The Division of Electoral Assistance of the Council of Europe has been invited to participate in the 5th Annual Meeting of the Election Management Bodies, which will take place from the 24th to the 26th of February 2015 in Batumi, Georgia. Under the topic “Inclusive Elections” the event is aimed at sharing experiences, challenges and approaches to make election processes available to everyone, including group with special needs such as women, ethnic minorities or persons with disabilities.

Mr. François Friederich, Head of Division, will expose the activities implemented by the Division of Electoral Assistance in a presentation on the theme “Youth participation in elections: a priority for the Council of Europe”. The broad experience of the Division in enhancing youth and first-time voter’s participation in elections, as well as women participation both as voters and candidates will be heighted during the event in particular through successful projects such as the ones implemented in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Georgia.

A Memorandum of Understanding on founding the International Association of Electoral Training Organizations will be signed at the end of the meeting.

The event is organized by the Central Election Commission of Georgia in cooperation with the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS). Participants to the conference include representatives from the United Nations Development Program, from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and from several organizations and foundations working on electoral assistance and training