International IDEA launches the Integrated Framework for Protecting Elections in Addis Ababa

The event featured opening remarks from Mr. John Kotsopoulos, Head of Political and Public Affairs at the Permanent Mission of the Government of Canada to the African Union and Dr Roba D. Sharamo, the International IDEA Regional Director for Africa and West Asia.

Mr. Kotsopoulos highlighted Canada’s continued support for democratic governance and human rights, noting the first anniversary of Canada’s Africa Strategy and its focus on strengthening resilient democracies. He emphasized that support to the Protecting Elections project aligns closely with this strategy and underscored the Framework’s relevance in addressing key electoral challenges across Africa, reflected in the strong engagement from countries in the region.

In his opening remarks, Dr Roba highlighted the importance of the launch and welcomed representatives from International IDEA’s Member States, the African Union, the EU Delegation to the AU, and electoral authorities. He situated the Framework within a regional context marked by increasingly complex electoral challenges, including electoral violence, declining public trust, and emerging cyber and interference threats. Emphasizing the need for more proactive risk management, he noted that the Framework offers a practical tool for electoral management bodies to prevent and mitigate risks while promoting inclusive and responsive electoral processes and underscored that it has already been tested by EMBs across several African countries.

The programme then turned to country-level experience, with Mr. Irfan Abdool Rahman, Electoral Commissioner of Mauritius, sharing reflections from early piloting of the Framework. He highlighted how the project supported a shift towards more structured approaches to electoral risk management, strengthening coordination, preparedness and policy responses ahead of recent elections in Mauritius. Drawing on lessons learned, he encouraged other countries across the continent to apply the Framework and underscored the importance of sustained donor support to ensure such initiatives can be institutionalized and maintained over time, despite growing donor fatigue. 

Mr. Sead Alihodzic, Principal Adviser in International IDEA’s Electoral Processes Team, who led its development of the Framework presented an overview. He introduced the concept behind the Integrated Framework, outlined the project's key objectives and steps implemented from 2023 to 2026, and described the main resources that constitute the Framework. These include the Guide, a Self-Assessment Survey, the Training Curriculum and the Resources Portal. 

Regional reflections were  shared by Ms. Olufunto Akinduro from International IDEA's Africa regional programme shared regional reflections, she highlighted how the Framework responds to region specific electoral challenges – including electoral violence, declining public trust and patterns of exclusion affecting women, young people, internally displaced persons and diaspora voters – while emphasizing the importance of partnerships with regional networks, the African Union and other stakeholders. She underscored that the Framework promotes a whole of society approach, recognizing that electoral management bodies cannot address these challenges alone.

The event concluded with a highly engaged and substantive discussion, reflecting strong interest from participants. Numerous questions and in depth exchanges underscored the relevance of the Framework for the African context. Participants reflected on shared challenges across the region and discussed how the Framework can inform and complement ongoing efforts to support electoral processes at national, regional and continental levels, highlighting its practical value and timeliness. Specifically, participants highlighted the relevance of the framework within the AU and RECs’ peace and security architecture to contribute to early warning and preventive measures related to electoral processes on the continent. 

As the programme concluded, International IDEA expressed its appreciation to the Government of Canada for its support, as well as to all speakers and participants for their valuable contributions and engagement. 

The Addis Ababa launch marks not an endpoint, but a call to action – inviting stakeholders to work collectively to ensure that elections in Africa and beyond are not only conducted, but protected, trusted, resilient and inclusive. International IDEA remains committed to its partnership with continental and regional institutions across Africa in protecting electoral processes in the region.