Visit to Senegal by the European Union Electoral Monitoring Mission

Following the Electoral Observation Mission (EU EOM), deployed for the Presidential election of February 24, 2019, an Electoral Monitoring Mission (EU EMM) visited Senegal from March 12 to April 9, 2022. This Mission headed by Ms. Elena Valenciano, Head of the EU EOM in 2019 has a mandate to monitor progress on electoral reform, in light of the recommendations made by the 2019 EOM.

EU EOMs provide comprehensive, independent and impartial assessments of electoral processes and recommendations to help improve them. The follow-up of these recommendations by EU EMMs is a way for the EU to support the consolidation of democracy, human rights and governance, which are at the heart of the partnership between Senegal and the European Union.

The EMM met with key electoral stakeholders, including state institutions, political parties and coalitions, election management bodies, and civil society organizations, as well as the international community. A round table with the main stakeholders completed Ms. Valenciano's visit and enabled fruitful exchanges between the various stakeholders.

The EU EOM in 2019 made 26 technical recommendations to help improve future elections, of which 8 were prioritized. In view of these recommendations, the Mission welcomes the legislative progress concerning access to the vote for people with disabilities, which reinforces the inclusive nature of electoral processes. The Mission has paid particular attention to the need to increase the participation of women at all stages of the process and invites the stakeholders to continue their efforts in this direction. The mission also looked into the consensual issue of political party financing rules.

The EMM, during its meetings, reminded the interlocutors of the need to continue the reflection on citizen sponsorship and to move forward on the simplification of the methods of collection as well as on the procedures for checking the lists of sponsors to guarantee equal treatment of all nominations. During the press conference, Ms. Elena Valenciano was delighted “to note that the majority of the recommendations proposed by the Electoral Observation Mission in 2019 were addressed within the framework of the National Dialogue. Indeed, the recommendations of the 2019 EU EOM aimed to provide the various national actors with a useful frame of reference to deepen the reforms necessary for the transparency and fairness of electoral processes. In this respect, the improvements relating to access for people with disabilities constitute an important step forward”. Ms. Valenciano "warmly thanks the authorities and electoral actors met and encourages all parties to continue the reform work undertaken in the tradition of dialogue and consultation that prevails in Senegal".

Contact MSE-EU Senegal: Tel. +221 77 166 57 93 / Email: missionsuivielectoral.ue@gmail.com