The Election Commission (EC) has signed a financial assistance agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Australia for ‘The Ballot Project’ ahead of the upcoming 13th National Assembly elections. The agreement was signed at the Election Building in the capital, Agargaon, on Wednesday.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin, UNDP Resident Representative Stefan Liler, and Australian High Commissioner Susan Riley were present at the event.
After the meeting, EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, ‘We have been seeking UNDP’s assistance since the formation of the EC. They have been extending their support since the beginning. A total of 18.53 million US dollars will be provided for ‘The Ballot Project’. Australia has announced a support of 2 million dollars in their currency.’
He said, ‘There are 16 components for the elections. UNDP has discussed the financing of these 16. Out of this, Australia has promised to provide 2 million dollars in assistance. We hope that donors will support the future funding of this project.
The EC Secretary said, “The project will run until December 31, 2027. Under this project, the project will be implemented in 16 components – capacity building, awareness, training, institutional framework. I hope it will be utilized best.”
He said, “They helped us with laptops, scanners, cameras, office machines in the initial stage of the voter registration process. In continuation of that, the MoU for this project was signed today.”
At that time, Australian High Commissioner Susan Riley said, “We recently invited five officials of the Reform Commission to Australia so that they could receive training and get an idea about the various methods of voter registration and national identity card issuance. But today we are pleased to provide 2 million Australian dollars as direct support to the Bangladesh Election Commission’s “The Ballot Project.”
UNDP Resident Representative Stefan Liller said that shortly after the formation of the current Election Commission last year, they contacted the UN to seek assistance in preparing for the upcoming elections. The UN then sent a “Needs Assessment Mission,” which arrived in Bangladesh in January this year to meet with various stakeholders and work to determine the scope of technical assistance the UN could provide.
“Over the past few months, these recommendations have been transformed into a project, known as “The Ballot Project.” The Bangladesh government has approved the project in record time. The UN, the Election Commission and the Department of Economic Relations are working together on this project and we are proud that Australia has come forward today as the first donor and partner in this important project.”
Stephan Liller said, “This project will be implemented by the UN, UNDP, UNESCO and UN Women. Australia is the first country to come forward with a commitment from the government and taxpayers behind it. We are also continuing discussions with other development partners and hope that others will also come forward to assist the Election Commission so that this becomes one of the best elections in the history of Bangladesh.
