Acknowledgements
The ESN - SA Eminent Persons Observer Mission to the Zimbabwe 2018 Harmonized
Elections acknowledges the support provided by the host, the Zimbabwe Election
Support Network (ZESN) which is also the regional network’ secretariat for organizing
and coordinating the mission. Further, the mission is grateful to the National Endowment
for Democracy (NED) and Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA) for providing
financial support for the deployment of the mission. Last but not least, the Mission
acknowledges the support rendered by the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) not
only for the accreditation of mission observers but for the information which enabled the
observers to carry out their mandate.
About Election Support Network of Southern Africa
The Election Support Network of Southern Africa (ESN – SA) is a regional network of
fifteen non-governmental organisations working in the area of elections in the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) region. The ESN-SA (formally known as
Southern African Development Community –Election Support Network (SADC-ESN) was
established in January 1998 at a launching conference held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. It
is a regional network of organisations working in the field of democracy and elections
organised into country chapters. In its early formation the ESN-SA focused mainly on
domestic election observation and thereafter on regional election observation; building
capacity of network members to design and develop voter and civic curricula; and to a
limited extent, internal capacity building.
In 2013, it observed the Zimbabwe Harmonised Elections as well as the first round of the
Malagasy Presidential Election. The Network provides opportunities for sharing lessons
learnt, peer exchange, encourages exchange of best practices at the regional level and
provides opportunities for members to participate in various workshops and conferences
including workshops on election observation, electoral reforms, and gender equity in the
democratic process.
ESN-SA is currently being hosted by one of its member organisations, the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network (ZESN), which is the current secretariat. Hence, all the
Network’s activities are coordinated from the said organisation based in Zimbabwe. ESNSA is a member and sits in the Steering Committee of the Global Network of Domestic
Election Monitors (GNDEM), which is pivotal in ensuring international best practice and
monitoring the conduct of domestic election observers.
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