Publication | Report/Paper

Paraguay: International Donors Conference: Final Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Asuncion offered its assistance to the Tribunal Superior de Justicia Electoral (TSJE) in the planning of an international donors conference scheduled for December 6, 1995. The conference intended to bring together all of the international organizations and countries that potentially might donate funds, commodities, and technical assistance to the TSJE in preparation for the 1996 municipal and future elections in Paraguay. The project also involved developing a needs assessment to be presented at the conference by a joint effort between the TSJE and a technical team from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). This report served to facilitate planning activities which would outline the areas in which assistance would be useful and in what ways that assistance might be provided by participant countries and organizations.

IFES' involvement in the Paraguayan electoral process began in June 1995, when, by means of a grant from US AID, a three-member assessment team was deployed to Paraguay to assess the ongoing electoral reform in Paraguay and identify the areas of need for technical assistance. This mission was followed by another three-member team in October 1995, composed of IFES consultants Dr. Horacio Canepa, Election Administration expert, Julian Valdespino, Computing Consultant, and Elisa Roller, Conference Coordinator. The IFES team was assigned to carry out specific activities involving preparations for the December 1995 conference, drafting a report to be presented at the conference, providing general technical assistance to the TSJE, and evaluating proposed activities in preparation for the 1996 municipal elections. Upon arrival, however, the team realized that the TSJE's request for direct technical assistance initially observed during the IFES team's June 1995 mission and identified subsequently in the IFES Pre-Election Technical Assessment report submitted to USAID, had grown more urgent. In light of the recently legislated electoral reform and the upcoming 1996 elections, the TSJE communicated to the team its belief that ongoing technical assistance had become a critical need for the TSJE in its preparations for the registration period and the subsequent electoral process.

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