| Overview : The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is a body created under Section 75 of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi to supervise and direct the conduct of all elections in Malawi i.e. Parliamentary, Presidential, By-elections, Local Government and Referenda. The Commission conducts these elections in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, Parliamentary and Presidential elections Act No.31 of 1993 (PPEA), Local Government Elections Act No.24 of 1996 and Electoral Commission Act No.11 of 1998 (ECA). The Electoral Commission Act Section 8 (j) further mandates the Commission to “promote public awareness and other appropriate and effective means and to conduct civic and voter education on such matters.” The Commission’s role is to fulfill this mandate, comply with international standards of managing elections and delivery of civic and voter education. In addition, the various stakeholders that are involved in Civic and Voter Education (CVE) need guidance on the key areas that they need to concentrate on in imparting information to the grassroots. Stakeholders also need to be aware of issues that form the content of voter education and voter information and the specific periods when these two can be delivered to the electorate to achieve maximum output. Although the Commission’s main focus on the provision of voter information/education is aligned to the various electoral processes, it also ensures that it coordinates and provides adequate information to civic and voter education practitioners so that they in turn impart the same information in a timely and adequate manner to the public. Prior to each election and in liaison with the various stakeholders, the Commission develops a CVE strategy that provides a guide and direction on how to deliver civic and voter education programmes. The CVE strategy outlines the key areas of focus, target groups, delivery methodologies, media, roles of various stakeholders, accreditation process, codes of conduct, mapping and issues of monitoring and evaluation. This activity will be implemented under the Malawi Electoral Cycle support (MECs) programme 2017 – 2019 which is a basket fund pooling resources from various development partners and is managed by UNDP. | 
