and effective media

monitoring mechanisms in place

for improved media coverage of

elections

Increase the awareness of citizens

on issues of civic and electoral

rights and processes

7. Civic, Voter education and

domestic observation

programmes enhanced

Strengthen quality of domestic

monitoring

*Support to Political Parties 8. Political Parties‘ capacity

enhanced


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*The inclusion of support for the enhancement of political parties’

capacity was based on the recommendations gathered during the

2009 EC-UN Joint Task Force Mission on Elections. The component is

designed to address the challenges that ECZ experienced in managing

expectations of political parties.

1. Enhanced organizational effectiveness and efficiency of ECZ

1.1. Restructuring of ECZ

A priority under this component will be the restructuring of the

Commission in line with the various recommendations made in the past to enhance its institutional capacity and support selected activities

in the context of the decentralization of ECZ. Focus will be directed at

supporting the ongoing ECZ restructuring exercise which encompasses the development of a comprehensive organisational structure with

business processes and human resources that operate within a clearly defined system. In addition, support in this area will be targeted at

capacity enhancement for the development of effective planning strategies within ECZ. One aspect of increasing organizational

effectiveness would include the development and implementation of quality assurance measures on various operations of ECZ. The project

will also facilitate a multi-year strategic planning and budgeting exercise to include all electoral events within the 2009-2012 electoral

cycle.

1.2. Electoral Information Management System

1.2.1. Improvement to the EIMS: This will focus on three priority

clusters of activities as follows:

(i) enhancement of modules for registration and polling location system to keep track of the locations used for registration,

elections and nominations; GIS database integration; form tracking systems that ensure that forms are not lost; voter

register modules for amendments of/to existing records and deletion of deceased persons in preparation for continuous

registration;

(ii) results management system and its expansion to include audit module; candidate management system and its expansion to


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include a strong verification module and ballot template

production module; accreditation system for observers, monitors, election agents and media;

(iii) enhancement of web access and media to various data;

intranet for the ECZ to facilitate information sharing; a logistics module and tracking system for field status and incident

reporting; field staff and helpline tools; and media and complaints tracking.

The enhancement of the EIMS will facilitate ECZ‘s further

engagement of stakeholders in building public confidence in the system. It will also facilitate building consensus on the use of

election results tabulation systems. In addition, the support will be directed towards developing clear guidelines for the tabulation

and management of results, revision of forms and procedures as

well as the provision of further training for electoral officers in the use of the system.

1.2.2. Training in EIMS: Comprehensive training will be required for

staff working in this area, particularly in light of the new warehouse management system which is part of the Electoral Information

Management System (EIMS) being implemented by ECZ. In addition, technical expertise will be provided on a ‗mentoring‘ model to transfer

skills to permanent staff members.

1.3. Integration of Logistics Systems with Procurement and

Planning

1.3.1. Logistical Support: The project will support strengthening the

relationship between programme outputs and procurement operations, warehousing, asset management and logistics. A logistics plan that

deals with ordering, manufacturing, deliveries, warehousing distribution and retrieval of items will be developed. This system

shares registration and polling station data from the voter registration system to calculate materials, equipment, stationery and forms

required and to avoid over ordering materials. This system will ensure that a thorough assessment of existing ECZ election materials and

equipment will be undertaken.

1.3.2 Procurement Planning: The project will support the formulation and implementation of a procurement plan for the required electoral

materials. Specific knowledge on how to conduct competitive and


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transparent procurement services can considerably increase the

efficiency, quality and transparency of an electoral process while reducing costs and lead times. Procurement is especially important in

terms of voter registration and Election Day activities. Materials that will be procured include:

o Hardware equipment and software, vehicles, communication

tools, printing services for Election Administration;

o Hardware equipment and software, means for printing and

distribution of registration forms, voters‘ cards and data processing, as well as other materials depending of the type

of civil/voter registration used for Voter/Civil Registration;

o Means for printing and distribution of ballot papers, ballot

boxes, voting screens, indelible ink, tamper-proof materials, forms for Election Day Activities; and

o Software, results and media centre hardware and other

communication equipment from Results Tabulation.

1.4 Electoral Staff Training Programme

The project will support training of ECZ staff in areas of election

management, planning, budgeting, and procurement. User-friendly training materials will be developed to provide clear guidance to

electoral staff. The project will also support building in-house capacity for ECZ to create software. This is particularly important because off-

the-shelf election management software, produced by software companies is currently unavailable. Training would also include

database management.

In addition, the project will also support capacity building for

evaluating training methods with the view to introducing a comprehensive training package. The BRIDGE4 course will be run in

order to improve the skills, knowledge, and confidence of both election professionals and of key stakeholders in the electoral process, such as

members of the media, political parties, CSOs and electoral observers.

4 International IDEA, the UN Electoral Assistance Division (EAD) and the Australian Election Commission launched the original

version of the BRIDGE project as a capacity development tool for Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections. In 2007, IFES and UNDP joined the project as partners. BRIDGE is the most comprehensive professional development course available in election administration. As of this date the Guide has been published, and BRIDGE has been conducted in 14 countries involving over 1,500 people. www.bridge-project.org


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1.5 Enhanced State and Non State Stakeholders’ Relations

Support in this area will focus on enhancing the institutionalization of

mechanisms for stakeholder engagement and information sharing. This would include:

Support the strengthening of strategies and mechanisms to

organise and document regularly scheduled meetings with various stakeholder groups which would allow the dissemination

of key information and decisions as well as consultations on emerging issues. The stakeholders are considered on one hand

State institutions and on the other hand Non State Actors (Media, Political Parties and CSOs).

In addition, the project will support the Commission to hold specialist meetings involving certain stakeholders (such as the

Police) to develop solutions and discuss specific issues.

Further, workshops and training sessions will be held with key partners to assist them in understanding the technical

requirements of effectively participating in the electoral process and to foster discussions around these issues. Support will also

be channelled to the development of mechanisms for tracking and providing feedback to bona fide stakeholder complaints on

electoral issues. ECZ‘s capacity to engage the media and communicate with the

public will also be strengthened along with its capacity to develop a sustainable communication strategy which identifies

its key stakeholders and their information requirements, based on surveys and data collection. Finally, the project will also

support development of media monitoring mechanisms, carried out by specialized actors, which can provide reliable data on the

coverage of political parties, to monitor compliance with the

Electoral Code of Conduct.

2. Continuous voter registration

Without exception all post-election assessments have identified

support in computerizing the work of the DNRPC as a priority to improve voter registration and give impetus to the continuous

registration process.

The UNDP preparatory activities therefore funded a needs assessment

mission to determine how technical assistance could be effectively and


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timely provided to the DNRPC to computerize its data, with the

purpose of attracting donor funding to modernize the civil registry in Zambia and pave the way for a possible specific support to DNRPC.

The project will support the implementation of the continuous voter

registration process and enhance the accuracy of the voters‘ register.

In this regard, support will be extended to enable ECZ to collect, collate, manage, and protect data, particularly as it is dependent on

the use of new technologies. The current electronic voters‘ register, developed for the 2006 Elections, has 3,940,000 registered voters, the

highest number in Zambia‘s history. Due to time and financial constraints, the 2008 Presidential election was held using the 2006

voters‘ register without taking into consideration people who have become eligible voters in 2006, 2007 and 2008; in addition to the

deceased people and migrants who remained on the voters‘ register; and people who have moved within the country not being able to

change their associated polling district. This has raised a lot of concerns about the integrity of the voters‘ register and the majority of

stakeholders are supporting the implementation of continuous voter registration in order to have a voters‘ register which has the following

qualities: integrity, inclusiveness, comprehensiveness, accuracy,

accessibility, transparency, security and credibility; which are described in the following paragraphs.

Integrity The voter registration framework and processes must be fair and

honest, free from political and other manipulation or intimidation, and not allow ineligible persons to register as voters.

Inclusiveness

Voter registration frameworks should not contain measures that

exclude persons from registration to provide political advantage. Voter registration processes should provide all qualified persons with

equitable opportunity to register to vote. This may require implementing special measures to ensure appropriate registration

facilities are available to some marginalised societal groups—such as those in remote areas, those with disabilities, and the homeless.

Comprehensiveness

Registration of voters should target registering 100 percent of qualified persons, including those groups that in some societies may be less

inclined to register to vote, such as women, youth, and those in remote areas.


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Accuracy

All voter registration information should be recorded accurately, and maintained so that voter lists used for elections are up-to-date. This

may require implementing systems to check data validity and the accuracy of data recording, and pro-active programs to check that all

data is up-to-date.

Accessibility Voter registration processes should be physically accessible and be

readily understandable by, and publicised/explained to, all persons qualified to register.

Transparency

Transparency in registering voters promotes public trust in the integrity of voter registration processes and data. Measures such as

allowing public access to electoral administration meetings and

decisions on voter registration, providing for public inspection of voters registers and voters lists, allowing voters access to check the data

recorded for them, allowing independent and political participant observation of voter registration processes, and public availability of

the code used for computer systems to process voter registration data, promote transparency in voter registration.

Security

Information stored on registration of voters in either paper or electronic formats must be sufficiently secured to prevent

unauthorised access, to protect the information against unauthorised alteration or disclosure and to ensure that any legal requirements for

information privacy are met.

Credibility

Most importantly, no matter how well the framework and system for registering voters satisfies the above principles, it also needs to be

publicly credible. Political parties, and the public, need to believe that the registration of voters has been conducted with integrity, equity,

accuracy and effectiveness. Transparency measures and the provision of regular and accurate information on voter registration, can promote

public credibility.


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2.1. Implementation & Decentralisation of continuous voter

registration operations

Continuous voter registration in the context of centralised electoral management body operations and lack of computerised civil

registration is challenging, therefore decentralisation is needed.

Several preconditions must be satisfied before it can become a reality. Among these are:

Durability of voter’s cards: The existing voter card consists of a paper

based card personalised using ink from a pen with identification detail

of the voter, fingerprint and photograph. It is cold laminated. Polaroid based photographs wear out and identification information becomes

blurred overtime. Such cards can last between 5 to 10 years maximum. They do not last in urban areas, especially when voters

keep their cards in their wallet in their pockets. As a consequence, the cards should be planned to be replaced within a 10 year timeframe.

How to confirm the status of existing voters from an iteration of the register to the subsequent? An iteration of a voters register is a

version of the register which is used for an electoral event or a referendum. Voters who have no modification whatsoever should be

distinguishable from ones who do not have the opportunity to request modifications. For instance, there should be a mechanism indicating

that the voter data is still current. To this end, public display, inspection and confirmation of voter data is still required for a

continuous voter registry. In addition, simply relying on the willingness of voters is insufficient. Those who do not confirm their data should be

identified; reminded, and if not acting towards confirmation, have their names removed from the voter lists.

Integrating new cohorts and returnees: This is the aspect often focussed on in continuous voter registration. The new voters should be

treated differently from the old ones since they are first applying to be integrated in the voters‘ register. As a consequence, the time spent by

an old voter to confirm or modify his data should be less than the time

spent by a new voter. It is a good practice to separate the two groups and handle these in different phases of the continuous voter

registration, even having different offices for new registrations.

Removing deceased: This is the most complex part of continuous voter

registration. Without a reliable source of information and confirmation about deceased, they remain on voters‘ registers. There is a need for


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balance between imposing a confirmation mechanism and taking care

of deceased.

Maintaining accuracy: Many voters do not bother checking their data during public display of voters‘ lists. Therefore, the amount of data

figuring on the voter database should be kept to minimum. Today with

the use of biometric features, there is no more need to keep elaborate details of the voter such as his parent‘s names and birthdates. The

photograph and fingerprints including unique voter card numbers suffice to distinguish between two voters including perfect twins.

Moving voter’s from their old voting district to their current residence (or working) place: This operation requires a cut off date to make sure

the changes are effected in the voter database. Therefore, continuous voter registration operations require a predefined period of the year

during which people can request changes, new voters can be added and the provisional list produced and published for inspection. This

enables the establishment of a complaints period and validation of the voter lists on a yearly basis.

Nonetheless, continuous voter registration requires a vast voter education campaign to explain how the new registration system works.

It also requires liaising with village chiefs to collect data about deceased people. More importantly, a continuous voters‘ register

ownership by the ECZ does not preclude outsourcing some its activities.

2.2. Network, hardware and software updated

The infrastructure required to conduct continuous voter registration is

based on decentralisation of voter registration operations at district

level. Decentralisation of ECZ operations as part of the implementation of continuous voter registration will require permanent staff at each

district. The capacity development of software production will be the first step to be undertaken before continuous voter registration. This

capacity development will enable ECZ to perform the necessary adaptations to the existing election management system to cope with

the new functionality required to perform continuous voter registration. It will also enable ECZ to identify the proper software

development platform for its new software. The capacity development shall be undertaken based on the recruitment of additional local staff

within the IT Department. The additional positions foreseen are:


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Database administrator (2 positions)

Software developer (3 positions)

Requirement Analyst (1 position)

Tester (1 position)

Staff who can combine both requirement analysis and testing skills

would be desirable. International experts i.e. one software developer and one requirements/tester will be contracted to perform the initial

software requirements and testing specifications. They will also guide the junior staff during the software production. But prior to that, the IT

team will undertake several courses and training as part of this project.

To implement its continuous voter registration software, ECZ may partner with regional or international EMBs having similar experiences.

This would include collaboration in the form of seconded personnel and exchange of tools and software as part of this project.

2.3 Improved Coordination between ECZ and DNRPC

Coordination between the Ministry of Home Affairs‘ DNRPC and the

ECZ must be enhanced to ensure that all eligible voters are issued with a National Registration Card (NRC) to be able to register.

However harmonization doesn‘t mean integration and in no

circumstance should the integrity of the voter registration process be

compromised. The two processes are distinct and unless the legal framework is amended, the issuance of voter cards and maintenance

of a Voters‘ Register remains the sole responsibility of the ECZ.

To maximise synergies, the same type of digital registration kits used

by DNRPC will also be used by ECZ but with a ratio of 10 kits per district for a total of 1,000 digital registration kits including spare kits.

3. Support to the Department of National Registration,

Passports and Citizenship (DNRPC)

DNRPC workflows are manual. There is no national database of NRC to be used to assist in improving the quality of the voter registry. This

completely manual process has created a backlog in the issuance and replacement of NRC disenfranchising a large number of Zambians. The

DNRPC has identified areas that needed development through a re-


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engineering study commissioned by the Zambian government which

includes the computerisation of its operations that will lead to an electronic national database of NRC.

Given the key role played by DNRPC in the voter registration process,

the project has identified support to be provided for enhancing the

collaboration between the DNRPC and ECZ as it relates to issuance of NRCs and sharing data. A central component of the support will focus

on the development and implementation of a joint road map and programme of cooperation. This will require further technical support

to the DNRPC in developing compatible electronic systems.

The project will build on on-going government efforts to improve the

national register and maximize the benefits from the investment by ensuring the full utilization of synergies, arising from the DNRPC and

ECZ investments in biometric databases of citizens. The data will be gathered via mobile biometric or ID registration kits.

Digitalization of DNRPC National Registration Card Records

In 2008, DNRPC with the support of EC and UNDP commissioned a study to inform the possible scenarios of computerising the DNRPC.

This study identified the following challenges in the current DNRPC operations:

Slow processing of requests due to duplication of work where the registration officer completes the registration form her/himself

instead of asking those who are literate to fill in the details themselves, thus saving time;

Unnecessary introduction of errors since the registration officer may not be familiar with the correct spelling of certain names

thus making errors which further delay the subsequent verification process;

Difficult cross referencing of data when the applicant is unable to

produce a birth certificate or under-five clinic card resulting in a request for confirmation of parentage at his/her parent‘s district

of birth;

The excessive use of human factor which requires qualified

people to be available;

The absence of consolidated statistical reports to indicate the number of valid NRC, including newly issued ones and

duplicates.


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To address the above challenges the study identified the following

options for the computerisation of the DNRPC:

(a) Digitise all DNRPC records from scratch: This option focuses on

converting the existing manual records currently being kept in the DNRPC records office into electronic data. There is no validation of the

data and checks as well as cross references with the register of deceased people.

(b) Import digitised data from ECZ database: This option entails extracting data from the ECZ database as a baseline for building the

digitised DNRPC database. However, since voters are only a subset of above 18 years old citizens, there will still be a need to complement

the database with the data from the citizens who are not voters.

(c) Embark on fresh nationwide registration: In this option, existing

DNRPC paper data is left out and ECZ database is not consulted. A fresh registration based on digital registration kits that include

biometric features (photograph and fingerprints) as well as issuing a new NRC featuring security characteristics that will make the overall

NRC system secure, reliable and trustable.

(d) Fresh nationwide registration with digitisation of existing records

for legacy purposes: It is a combination of the first and the last options but focusing on digitisation of deceased peoples‘ records to maintain a

complete history of Zambians since the establishment of the NRC.

A composite option (d) is desirable by the DNRPC because of the

recognition of the need for a transitional period during which both the old NRCs and the new ones will operate simultaneously. This will be

the option pursued by this project. This period is important to ensure that voters are not disenfranchised during the potential NCC

referendum and the 2011 elections. Further, the selection of the option was based on the fact that replacement of NRCs will, during the

transitional period, depend on legacy data which the DNRPC has in its

offices. An important consideration for the establishment of a transition period was to augment the credibility of the DNRPC as an

institution that was implementing reforms for the efficient issuance of NRCs.


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The implementation of option (d) by DNRPC has been split into the

following activities:

the replacement of Polaroid based NRC;

the Digitisation of legacy data; and

the provision of a telecommunications system linking HQ,

provincial and district offices.

3.1 Replacement of Polaroid based NRCs

This will be done by the phasing out of the Polaroid based NRC, to be

replaced by an electronic identity card using digital registration kits in

order to capture photographs and fingerprints of NRC applicants. This will be compatible with existing ECZ biometric database to include

biometrics (photographs and fingerprints) of citizens already registered as voters.

3.2 Digitization of legacy data

The proposed concept takes into account that data has been digitised by the Ministry of Finance up to 1995. It also recognises the difficulty

of performing quality assurance using double blind data entry. Instead,

it is based on transcriptions of existing Section A forms into Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) equivalent forms. The usage of OMR is

motivated by the experience of ECZ and the fact that this operation can be centralised using highly qualified people to fill the OMR forms

and perform necessary quality checks. Each person can easily fill up to 500 section A equivalent OMR forms on a daily basis. Such an

operation will require a working space capable of holding teams of about 100 transcription agents. Each with an average output of 500

and a total capacity of 50,000 section A forms per day. At this pace, 100 work days are sufficient for digitising 5,000,000 section A forms.

The rest will be digitised on an as needed basis.

It is assumed the section A booklet binding staples can be removed

and specialised scanners can be used to digitise in PDF format with OCR recognition of the NRC number to index the resulting PDF files.

The booklets will be digitised on a needs basis. A group of 10 specialised scanners and a server to store the PDF files will be

installed.


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3.3 Provision of a telecommunications system linking HQ,

provincial and district offices

The entire telecommunication infrastructure to support data exchanges within the DNRPC Information and Management System consists of a

central system redundant in Lusaka (2 nodes). Each province has one

node (9 provinces) and each district also has one node (73 districts). This totals 84 nodes to be installed and operated.

DNRPC teams will provide the specifications for the software at the

mobile kit and central levels. It is envisioned that the overall exercise

will include a pilot test. A new NRC will be delivered which includes enhanced security features.

In addition improvement and upgrades of the telecommunication

system to facilitate interconnectivity particularly in remote area‘s e.g.

Chilubi Island, Milenge, Shang‘ombo, etc will be critical.

This would include a combination of a telecommunication system based on using HF radio to send telegraphic digital messages

particularly in areas that have interconnectivity challenges and a Wider

Area Network where connectivity allows.

The radio telecommunications network is hierarchically organised allowing bidirectional communications between the headquarters and

the provinces (where are stored copies of the section A booklets), or

between the headquarters and the districts, and also between the provinces and between the districts. The telecommunication system is

used to send requests for information for individuals or groups of individuals. The answer is in a telegraphic form indicating whether or

not the individual has a file at the provincial or district office. It is also used to communicate management reports covering mobile NRC

campaigns. Each node of the proposed network includes the following equipment:

HF Antenna with lightning protection

Power source

HF Radio

TNC and modem

Computer connection (serial or USB) through open source

software


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The installation and configuration of this telecommunication network is

staged with provinces installed and connected with the headquarters. After this connection is fully operational, the districts are brought into

the network starting with the ones where there is no GSM or telephone coverage.

The following is a summary of activities under these three components:

(i) upgrading computer software and hardware for the DNRPC

especially as it relates to data sharing with ECZ;

(ii) Conversion of NRC data from legacy systems to a platform

compatible with the ECZ data needs;

(iii) system design of an integrated DNRPC Information Management System to ensure compatibility of biometric data

needs of the ECZ;

(iv) training of DNRPC staff, both at HQ and provincial level;

(v) strengthening the village register as a basis for updating the

national register in rural areas

(vi) establishing and securing a database including disaster

recovery, fallback procedures and business continuity;

(vii) Nation-wide campaign of biometric data capturing with mobile kits;

(viii) Establishment of a National Database Centre at DNRPC.

(ix) Electronic connectivity between Provincial Centres, district registration offices (DRO) and the DNRPC head office in

Lusaka (WAN);

(x) Implementation of the Automated Finger Print Identification

System (AFIS) for preventing double entries and malpractices;

(xi) Issuance of new NRCs carrying biometric features storable

and retrievable at the National Database Centre;

Each of the 73 districts will be equipped with:

Redundant server and a LAN (Basic MS Windows 2003 Server with direct attached storage of 2.4 Tb capacity and UTP LAN)

3 workstations (basic workstations)

4 mobile kits for field operations (Digital registration kit with camera (or webcam), fingerprint scanner, solar panel, etc.)

1 mobile kit (used as a spare)


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2 network printers (laser printer or inkjet printer)

Lusaka is treated as a special case with 4 offices each having 8 mobile

kits for operations and 2 spares. At Lusaka, there is also the central system which includes a medium range MS Windows 2003 server

equipped with a direct attached storage of 12 Tb (12,000 Gigabytes)

to hold the entire database of the country.

The project will also support DNRPC in implementing awareness campaigns on the importance of civil registration with a specific focus

on women, youth, disabled and marginalized groups.

4. Legislative reviews process supported in line with revised

Constitution

NOTE: As of July 2009 given a shortfall of funds and considering that

the NCC process is not likely to be completed in the immediate future, Output 4 will not be undertaken at this stage. However, it

will remain an output of the project which will be implemented should further CP Funding be committed during the course of

project implementation.

4.1 Review of the Electoral Act and Code of Conduct

The project will support ECZ in the production of procedures and

guidelines following the adoption of the new constitution and related electoral act. In addition, provision will be made for training and

handbooks to be provided to ECZ officials, the Police and the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to sensitize them on their

responsibilities to enforce the law and penalize electoral misconduct. The project will also provide for a review of the election petition

process to ensure that it is a viable and fair means of redress in the event of electoral malpractices. In addition, the project will be directed

towards the implementation of reforms that may be adopted in the new constitution as and when they are introduced into legislation or

during the constitutional review process.

One of the immediate activities of the project in this field will be to

provide support to the advocacy work done by CSOs for inclusion of the recommendations of the constitutional review process for the

improvement of the electoral process.


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4.2 Support to Formal and informal Electoral Dispute

Resolution Mechanisms

The handling of electoral complaints, the outcome of which may impact on the results, is often an underestimated activity. In general

terms, the resolution of electoral disputes is an activity that encompasses the entire electoral process and should be guaranteed

throughout the various stages of the cycle, given that its importance becomes paramount during the results verification period. The need to

ensure a fast and efficient processing of the appeals related to the results is often fundamental to the legitimacy of the entire electoral

process. The main challenges related to the issues are how to ensure a proper understanding of the complaints procedures among the various

stakeholders (political parties above all) that might have an interest in appealing, and how to ensure an adequate level of electoral

knowledge and neutrality in the mediation process. In this regard, the

project will support the election related activities of the National and District Conflict Management Committees and review their legal

mandate.

4.3. Support to Constitutional Reform advocacy work related to the Electoral Process

This will include support towards public discussion on amendments,

publications and dissemination of materials on the amendments.

A possible activity in this context would be to assess the possibility of out-of-country voting in line with the current discussions held at the

NCC.

5. Enhanced Female Participation in the Electoral Process

Very few women ran as candidates during the 2006 Elections. No women stood for the presidency; only 15% of the parliamentary

candidates and less than 10% of local government candidates were women. In accordance with the percentage nominated, only 15% or

22 out of 150 female parliamentary candidates were actually elected. This is significantly below the international commitments that Zambia

has signed, including the SADC protocol which stipulates female

representation at decision making level of a minimum of 50%.

The main activity of this component will be to develop and implement a strategy for increasing the participation of women in the political

sphere. This will address the current disparities in the representation


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of women in political office. In this regard, focus will be on mobilising

CSOs and providing support for capacity building of elected and prospective female candidates. This activity will have a direct link to

the implementation of the Joint Gender Support Programme and will pursue the following sub-activities:

5.1. Support and engage CSOs in advocacy and lobbying for women’s participation in the electoral process

Women candidates face numerous challenges. These challenges

include their political parties' internal procedures of adoption, which often times marginalize them. In addition female candidates also face

the challenges of limited media visibility and sometimes media hostilities.

In order to address the structural difficulties of women‘s participation in higher level politics, the component will support advocacy for

political parties to amend their internal processes to facilitate the adoption of female candidates in line with international instruments

that Zambia has signed. This component will focus on strengthening internal adoption committees through capacity building of local grass

root and national adoption committees to make them more gender responsive.

Given the active civil society organizations working in the area of

women‘s political rights in Zambia, it is proposed that continued support will be provided to them for lobbying and advocacy work.

5.2. Develop and implement an ongoing capacity building

program for elected and prospective female candidates

This component will also support and train women who were

successful during the 2006 elections, particularly those working in local authorities, who currently seldom make the transition to national

politics. Newly elected and prospective female candidates will benefit from capacity development activities. In addition, training will focus on

orientation of female MPs and Councillors in effective use of the media, ICT skills, gender budgeting and human rights.

6. Capacity of Media actors’ enhanced and effective media monitoring mechanisms in place


34

The Project will focus on three aspects: training for journalists on

election reporting, media monitoring and peer review mechanisms.

6.1. Conduct training of journalists and editors

Training of journalists and editors in relevant issues (such as referenda, electoral law, etc) and in their responsibilities in reporting

and covering political issues will be provided to both private and state media. A special focus will be on working with community radio

stations, as recommended by the draft media strategy developed during the 2006 Elections Trust Fund. The training of the media will

include issues of gender reporting in the electoral process to increase women‘s access to media. This is because women have limited access

to the electronic or print media, for example their success stories are not highlighted in the media.

6.2. Development of a Media monitoring mechanism

The creation of a media monitoring center will be supported by the project to create a permanent mechanism that supports self-regulatory

activities by the media houses. New and existing structures could be supported in this sense by the project.

6.3. Develop and implement a Peer Review mechanism

The project will provide support to strengthen a peer review

mechanism through media organisations such as the Media Council of Zambia and regional organisations such as Media Institute of Southern

Africa. Such a mechanism would develop the capacity of editors and media owners.

7. Civic, Voter education and domestic observation programmes enhanced

This component will focus on addressing four main challenges that

emerged from past elections. These are (i) preparation of the population for results that may be different from their own

expectations, (ii) prepare political parties for managing expectations as part of conflict prevention, (iii) deepen ECZ /CSO engagement in

delivering civic/voter education, and (iv) develop and implement a continuous civic education programme and a mechanism for

certification of individuals capable of delivering civic/voter education also including participation of the Ministry of Education.


35

7.1. Promotion of Civic Education programmes

The Project will contribute to building the capacity of CSOs to plan and implement public awareness programmes at all levels of society and

throughout the country. For this purpose, the project will set up a grant scheme enabling CSOs to submit qualified proposals for these

programmes.

7.2. Capacity development for Voter Education

In view of the foregoing, the Project will contribute to building the capacity of the ECZ Voter Education Unit to coordinate, plan and

implement continuous voter education. The training will include the benefits of registering as a voter on a continuous basis. Further,

support will be extended to build the capacity of the National Voter

Education Committee (NVEC) to advise the Commission. The NVEC, established in 2001, is an important mechanism for interaction of

CSOs with the Electoral Commission of Zambia. In addition, the project will support the capacity development of the branches of the

District Voter Education Committees (DVECs). The voter education itself will be delivered by CSOs themselves at district level, and it is

the aim of the ECZ that civil society increasingly takes centre stage for this activity in the future.

The strengthening of NVEC will ensure it represents all relevant

stakeholders and its terms of reference need to be revised to provide for a more substantive advisory role and agreed work plans. Capacity

enhancement of NVEC will facilitate the coordination of long term capacity building programmes and training for civil society

organizations active in the area of good governance. Support will also

be extended to civil society organizations on the conduct of surveys to identify and map the needs and voter education delivery strategies

appropriate for various target groups especially disadvantaged or marginalized groups such as the youth, women and disabled voters.

7.3. Strengthen Domestic Observation Capacity

The project will focus on training CSOs dealing with domestic

observation on principles and methodologies of election observation, electoral law, and the electoral process. The project will also support

the production of training material for capacity enhancement of CSOs that are involved in the electoral process. This is expected to produce

a pool of prepared observers within the CSOs to deal with the


36

observation of the different steps of the electoral process. Further, the

project will develop frameworks and mechanisms to streamline the accreditation process.

The project will have to coordinate with the Zambia Governance Fund

(ZGF) and other existing projects (such as the forthcoming support to non state actors of the European Commission for €5 Million) that might

support similar initiatives especially to fund training of trainers activities of the CSOs that receive support from this project. The

project may choose to outsource the implementation of this activity to the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) who

historically has been used in Zambia for similar activities and furthermore is a natural partner to UNDP in this field.

8. Political Parties Capacity Enhanced

The Zambian Center for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID), National

Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) and International Institute for Democracy and

Electoral Assistance (IDEA) will be essential implementing partners for these activities. ZCID as a voluntary forum for political parties to

dialogue on various issues is critical for enhancing dialogue on intra-party democracy and increasing the participation of women as

candidates. In addition, the centre would be better placed to manage the Political Party Resource Centers. International NGO‘s such as NDI,

IDEA and EISA have broad international experience in working with political parties, especially with regards to capacity development of

parties.This component will follow the best practices and activities developed using the established UNDP neutral scope and criteria set in

the UNDP Handbook on Working with Political Parties, which compiles a good deal of UNDP experience in this area5. The project will support:

8.1. Training and sensitization of Political Parties

Leadership capacity building, resource mobilization, electoral

administration, campaign techniques will be part of these activities.

Using the percentages of party representation either received in the most-recent national election or represented currently in parliament,

parties will be invited to participate in training and other opportunities along these percentage lines while reserving a small percentage for

―other‖ non represented parties that have enough critical mass to be able to take advantage of training opportunities.

5 Available at: http://www.undp.org/governance/docs/policy-pub-polpartieshandbook.pdf.

http://www.undp.org/governance/docs/policy-pub-polpartieshandbook.pdf


37

8.2. Strengthening relationships between ECZ and political parties

The idea is to promote dialogue and consensus building on critical

issues of legal or administrative reform, to better sensitize parties to the mandate and workings of the ECZ, and to better sensitize the ECZ

to the needs and wants of the political actors. Political parties will be invited to attend the meetings or fora of the ECZ on an equal basis

(i.e., send a representative). This activity will synergize with the support to the ECZ in this area.

8.3. Support to Political Parties' primaries

This will provide an avenue for working with political parties through

an institutional setting. The project will work with party caucuses to

promote them as a forum for debate and policy consideration, rather than simply vehicles for the imposition of voting arrangements. The

project will aim to develop transparent and participatory structures for decision-making, to develop awareness of issues relevant to human

development, to foster conciliatory approaches that are more inclined to see conflict mediation and resolution and to establish cross-party

caucuses on sectoral issues of national importance, that also build trust and confidence between competing political interests.

8.4. Establishment of Resource Centres

Political party resource centres will be established at national and

provincial level to enable all parties to have access to resources in line with their activities. These centres will have the necessary equipment

to allow all parties to gather and disseminate information to the public.

The project will follow the key principles of transparency, clear criteria,

communication and consultation. The criteria for invitation and selection of parties for opportunities need to be negotiated in advance

with the parties and understood by all.

As the project will be supported by various cooperating partners through a multi donor trust fund, there will be need to implement

activities that will enhance the visibility of the partners. The activities will include events such as the launch of the project, joint monitoring

and branding as per cooperating partner requirements.


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VII. Project Beneficiaries The following are the major groups of beneficiaries:

Zambian citizens: The project will facilitate the public to enjoy

their right to vote through improved voter registration and management of electoral process, and the right to be elected to

any office. Through improved service delivery by institutions

involved in the election process, increased accountability and reduced incidences of corruption will be achieved. Further, the

public will be able to make informed choices.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia: The Electoral Commission will develop a cadre of staff to more effectively and

efficiently plan and manage the elections cycle.

Department of National Registration: The Department will improve the national register thereby facilitate the smooth

implementation of the continuous voter registration.

Civil society organisations: Civil society‘s capacity to conduct and coordinate civic and voter education and domestic

observation will be enhanced;

Women Candidates and Voters: More women will be able to

participate in elections as candidates and as voters.

Media representatives: Journalist and editors/owners of media houses will be acquainted with the electoral process and be able

to report in a better way about the elections. Media monitoring will be done to establish self-regulatory frame

Political parties and their members: Political parties'

capacities will be increased and their members will be better prepared to manage elections


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VIII. Logical Framework Country: Zambia Date: March 2009

Project Title: Strengthening Electoral Process in Zambia

Implementation Partner Organizations: Electoral Commission of Zambia

Intervention Objectively verifiable Sources and means of Assumptions & Risks

logic indicators of achievement verification

Overall

Improved democratic governance through development of a free, fair, transparent and efficient electoral system in Zambia

Election results which are widely accepted as free and fair by Zambians, political parties and observers

Official election reports; media reports; domestic & international observer reports

Continued GRZ commitment to enhance democracy in Zambia.

objectives Public commitment to culture of democracy and peaceful exercise of the right to vote

Peaceful elections in 2011 and beyond with decreased incidence of violence and intimidation as compared with previous elections

Police reports and data; Media reports; Polling Station reports & data

Continued support from Bilateral Donors and International Organisations

Number of electoral petitions. Judiciary statistics; Media reports

Specific Improved national capacity to address existing and emerging electoral challenges, including increased integrity of and public confidence in the electoral system in Zambia.

Percentage of eligible voters registered by 2011 Elections

ECZ Voters Register Appropriate Legal framework in place

objective Efficient handling of - and funds available for - potential referenda and by-elections during the project period.

Percentage turnout of registered voters on election day*

Polling station figures; ECZ centralised Data

% of candidates standing for election in 2011 that are women

ECZ Data; Election Results

Number of breaches of the Electoral Act and Code of Conduct by political parties, media and civil society

Media reports; Media monitoring; Election observer reports

Stable political and social situation during the project period

Date of announcement of results following the election

ECZ data; Media reports Threat of flooding and other natural disasters


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Expected results

1. Enhanced organizational effectiveness and efficiency of ECZ

New Decentralized ECZ Structure in Place; All components of EIMS in place and being implemented; Perception of the public, political parties and civil society towards ECZ independence and effectiveness

ECZ reports; Monitoring reports & field missions; Media reports

Consistent flow of funds from CPs; availability of expertise; proper timeframe in place including contingency planning for by elections and referenda.

2. A workable continuous voter registration system developed; increased number of registered voters.

Numbers on voters roll; Numbers of voters rejected due to inaccuracy of voters roll; Numbers of new voters registered who have come of age since the 2006 registration

Voters Roll; District & Provincial reports & Data; Monitoring Reports

Cooperation of other agencies and stakeholders; adequate infrastructure in place.

3. Digitized National Register created; new biometric NRCs issued to Zambian Citizens

New NRCs issued in digitized format by 2010; All issued NRCs in digital format by 2012; Digitised database (including legacy data) in place by 2011;

DNRPC reports and data; Monitoring Reports

Cooperation of cardholders in the replacement of old cards

4. Revised Legal Framework for elections (Electoral Act, Code of Conduct etc) and dispute resolution mechanisms. NOTE: As of July 2009 given a shortfall of funds and considering that the NCC process is not likely to be completed in the immediate future, Output 4 will not be undertaken at this stage. However, it will remain an output of the project which will be implemented should further CP Funding be committed

New Electoral Act promulgated by 2011, in line with provisions of revised Constitution; Revised Code of Conduct respected and endorsed by stakeholders; Time taken for & outcome of dispute resolution

ECZ case records; Monitoring reports; Legal Instruments

Timely completion of work by the National Constitutional Conference


41

during the course of project implementation.

5. Increased women’s participation in the electoral process

Numbers of registered women voters, women candidates and women elected to office

Voters Roll; Media Reports; Political Parties' records; Election Results

Willingness of women to participate; cooperation of political parties

6. Capacity of Media actors’ enhanced and effective media monitoring mechanisms in place for improved media coverage of elections

Strengthened, recognised and inclusive self-regulatory structures in Zambian print & electronic media; Percentage of articles & news items reflecting restrained and balanced coverage of election events; Numbers of violations of Code of Conduct by media**

Media monitoring data; Media reports

Willingness of all media houses to be involved in dialogue and self-regulation of the sector

7. Civic, Voter education and domestic observation programmes enhanced

Level of knowledge of civic rights and the meaning and running of elections amongst the public and youth in schools; Numbers and quality of independent domestic observation exercises; Number of abstentions

Monitoring reports; Civil Society reports and data; Ministry of Education Data; Reports from domestic & international election observers; ECZ reports

Cooperation of other stakeholders; existence of countrywide structures that can be used to effectively carry out civic and voter education


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8. Political Parties’ capacity enhanced Level of balance & type of language used in political parties' press releases and other communication; Numbers and outcome of dialogue meetings held between political parties and the public, civil society, the media, ECZ and other stakeholders; Number of professionally-run party primaries; Numbers of women candidates nominated by political parties.

Media Reports; ECZ reports; Election results

Willingness of all political parties to be involved; availability of suitable venues for establishment of resource centres

Activities 1.1 Restructuring of ECZ 1. 2 Improvement of and training on Elections Information Management System (EIMS) 1.3 Integration of logistics system with procurement and planning 1.4 Electoral Staff training programme 1.5 Enhanced state and non state stakeholder relations Programme

New organizational structure of ECZ implemented - Recruitment and training of staff in new job profiles - EIMS enhancements implemented and staff trained. - Candidate and results management system fully functional - Logistics and Procurement plan formulated and implemented - BRIDGE course implemented and capacities developed - Strategy and plan for stakeholder engagement developed and implemented - Improved image of ECZ among public and key stakeholders - Timely distribution of election materials

Regular project monitoring reports; ECZ internal reports & data; production of documentation such as strategic plans and training plans; 2011 Election Report

Preconditions to be met before action commences: Agreement of all key stakeholders must be secured; funding for all elements of the project, including GRZ contribution, to be confirmed in writing; a clear management structure for the project is decided upon and sufficient human resources available. Conditions outside the control of the implementing agency are as mentioned above, and in the project document, the major risks being an interruption of activities due to organisation of a by-election or other unforeseen event.


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2.1 Implementation and decentralization of ECZ voter registration operations. 2.2 Improvement of the hardware and software infrastructure. 2.3 Improvement of the coordination between ECZ and DNRPC.

Complete and accurate ECZ permanent voters register based on GIS, both of which can be disaggregated by sex in order to measure number of men and women registered- Data-exchange protocols developed between ECZ and DNR- ECZ and DNR computer network and software updated- Increased number of registered voters

Voter Roll; ECZ reports; Project Monitoring Reports from UNDP; 2011 Election Report

3.1 Replacement of Polaroid based NRCs 3.2 Digitization of legacy data 3.3 Provision of a telecommunications system linking HQ, provincial and district offices

Polaroid NRC replaced with digital NRC - All DNRPC district offices equipped with digital working stations - Improved communication infrastructure between HQ, provincial and district levels - Births, Marriages and Deaths records digitised

Project Monitoring Reports from UNDP; DNRPC reports and data


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4.1. Review Electoral Act and Code of Conduct 4.2. Support to formal and informal electoral dispute resolution mechanisms 4.3 Support to Constitutional Reform advocacy work related to the electoral process NOTE: As of July 2009 given a shortfall of funds and considering that the NCC process is not likely to be completed in the immediate future, Output 4 will not be undertaken at this stage. However, it will remain an output of the project which will be implemented should further CP Funding be committed during the course of project implementation.

New Electoral Act and Code of Conduct implemented - Advocacy and communication strategy developed - Popular versions of revised legislation developed and disseminated in the major local languages - Number of public discussions fora supported - Number of publications on amendments disseminated

Documents produced; reports from public discussions; Project Monitoring Reports


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5.1 Support and engage CSOs in advocacy and lobbying for women’s participation in the electoral process 5.2 Develop and implement an ongoing capacity building program for elected and prospective female candidates.

Number of previously elected female candidates trained- Number of newly elected female candidates trained- Number of women political candidates nominated at each level of government (Presidential, Parliamentary, and local government)- Advocacy strategy for increasing women’s participation- Number of women political candidates elected at each level of government (Presidential, Parliamentary, and local government)- Number of women registered to vote- Ratio of men and women participating in voter education workshops- Number of CSO staff trained as gender trainers-of-trainers- Training modules for increasing women's participation

Project Monitoring Reports; Information and reports fro m political parties; CSO studies and reports; 2011 Election Report & Results


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6.1 Conduct Training for Journalists and Editors 6.2. Development of a media monitoring mechanism. 6.3. Develop and Implement a peer review mechanism

Number of media staff trained- Media monitoring centre established- Number of regional media centres in contact with counterparts- Number of peer visits accomplished- ECZ media strategy, including a framework and guidelines for the release of information and coverage of electoral processes- Journalists and editors trained in impartial, fair, and gender-sensitive media coverage- Equitable access to media by candidates, both men and women, competing for office - Accuracy, impartiality, balance, fairness and gender-sensitivity of media elections coverage

Training reports; Project Monitoring reports; Media reports; Election Report 2011


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7.1. Promotion of Civic Education Programmes 7.2. Capacity development for voter education 7.3. Strengthen domestic observation capacity

Civic education campaign conducted- Countrywide civic education campaign on electoral and NRC processes conducted- Voter education strategy for 2006/08 reviewed- Voter education needs assessment conducted- Research on causes of voter apathy conducted- Number of capacity building activities for NVEC and DVECs conducted- Number of CSOs selected and staff trained in election monitoring- Quarterly provincial/district voter education campaigns launched in all districts

Project Monitoring Data and Reports; CSO monitoring and reports; NVEC and DVEC data and reports; 2011 Election Report


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8.1 Training and sensitization of political parties 8.2 Strengthening relationships between ECZ and Political parties 8.3 Support to political parties' primaries 8.4 Establishment of resource centres

Completed assessment of political parties' needs in respect of capacity strengthening- Training sessions for political parties conducted- Regular consultation mechanism between ECZ and political parties established- Number of formal and informal dispute resolution mechanisms supported- Number of information dissemination publications- Report on Party structures on intra party dialogue- Number of political party discussions held- National and provincial political party resource centres established- Number of political parties accessing equipment and materials - Timely adjudication of allegations of electoral misconduct using a fair and transparent mechanism

Project Monitoring Reports; Political Parties' Reports; 2011 Election Report


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IX. Management and Administrative Arrangements The Project will be implemented under the National Execution (NEX)

modality as the project is a longer-term electoral assistance project that offers capacity development assistance to ECZ and DNRPC over a

period of years, rather than an event-centred arrangement. In order to adequately address the complexities of the support to be provided

to DNRPC and the variety of activities to be supported in favour of non

state actors, the execution agency will be augmented by a Technical Support Team (TST). While the project will be executed by the ECZ

which remains autonomous as per Article 76 of the Constitution, implementation of the following components will be delegated to

UNDP:

Project Procurement especially related to the continuous voter registration and support to DNRPC

Support to DNRPC Support to Non – State actors, including via the Grant Scheme.

This arrangement will not burden the ECZ in managing and

coordinating the activities in support of DNRPC and for avoiding perception of conflict of interests that would perhaps arise was ECZ

tasked with the management of the component in favour of non state

actors.

The project will follow the best management model for an electoral assistance project receiving pooled funding from several donors which

is the two-tiered management structure as indicated in the UNDP Electoral Assistance Implementation Guide6. This model foresees a

two-tiered management structure that would provide for a policy or technical oversight committee to ensure the project remains on track

and on budget, as well as a day-to-day TST that will implement the project and report to the Steering Committee.

The TST will be established within ECZ.7 This will allow for easier

interactions and mutual transfer of knowledge between the ECZ, which is the driving actor for the organization of the electoral process, and

provide a sense of openness of the ECZ to the non state actor

beneficiaries of the project. The project will receive the support and follow up of the "Joint EC UNDP Task Force on Electoral Assistance"

6 http://www.undp.org/governance/docs/Elections-Pub-EAGuide.pdf

7 Operational costs for the TST will be covered from the operational budgets of ECZ and DNRPC and will not be covered

by the project budget.


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(JTF)8. One of the first tasks of the TST will be the formulation of a

detailed operational plan and budget, which will be presented to the Steering Committee at an inception meeting.

To supplement these project-specific management tools, it is

necessary to make sure in Zambia that the donor coordination and stakeholder coordination fora function well. The shape of the two

coordination mechanisms and two management bodies suggested are as follows:

a. An overall Donor Coordination Mechanism that includes heads of

donor agencies – both those contributing to a common basket fund

and those contributing to the elections through bilateral or other means – and should be co-chaired by UNDP and ECZ. This forum

would be an important part of donor coordination, with the emphasis on high-level policy dialogue, collaboration and

information-sharing specifically related to project matters and also broaden up to other components of potential deepening democracy

programmes.

b. A Stakeholder or Information-Sharing Forum should be

convened by ECZ, on a quarterly basis or so. The invitees would

typically include all organizations working in the election field as well as relevant officers within donor agencies. The purpose of the

8 The JTF is formed by EC and UNDP staff dealing with Electoral Assistance at HQ levels among Brussels, New York and Copenhagen. The overarching purpose of the JTF is to further strengthen and facilitate the EC-UNDP partnership in the electoral assistance field and aims to improve the overall efficiency and adherence of the projects to the common EC/UNDP strategic approach. The focus of the JTF is to provide identification, formulation and implementation support for joint EC-UNDP projects on electoral assistance whenever needed and requested by EC Delegations and/or UNDP Country Offices. The Specific support that the JTF will provide include: Operational Guidance and implementation strategies Liaison and Interactions with the different services involved, at headquarters and field level, throughout the operations cycle to ensure the application of the recommended quality standards.

High-Level Donor Coordination

Convened by UNDP, DFID or ECZ with Donors/ High-level representation at Ambassador or designate level. Frequency: As required, but once every 1-2 months dealing with Political issues and resource mobilization. 6 months rotations to accompany UNDP in the political dialogue

Steering Committee Technical Sub-Committee

Convened on a schedule by UNDP NPC/Project Donors Frequency: Bimonthly to Monthly, depending on need. Project oversight and decision making

Information-Sharing Forum

Convened by ECZ Includes, but not limited to, UN; national/international civil society organizations; development agency representatives; technical-level Frequency: Quarterly. Update on preparations; technical issues

UN

DP

Pro

jec

t C

oo

rdin

atio

n a

nd

Info

rma

tion

Sh

arin

g

Technical Support Team

Day-to-day administration and management of project The TST should meet as a team at least once a week. Serves as secretariat to Steering Committee and Technical Subcommittee


51

forum would be to ensure common knowledge on election activities

under the project, harmonization and ‗leveraging of synergies‘ and to avoid duplication of programming. The agenda would include an

update from the ECZ on project related issues and short presentations from each group on their activities followed by

general discussion on nominated or emerging issues.

c. The Steering Committee (SC) will be responsible for strategy

setting, general oversight of the activities within the basket including financial oversight, and approval of funding allocations

within the overall budget as recommended by the TST. The members of the Steering Committees should receive regular reports

from the TST, approve major activities and expenditures, monitor project operations, provide ongoing risk analysis and consider

funding for emerging issues. The SC is supported by the TST, which provides secretariat services and liaises with the SC's chair in the

preparation of agendas, notification to members, reports on the

various project components and provision of minutes. The decisions within the SC shall preferably be taken by consensus. However, it is

important to remind that in the absence of a consensus and as a last resort, there will be a weighted vote that would be linked to

contributions made and to a formula to be agreed upon that would include the relevant Zambian Authority (ECZ/DNRPC). However the

executing agency will take due diligence that the decisions are in line with the project terms of reference. The Heads of Missions,

Representatives of the Electoral Commission, Representatives of Ministry of Finance and National Planning and Ministry of Home

Affairs will constitute a Steering Committee of the project. The Steering Committee will be chaired by the Chairperson of the

Electoral Commission of Zambia. It will meet at least twice yearly and more frequently nearer to the Election Day as needed.

A restricted Technical Sub-Committee (TSC) will be formed

within the SC and can include the respective technical staff of the major donors plus the representatives of ECZ and other

beneficiaries as relevant. The TSC will be tasked with preparing the issues to be discussed within the Steering Committee and iron out

in advance any outstanding controversial issues. In this context, different development partners can be given the lead in following

specific components of the basket related to electoral support. The TSC will be chaired by the UNDP and will meet at least monthly and

more frequently nearer to the Election Day as needed.


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Steering Committee

Project Executive (Chair) Senior Beneficiary (ECZ,

DNRPC)

Senior Supplier, Donors

Technical Support Team

Project Manager

Electoral Procurement & Logistic Expert

Finance/Administration Expert

Civil/Voter Registration Expert

Civic/Voter Education and

Domestic Observation Expert

Project Support

UNDP Operations/

Joint EC UNDP Task Force

Project Assurance

UNDP ARR Governance

Project Officer

Media and Political Parties

Expert

Ad Hoc Experts

Technical Sub-Committee

UNDP ARR Governance (Chair)

ECZ, DNR, Donor Technical Staff

Tec

hni

cal

Staf

f

d. The Technical Support Team (TST) will be the dedicated team

that administers and manages the basket. DNRPC and ECZ will host TST staff associated with their respective institutional

mandates. TST staff should include experts with proven previous comparative experiences in electoral assistance and biometric

registration processes. The selection of experts shall be done in collaboration and in agreement between UNDP Country Office, other

Development Partners contributing to the UNDP managed basket fund and especially with ECZ, with specific support from

UNDPA/EAD and EC-UNDP Task Force. Rosters maintained by EAD and EC-UNDP joint Task Force will serve as source for pre-selection

of experts, and selection will be carried out in conformity with requirements of competitive review and diverse applicant tools.

UNDP agrees that clearance for the selection of experts shall be provided in an expeditious manner and the selection of the entire

set of experts required may be completed at different stages in

order to allow the immediate implementation of the project.

Fig 3. Management Arrangements

e. Procurement

The procurement of hardware, software and services for the voter and

civil registration activities in favour of ECZ and DNRPC will be carried


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out with the support of the UNDP Procurement Support Office in

Copenhagen. Over the years, UNDP has developed an extensive understanding and experience in providing technical assistance and

support to the conduct of democratic elections, through either UNDP headquarters or its country offices. UNDP has become a major actor in

the procurement of electoral materials, ranging from ballots and ballot boxes, to ink, stationery, and digital voter registration equipment. In

addition to that, UNDP has recently increased its focus on the crucial pre-polling period of planning and budgeting for procurement of

electoral material.

UNDP has reinforced the procurement function and related higher-level advisory services by revamping and restructuring the Procurement

Services Office (PSO) in New York and Copenhagen. One unit deals directly with elections, the Global Procurement Unit (GPU), which

represents the operational arm of procurement. At the same time GPU

has an integrated Special Advisory Team (SAT) on elections, covering advisory services.

GPU/SAT provides continuous assistance to UNDP country offices and

electoral management bodies (EMBs) through advice and support on planning and budgeting, on-site training and, in most cases, targeted

exploratory, formulation and assessment missions. The staff of the SAT Elections are also full part of the EC-UNDP Joint Task Force for

Electoral Assistance and they seek to raise awareness that procurement has a much larger scope than generally acknowledged.

The most commonly experienced obstacles and risks in electoral

procurement preparations are the decisions on implementation methodologies, development of technical specifications and terms of

reference, time constraints, insufficient budgets for procurement needs

and national ownership and capacities.

Furthermore, UNDP/GPU hold Long Term Agreements (LTAs) for the most strategic and essential electoral materials. The purpose of the

LTAs is to ensure efficiency in the procurement turn-around time and to limit repetitive tendering exercises within the boundaries of UNDP

procurement rules and regulations. LTAs also provide guaranteed quality assurance and quality control, and the benefit of economy of

scale, both in terms of products and logistics


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X. Auditing All funds that are advanced to implementing agents shall be accounted

for within fifteen days prior to the end of the quarter. The project will be audited annually within the framework of National Execution

Modality requirements. The Office of the Auditor General or her/his appointed agent will audit the accounts of the project at the end of

each year. The ECZ will be responsible for preparing books for auditing

and following up the recommendations of the audit. UNDP as the Trust Fund manager will have the primary responsibility of the fiduciary risk

management and ensuring that audit follow-up actions are undertaken in a timely manner.

XI. Reporting

The ECZ and DNRPC, supported by the TST will provide semi-annual reports on the progress of the project that will be presented to a

Steering Committee meeting convened by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission. In line with the Reporting Schedule attached

and in accordance with the requirements of the individual cost-sharing agreements, UNDP will present formal financial and narrative reports

to the participating donors. Additionally, The ECZ and DNRPC will attend monthly TSC Meetings at which oral updates will be provided to

the Committee.

XII. Monitoring and Evaluation The Project monitoring and evaluation procedures will be guided by

UNDP guidelines. They will be attentive to performance monitoring based on the identified performance indicators and assumptions and

risks in the Log Frame to ensure effectiveness of the project, efficient utilization of resources, accountability and transparency. The

evaluation plan will consist of the following: Baseline internal evaluation and follow-up of project initiation

phase Internal and joint evaluation

Outcome Evaluation End of Project evaluation


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A first project review will be undertaken during the third quarter of

2010 to examine progress and to recommend alternative work plans to which the Joint EC/UNDP Task Force will participate.

XIII. Legal Context This project document shall be the instrument referred to as such in

Article I of the Standard Basic Agreement between the Government of

the Republic of Zambia and the United Nations Development Programme, signed by both parties on 14 October 1983.

The following types of revisions may be made to this project document with the signature of the UNDP Resident Representative provided

he/she is assured that the other signatories of the project document have no objection to the proposed changes.

a) Revision or addition of any part of the main project document;

b) Revisions which do not involve significant changes in the immediate objectives, outputs or activities of the project, but

are caused by the re-arrangement of inputs agreed to or by cost increase due to inflation; and,

c) Mandatory annual revisions, which re-phase the delivery of agreed inputs or increased expert or other costs due to

inflation or take into account agency expenditure flexibility.

XIV. Risks Risks and mitigation Strategies

The major risks to successful implementation of the programme are summarised in table 3 below:

Risk Level Mitigation

Delays in establishment of data

sharing framework between the ECZ and

the Department of

National Registration.

Low Initiate early dialogue between ECZ and DNRPC prior to the

implementation of the project.

Use Of data in interfaced data

platform already in existence at DNRPC.

Delays in the enactment of

amendments to the constitution review

Medium ECZ has an opportunity to advocate for the enactment through the

Parliamentary Committee on Governance


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process.

Stakeholder perception of the

electoral process vis-à-vis developments in

the region.

Medium Engagement of the media and NGOs on various electoral issues.

Delayed funding from the cooperating

partners and Government.

Low Advance funding by the UNDP

Exchange rate

fluctuation.

Low The Trust Fund budget will be

maintained in US dollars.

Delays in

implementation of structural reviews of

ECZ and DNRPC

Low Continued operations within

existing structure focusing on priority activities.

Reduced time to implement the project

Low Prioritization of activities to be implemented

Gender stereotyping Medium Continuous gender sensitization

Impact of 2011

Elections on Project

Implementation

Medium Development of detailed action

plans at an early stage by the TST.


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XV. Project Work Plan, Budget and Reporting Timeline

XVI. Budget Summary: Sources of Funds

Source of

Funds

Expenditure

Type

2009 2010 2011 2012

Million US$ Million US$ Million US$ Million US$

ECZ9 Direct

Contribution 988,971.43

890,042.86 864,014.29 853,357.14

DNRPC

Direct Contribution

500,000 600,000 400,000 500,000

Cooperating Partners

Canada USD 2,120,000 EC USD

9,620,000 Finland USD

247,074 Netherlands USD 1,300,000

UNDP USD 746,956

UNDP (Core Funds) USD 180,000

Total

USD 19.810.416

9 ECZ Contribution includes Operational Costs for hosting the Technical Support Team at a total of $396,385.72


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XVII. Reporting Arrangements and Timetable

The following reports will be submitted by UNDP to the Contributing Partners: No Report Content Period

Covered Due Date

1 Inception Report

To be prepared by the TST in collaboration with the UNDP, and to include a detailed scope of work (action plan) for at least the first six months of the project showing start and end dates for each activity

1st month of TST activity

1 month + 1 week from project implementation start date

2 2010 Work plan

Work plan stating the activities to be undertaken in 2010

January – December 2010

31/01/10

3 2009 Progress Report

Narrative Description of activities and progress in 2009, including a provisional financial status report; and liquidity planning for subsequent 6 months

Project Start - December 31st, 2009

31/03/10

4 Semi-Annual Progress Report

Liquidity planning for the subsequent 6 months, including a narrative Description of activities and progress and a provisional financial status report, and liquidity planning for subsequent 6 months

January 1st - June 30th 2010

31/08/10

5 2011 Workplan

Workplan stating the activities to be undertaken in 2011

January – December 2011

31/01/11


Narrative Description of activities and progress including a provisional financial status report covering the whole year, and liquidity planning for subsequent 6 months

All of 2010 31/03/11




31/08/11


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8 Workplan 2012

Workplan stating the activities to be undertaken in 2012

January-December 2012

31/01/12


Narrative Description of activities and progress including a formal financial status report covering the whole year, and liquidity planning for subsequent 6 months

All of 2011 31/03/12




31/08/12


Narrative Description of activities and progress including a formal financial status report covering the whole year.

All of 2012 31/03/13

Other Documents to be submitted by UNDP Due Date

Certified Financial Statements for 2009 30/06/2010



Certified Financial Statements for 2009-2012 30/06/2014

In addition to the above, the TST will report on the progress of ECZ and DNRPC on a quarterly basis to the Steering Committee.

XVIII. SIGNATURE PAGE


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Country: Zambia


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