European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights (EIUC)
Course for International Electoral Observers
Venice, 8–10 November 2012

The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights (EIUC) is organising a Course for International Electoral Observers. The course aims at providing training to civilian staff in election observation missions at the first steps of their career (i.e. short term observers). Selected applicants will be allowed to become aware of the role, the tasks and the status of international observers, and will be given a theoretical and practical training on election observation and election observation missions functioning.

Observing elections

Observing elections is part of the bedrock of a functioning democracy, which is, in turn, a crucial factor in sustainable development. This requires skilled and trained observers. International election observation plays an important role in international relations since almost thirty years. The Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation adopted by the UN in 2005 is one of the first attempts of the international Community to set up standard rules recognized at international level. Within the EU, the adoption of EU guidelines on preconditions for EU observation missions and a code of conduct for EU electoral observers represented an important step towards enhanced co-ordination within the EU.

Language

All courses will be held in English. It is, therefore, essential that all participants understand and speak English fluently.

Location

Monastery of San Nicolò, Venice Lido (Italy)

Participants
The course is devoted to those applicants with no experience in election observation or to those observers who have participated to a maximum of two missions as short term observers. The aim of the course is to deepen the theoretical and practical expertise on election observation missions, and aims at providing participants with further skills that will be an asset in case of further applications as international observers.
Lectures are conceived for an audience of young graduates mainly in Law, Political Sciences, Economics, Sociology, Philosophy, Anthropology or similar who want to address international election observation from a multi-disciplinary approach that will be useful in further engagements on the field.

Faculty / Lecturers

All lecturers share more than 10 years professional experience in election observation and/or in their specific field. Most of them have already given availability for the period summer-fall 2012:
● Marco Montanari: over 10 years’ experience in electoral observation activities with internationally recognized institutions. Academic Coordinator of the Winter School on electoral observation for ISPI. Actually working in Kabul.
● Ferdinando Lajolo: lLawyer, expert of EC law, he has conducted several electoral observations missions with the EU and ODIHR.
● Demetrio Lazagna: since 1997 he has worked in international cooperation and has conducted missions in the field for UN, OSCE, EU, ODIHR, USAID and various NGOs. He has conducted several electoral observation missions and he is lecturer at the Winter School of ISPI.

Certificate
Participants who will attend the course will receive a certificate of attendance.

Draft programme

The course will introduce the students to election observation starting with introductory remarks followed by lectures in plenum on international legal standards, case studies of EU missions that will look closely into all different steps from the exploratory phase to selection procedures through its internal functioning, the relations with national Authorities and security issues. Participants will often be called to participate to debates with lectures and share their experience and expertise in the subject.

Admission requirements

In order to be eligible, applicants shall:

● hold a degree in Law, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Philosophy, Anthropology or similar;

● have a good command of English as a foreign language and a good knowledge of at least another foreign language.

Fees

Enrolment fees amount to 380 € with no accommodation or 540 € with accommodation.

If you choose the option with no accommodation, the enrolment fee will include:

● tuition fee

● lunches on class days

● reading materials

If you choose the option with accommodation, the enrolment fee will include:

● tuition fee

● lunches on class days

● reading materials

● accommodation in a single room in a hotel on the Lido for 3 nights (7, 8 and 9 november)

You will be able to choose between these two hotels:

● Hotel Villa Cipro

● Hotel Villa Delle Palme

The reservation of the room will be done on a first come first serve basis.

Payment of the enrolment fee has to be made after the reception of an email sent by EIUC confirming the acceptance to the course and indicating the payment details. The registration will only be final with the confirmation that the payment of the full enrolment fee has been received by EIUC.

If no payment is made by the deadline, the application will be dismissed.

Resignation policy:
In case of resignation after payment of the enrolment fee in full, you have to submit your cancellation request in writing and the following refund policy applies:

If the cancellation request is received prior to 30 September 2012, EIUC will refund the complete registration fee but will retain an administrative fee of 50 €; if the cancellation request is received between 30 September and 15 October 2012, EIUC will refund only 50% of the registration fee paid; for all cancellation requests received after 15 October 2012 no refund will be due.

EIUC reserves the right to alter any specifics related to the programme (e.g. duration, topic, lecturer) should any unforeseen event require it.

EIUC reserves the right to cancel the course if it does not receive enough admissible applications. In this case EIUC will reimburse the applicants the full fees already paid.

EIUC does not offer scholarships or waivers of the enrolment fee at this point in time.

Procedure

EIUC will review applications on an on-going basis. This way, EIUC aims to give participants as much time as possible for the organisation of visa, travelling and accommodation. Only applications submitted with the provided form will be accepted. The entire application, including the motivation and the CV, has to be submitted in English. Please also include a non-certified English translation of the required proofs, if the original certificates were not issued in English, French, Spanish or Italian.

Please visit this website for more information about visa requirements http://www.esteri.it/visti/index_eng.asp.

Deadline for applications

30 September 2012.

Questions

For any other query, please contact the Training Seminars Staff: Ms. Alberta Rocca, EIUC External Relations Manager, through training.seminars@eiuc.org. Please use the contact form.