Preconditons for Elections Programme in Southern Africa (PEPSA) Will the elections be honest?
PEPSA was founded in August 2004 and represents an alliance between 3 organisations in southern Africa and the Netherlands: MISA (Media Institute of Southern Africa), HIVOS and NiZA.
PEPSA’s main objective is to improve the
preconditions needed for free and honest elections in southern Africa.
Why PEPSA?
When basic preconditions such as freedom of expression, of media, of association and of campaigning are lacking, their absence seriously jeopardises the quality of elections and of democracy. PEPSA aspires to improve, promote and protect these rights.
What does PEPSA do?
The PEPSA activities focus on such activities as increasing transparency in the election process; protecting the human rights of politicians, their supporters and potential voters; facilitating independent media reporting during election campaigns; and combating corruption and manipulation during the election process.
PEPSA aims to bring together civil society organisations and the media in Congo with the goal of:
Facilitating participation by civil society in the election process;
Making the process transparent.
This involves building from the bottom up, via PEPSA consultants, to bring about cooperation between civil society organisations.
NiZA contributes to this goal by offering access to its networks in Congo and abroad. One example is the partner organisations of NiZA’s Media and Economic Empowerment programmes.
For further information about the PEPSA project see the website 'Mauritius Principles Observatory.
Each year sees the publication of the book: ‘ Outside the Ballot Box’ - Preconditions for elections in Southern Africa: outside-the-ballot-box-2004_5.pdf (1224 Kb) (A short summary of the book can be found on the NiZA site under publications)
