On September 9-12, 2015, Tamar Zhvania, Chair, the Central Election Commission and Natia Zaalishvili, Director, the Center of Electoral Systems Development, Reforms and Training of Georgia participated in 24th Annual International Conference of the Association of European Election Officials (ACEEEO) held in Chisinau, Moldova.
At the conference, Tamar Zhvania, Chair of the CEC made a presentation - Overview of Electoral Training Programs in Georgia. She emphasized the development of electoral culture in the country and spoke about educating and awareness raising of stakeholders and voters, training programs implemented by the CEC and the Training Center.
Natia Zaalishvili, Head of the Training Center, following the ACEEEO invitation, provided expert services and conducted for Conference participants special targeted pilot training on the topic: Code of Conduct for Electoral Stakeholders. As part of the session, various electoral training methodologies were shared.
During the event the Director of the Training Centre Ms. Natia Zaalishvili prepared an article – “The First Voter Project: A showcase for increasing participation of First Time Voters in the Electoral Process in Georgia” (see attachement and publication) which was published in ACEEEO N11 publication, September 2015.
In the address to conference participants, the Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Moldova highlighted the importance of the Training Centers in Georgia and in Moldova.
The ACEEEO Conference was organized around two important topics – the importance of trainings for electoral stakeholders and the equality of votes and voters. The ACEEEO held the three-day event in close cooperation with the Election Administration of Moldova.
Representatives of election administrations of Romania, Albania, Russia, Armenia, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Bosnia-Herzegovina participated in the Conference; among the participating international organizations were: Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), European Center for Electoral Support, OSCE/ODIHR, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Support, representatives of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB). Furthermore, high officials of the Moldova government and legislative bodies, including Vice-Speaker of the Parliament, Chair of the Constitutional Court, Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs attended the Conference.
