The Secretary General of International IDEA Dr Kevin Casas- Zamora, supported by the Regional Director of Africa and West Asia Dr Roba Sharamo and other Senior officials of International IDEA paid a courtesy visit to the ECF-SADC Secretariat on 1st June 2023.
In his remarks, Dr Zamora explained that his visit to Botswana as a member State of International IDEA was intended to meet key Institutions in Democracy building, given the good standing of Botswana in embracing democratic principles, and to explore ways to enhance International IDEA’s work with Botswana. The visit to ECF-SADC Secretariat, therefore, was an initiative to take the working relationship with ECF-SADC to the next level, especially on the need to have conversations around action programmes and creation of vibrant networks in the region and in the continent. At the Continental level, Dr Zamora emphasized the need to strengthen EMBs and ensuring that they move together in the same direction.
He added that conversations on women and youth political participation from regional perspectives needed to be explored further for the promotion of inclusive elections. For their part, the Regional Director Dr Sharamo and his team emphasized on their eagerness to leverage on the ECF-SADC work to access EMBs in the region, to offer technical support as well as establish opportunities for enhancing the existing collaboration with ECF-SADC.
The delegation benefitted from a brief by the Executive Secretary of the ECF-SADC Secretariat Ms Hilda Modisane, who reflected on the areas of cooperation with International IDEA and potential areas of future collaboration. Ms Modisane appreciated that the relationship with International IDEA has grown and matured over the years and she was confident that with the technical support from International IDEA, the ECF-SADC has a lot of potential to be visible and be of value add to its members.
