Afghan Biographies

Election Watch Organization Afghanistan EWA ETWA


Name Election Watch Organization Afghanistan EWA ETWA
Ethnic backgr.
Date of birth
Function/Grade Background Names
History and Biodata

Director of Election Watchdog Afghanistan (EWA) Election Watch Organization of Afghanistan (EWA) Election and Transparency Watch Organization of Afghanistan (ETWA)  Afghan Civil Society Election Network:
Jandad Spinghar (20160410, 20170529)
Election Watch Afghanistan member: Habibullah Shinwari (20170529)


Background:

As Afghanistan has moved forward on the uneven road of democratization, Afghan civil society has developed into a force for progressive political change, so, the Election and Transparency Watch Organization of Afghanistan (ETWA) has been established as an impartial non-profit organization in May 2014 to:

  • Monitor elections to ensure they are free and fair;
  • Monitor Parliament for being open and accountable to citizens 
  • Support responsive electoral reforms in the country;
  • Promote public participation in democratic processes;
  • Advance the consolidation of public trust in democracy and elections
  • Monitor the government accountability through pursuing anti-corruption efforts

ETWA’s vision is a democratic, well-governed and peaceful society, where all citizens have equal rights and opportunities for participation. Our mission is to ensure that all democratic processes are implemented transparently through networking, citizen Active participation and good governance. All of ETWA’s work is guided by the values of professionalism, commitment, networking/consultation, national inclusiveness, impartiality and volunteerism.

As a domestic civil society entity, ETWA’s focus is on the long-term based programs to ensure sustainability and support capacity building goals. ETWA’s mandate, like democratization itself, requires more than elections, and its work do not stop when the final election results are announced.

ETWA developed a professional team over years dedicated to democracy and furthering the organizational goals, vision and mission with extensive expertise in the areas of elections observation & electoral reforms, parliamentary monitoring, researches, surveys, advocacy, lobbying and media related activities.

ETWA has prepared several analytical papers and briefs on elections e.g. analytical report on lessons learned from first round of 2014 elections and analytical briefs on electoral reforms packages prepared by special electoral reform commission and the cabinet. Since its establishment, ETWA has remained as one of the key Parliamentary monitoring entity among Afghan civil Society organizations as well as an active domestic elections observer organization with a considerable presence to have observed run-off in presidential elections of 2014.

ETWA has actively engaged in monitoring of the Lower House plenary and committee sessions producing weekly and monthly analytical reports to be shared with public, parliament, government agencies and donors. ETWA already inked a MoU with the parliament for the monitoring purpose. It has successfully implemented two projects with high impacts and extensive advocacy components: Strengthening Youth Political and Electoral Participation project funded by Democracy International that covered 6 regional zones including 14 remote districts, and Strengthening Afghan Women Political Rights in Election funded by Canadian Embassy in 5 provinces. ETWA is currently implementing two projects: “Monitoring and Advocacy on Elected Government Representatives Pledges” funded by Democracy International in Kabul, Laghaman, Parwan and Nangarhar, and the program of enhancing women status at the local level by creating better links to female parliamentarians in 15 provinces funded by the British Embassy.

A nationwide coverage and deployment of 68 provincial coordinators in 34 provinces (one female and one male in each province), serving as the secretariat of the Afghan Civil Society Organizations Elections Network (ACSEN) which is comprised of over 160 Afghan CSOs are testament to ETWA’s ability and capacity to implement projects not only in provincial centers but also in rural and remote districts and areas where other entities are reluctant to do so due to security or infrastructure implications.

ETWA which has been serving as the ACSEN secretariat since 2015 successfully executed the program of electoral reforms with financial support from Democracy International. This program was implemented in close coordination with Special Electoral Reform Commission (RSERC) whose results were reflected at the proposals of the SERC. Leading 160 members of ACSEN network enables ETWA to effectively implement its programs throughout the country with the help of the network members.

ETWA has also maintained a robust communication and relationship with MPs, provincial councils’ members, respective government agencies, related CSOs and constituents through networking, individual and group meetings, conduct of several consultation workshops, conferences, town halls at the national and local levels and monitoring of plenary and committee sessions of parliament. These connections and networking can help ETWA embark on future partnerships, effective programs and advocacy efforts.

 

Last Modified 2017-05-29
Established 2016-04-28