India elected as Chair of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) for 2022-24

New Delhi, 11/05 (Pratyusha bureau):

India has been unanimously elected as the new Chair of the Association
of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) for 2022-2024 at the recently held
meeting of the Executive board and General Assembly at Manila,
Philippines on May 7, 2022. Commission on Elections, Manila was the
current chair of AAEA. The new members in the Executive Board now
includes Russia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Taiwan and
Philippines.

The Election Commission of India 3-member delegation headed by
Deputy Election Commissioner Shri Nitesh Vyas, along with CEO
Manipur Shri Rajesh Agrawl and CEO Rajasthan Shri Praveen Gupta,
attended the Executive Board meeting at Manila and presented the
work plan for 2022-23 as also futuristic activities for 2023-24 to the
Executive Board. A presentation on ‘Gender Issues in Elections’ was
also given, highlighting various concerted and targeted interventions by

India to break socio-political barriers in electoral and political processes
for inclusive and participative elections.
The mission of the Association of Asian Election Authorities is to
provide a non-partisan forum in the Asian region for sharing
experiences and best practices among election authorities to discuss
and act upon ways to promote open and transparent elections with the
objective of supporting good governance and democracy.

Officials from many AAEA member countries have been regularly
attending International Training Programmes conducted by India
International Institute for Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM)
from time to time. Since 2019, more than 250 officials from AAEA
member countries have attended these programmes. IIIDEM also
conducts customized capacity development training programs for specific
AAEA member countries. 50 officials of Bangladesh Election Commission
were trained during 2021-22.

Delegates from AAEA have also been regularly participating in the
International Election Visitors Programme organized by Election
Commission of India. 62 officials from 12 AAEA members participated in
the 3rd International Virtual Election Visitors Programme (IEVP) hosted
by ECI during Assembly Elections in 2022. AAEA is also an Associate
Member of the 118 member Association of World Election Bodies (AWEB).

Establishment and Membership of AAEA
In pursuance of the resolution passed by participants of the Symposium on
Asian Elections in the Twenty First Century held from January 26-29, 1997
in Manila, Philippines, the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA)
was established in 1998. Currently 20 Asian EMBs are members of AAEA.
ECI is a founder member EMB of the AAEA and also served on the
Executive Board of the AAEA as the Vice Chair during 2011-13 and Chair
during 2014-16.