Support for the 2016 local elections

completed

The FC measure to support the local elections in Burkina Faso is making a direct contribution to the orderly conduct of the local elections, which are scheduled for January 31, 2016. After the government coup in autumn 2014, in which long-serving President Blaise Compaoré was deposed and parliament and local councils were dissolved, a twelve-month transition phase was initiated under the leadership of a transitional government. The presidential and parliamentary elections held in December 2015 and the local elections planned for May 2016 are intended to bring about a return to constitutional normality. The independent electoral commission CENI (Commission Électorale Nationale Indépendante) is responsible for organizing and monitoring the elections. The organisation is receiving support in preparing for and conducting the parliamentary and presidential elections from the NGO ECES (European Centre for Electoral Support), which specialises in electoral processes, with the help of the PACTE-BF project (Projet dAppui à la Crédibilité et à la Transparence des Elections au Burkina Faso). The support for the local elections through the FC measure is carried out with ECES as the implementing partner and is linked to the PACTE-BF project, but is independent of PACTE-BF. German FC is supporting the local elections. The development policy objective of the project is to contribute to the proper conduct of credible, peaceful and transparent local elections in 2016. This is done by financing priority election materials for the local elections. The main target group is the Burkinabe population eligible to vote. The total cost of the local elections is up to EUR 23 million (CENI estimate, as of May 2015). The FC funding contribution amounts to EUR 1.5 million. The financing of the remaining costs is still unclear; securing the total financing is a prerequisite for the FC measure to be paid out. The FC measure is scheduled to run until the local elections are held, probably in May 2016.