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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made for international supervision and monitoring of the forthcoming elections in Afghanistan. [178039] Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Joint Elections Management Body (JEMB), comprised of the Afghan Transitional Administration (ATA) and UN representatives, and chaired by Interior Minister Jalali, is responsible for election preparations. As part of its electoral support plans, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) intends to establish an `Observation Office' to facilitate national and international election observation. The Office is intended to support information exchange between Afghan and international observers and other interested parties; provide briefing packages for observers; and develop training materials for Afghan observers. We are currently discussing with EU partners and the European Commission a range of measures to support the elections, including deployment of monitors and advisers. There are also likely to be observer teams from a number of other countries. Work is also in hand to develop domestic monitoring capacity. Afghan civil society organisations involved in this have formed a `Core Group' to coordinate domestic monitoring activities.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

178039; 422 c796W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Elections Election observers Monitoring United Nations Afghanistan UN Development Programme

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk