| Overview : The UNDP “Strengthening the Electoral Cycle in the Solomon Islands Project” (SECSIP) provides electoral assistance to the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) and other national institutions throughout the electoral cycle (pre-election; elections/polling and post-election) for the conduct of inclusive and credible electoral processes. Since 2013 SECSIP has provided technical assistance for the planning and implementation of two general elections (2014, 2019) and for parliamentary and provincial by-elections . SECSIP receives financial assistance from the Government of Australia and UNDP. The need for the review of the electoral legal framework is one of the priorities included in the Electoral Reform Strategy Framework (ERSF) of SIEC. The ERSF was developed by SIEC in alignment with the Fundamental Reforms as referred to in the DCGA Policy Statement, Policy Translation document and the 2020 DCGA Policy Redirection and establishes SIEC priority areas to improve the conduct of elections throughout the next electoral cycle. The 2019 national general elections were the first conducted under the Electoral Act 2018. Electoral observer reports commended SIEC for the successful implementation of these elections and provided also recommendations for further improvements. Additionally, during the post-election phase, SIEC with SECSIP support, conducted lessons learned exercises identifying aspects that may require the amendment of legal provisions. With a view to provide strategic guidance on the electoral reform process which takes into account the above referred ERSF, the findings of the lessons learned and the recommendations of the observation reports, SIEC proposed the establishment of a Taskforce on Electoral Reform (TER) expected to be operational from July 2021 onwards. The TER will be chaired by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and its scope of duties includes the assistance for the review and harmonization of the electoral legal framework, the planning and organization of consultations with relevant stakeholders and the production of policy papers with recommendations on electoral reform issues.
In support of the TER and to document and build the institutional memory of the electoral authorities on the electoral reform process, SECSIP is seeking to engage a short-term consultant who will be responsible to produce progress reports on the electoral reform process. This assignment will require availability to travel to the provinces with the TER. |
