On the 21^st April 2006, AIDCO Director General K. Richelle signed with the UNDP Associate Administrator Ad Melkert, the EC/UNDP Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of Electoral Assistance Programs and Projects.

The Guidelines outline practical measures for the strengthening and the facilitation of the already established cooperation between the EC and the UNDP in the domain of electoral assistance (in full respect of the provisions laid out in the existing Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement (FAFA) between the EC and the UN). They will clarify implementation aspects, tighten up and improve the EC/UNDP collaboration on electoral assistance so as to further promote the effectiveness and efficiency of electoral assistance initiatives through better and more timely planning, formulation and implementation of activities.

The Operational Guidelines draw mainly upon the experience gained in the past five years of cooperation and in the shared work between the Delegations, Geographical directorates, Directorate for Operations Quality Support (AIDCO/E/4) and UNDP on electoral assistance projects over the last sixteen months, during which four joint formulation missions have been carried out. They aim at rationalizing the “defacto” partnership that exists at country level and providing for more concrete involvement and influence of the EC in the preparation and implementation phases of electoral assistance projects. The Guidelines should in particular facilitate the position of the Delegations vis-à-vis the representations of UNDP in country by addressing problems such as:

• Difficulties in the appraisal process (not enough involvement of the EC);
• Discrepancies between the UNDP Project Document and EC Financing Proposal leading to uncertainties regarding the EC/UNDP Contribution Agreement;
• Misunderstandings in the use of the UNDP Pre financing modal ity linked with the use of the EC retroactivity clause;
• Difficulties in the selection process of the required electoral expertise;
• Difficulties in securing adequate participation and voice of the EC delegation in the Steering Committee of the project;
• Difficulties in ensuring the visibility of EC funding.