As an indispensable foundation of democracy, elections avail citizens the opportunity to exercise their franchise and participate in shaping how their society is governed.
Yiaga Africa is a non-profit civic hub of change makers committed to the promotion of democratic governance, human rights and civic engagement.
As an indispensable foundation of democracy, elections avail citizens the opportunity to exercise their franchise and participate in shaping how their society is governed. Competitive and democratic elections are central to democratic consolidation, political stability and legitimacy. Yiaga Africa has a four-pronged approach to election-related programming.
Electoral Research
To facilitate data driven election programming, Yiaga Africa conducts quantitative and qualitative research on elections in Africa. In addition to contributing to the body of knowledge on elections, Yiaga Africa electoral research efforts drive advocacy on electoral reforms undertaken by election management bodies, parliaments, civil society, media etc. Yiaga Africa research findings are published in monographs, policy briefs, reports, newsletters and magazines.
Electoral Integrity
In pursuit of its goal of enhancing the quality of elections, Yiaga Africa deploys citizens' observers to observe the conduct of elections at international and country level. This is informed by the ardent need to deepen electoral integrity and accountability. Our election observation programs cover key election activities like voter registration, political party congresses and candidate nomination processes, political campaigns, election day and post-election audit. Through Watching The Vote, a movement of citizen election observers, Yiaga Africa promotes the conduct of elections in line with democratic principles and global standards. Yiaga Africa conducts Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) for national and local elections in Nigeria..
Electoral Institutions Support Program
Yiaga Africa delivers electoral assistance to election management bodies to improve their capacity to manage electoral operations, voter education, communications and stakeholder engagement. Yiaga Africa supports election management bodies and electoral institutes through capacity development programs and electoral policy design.
Citizen Participation
Yiaga Africa promotes active and sustained citizens participation in the electoral process through campaigns, workshops, web-based tools and traditional media. Yiaga Africa also runs periodic civic camps for first time voters in addition to democracy clubs established in high schools to mobilize young people for civic leadership.