PREVIOUS / NEXT PAGE:2/8

The mission statement of the association is straightforward:
“…to provide a nonpartisan forum for the exchange of information among election authorities to discuss and act on ways to promote open and transparent elections with the objective of supporting good governance and democracy.”

Following the Working Advisory Group meeting, IFES distributed a draft charter and other information about the group’s deliberations to Asian election bodies which were represented at the 1997 Symposium for their consideration and review. The edited draft was presented to participants at the February 1998 Conference which was modified on a number of points.

The Charter was formally ratified by eight regional election authorities (Bangladesh, India, Nepal,  Mongolia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippine, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka) who signed it in Manila. Several additional election authorities indicated their interest in joining this new initiative upon receiving required approvals from their home offices. In addition to election officials from South and East Asia, the founding Charter group now includes three election authorities from the Central Asian region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan – who have expressed interest in integrating with their Asian counterparts and supporting cross-regional information sharing initiatives.

The AAEA held its first meeting of the executive board on 5 March 1999 in Katmandu, Nepal. The meeting was an opportunity for the Association’s leadership to discuss various administrative issues and to determine the course of future programming. In the aftermath of the meeting, AAEA, with assistance from IFES serving as the Association’s interim Secretariat, has initiated the activities necessary for the institutionalization of the Association.
In May and June, the AAEA undertook its observation mission. A team of seven election officials from AAEA member commissions traveled to Indonesia to observe the 7 June national parliamentary elections.