CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar invited as International Observer for forthcoming Elections in Nepal

Chief Election Commissioner of India Shri Rajiv Kumar has been invited by Election Commission of Nepal as International Observer for the forthcoming elections to Nepal’s House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly. Elections are scheduled in Nepal on 20^th November, 2022 for the Federal and Provincial elections to elect 275 members of the Federal Parliament and 550 seats of the seven Provincial Assemblies.

Shri Rajiv Kumar will be leading a delegation of ECI officials as State guest in Nepal from 18^th November to 22^nd November, 2022. During his visit Shri Kumar would be visiting Polling stations at Kathmandu and areas around.

ECI also has a similar International Election Visitors Program where members from other Election Management Bodies are invited to experience firsthand our General and Assembly Elections held periodically.

The Election Commission of India has always been in the forefront with fellow Election Management Bodies (EMBs) and relevant international organizations/associations in promoting the cause of democracy worldwide, through bilateral as well as multilateral interactions and has always endeavored to promote contacts, facilitate exchange of knowledge and sharing of best practices with a view to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. ECI’s India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) has by far trained more than 2200 officers from 109 countries of whom 70 officers from Nepal have also been trained as part of capacity building initiatives. A capacity building program for 25 officials from Election Commission of Nepal is also scheduled to be held from 13^th to 24^th March 2023 at IIIDEM.

Representatives from Election Commission of Nepal participated in the recently held International Conference hosted by ECI on Conference on ‘Role, Framework & Capacity of EMBs’ as a follow on to the Summit for Democracy’ ECI would be hosting two more International conferences on the theme of “Inclusive and Accessible elections” as also “Technology in elections” as part of Cohort activities under “Summit for Democracy – Year of Action”.

ECI had been chairing the Association of World Election Bodies, which is the world’s largest international organization in the field of election management – since Sept 2019 to October 2022. A-WEB currently comprises 119 Election Management Bodies (EMBs) from 109 countries. ECI has now been unanimously elected as the new Chair of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) for the term 2022 to 2024 thus globally acknowledging ECI’s presence and efficient conduct of Elections in world’s largest democracy.

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RP