Tamar Zhvania, the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Georgia and Natia Zaalishvili, Director of the CEC Training Centre participated in the conference organized by the Council of Europe (CoE) within the scope of its Action Plan for Georgia 2016-2019. The meeting was held with the support of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the United States Agency for International development (USAID).

Cristian Urse, Head of the Council of Europe in Georgia, Tamar Zhvania and Monica Azimi, Director of Democracy, Governance and Social Development Office, USAID made opening remarks at the conference.

The main theme of the event was Elections 2016: Experience Learned and Future Plans. The representatives of election management bodies, as well as leaders of political parties, state audit office, representatives of international organizations, media, and civil sector, attended the meeting.

The conference participants drew lessons from the organizations and management of the 2016 parliamentary elections in view of compliance with European and International standards and for further improving the electoral process in Georgia.

In addition, they discussed anticipated or possible challenges in upcoming elections of local self-governing bodies 2017. The representatives of USAID and IFES informed the participants on the development of their electoral projects.

As the CEC Chairperson noted, it is highly important for the administration to raise awareness of the society on the transparency of electoral processes and activities of the Election Administration (EA). “Such meetings give a good opportunity to discuss every step taken for improving electoral environment and elaborate on the achieved progress and learned experiences”, - the CEC Chairperson noted and expressed gratitude to the CoE, IFES, and USAID for organizing this event; “I would like to thank you for our long-lasting and fruitful cooperation. By doing so, we support the development of democratic processes and protect the fundamental rights of our citizens,”- Tamar Zhvania mentioned.

Cristian Urse, Head of the Council of Europe in Georgia put emphasis on the importance of the conference, which allows all stakeholders the equal opportunities to discuss the electoral legislature, improving the electoral environment and effective resolution of the issues raised by the international and local observers.

CoE and IFES regularly conduct conferences for years once the elections in Georgia are completed. Similar events were held after parliamentary elections 2012, presidential elections 2013 and elections of local self-governing bodies 2014.