Asian Regional Forum Meet- Relevance for UPSC Exam
- GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Asian Regional Forum Meet
- Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) hosted a virtual meet of the ‘Asian Regional Forum’ 2022.
- Regional Forum meet was a precursor to the “Summit for Electoral Democracy” to be hosted by the National Electoral Institute of Mexico in the coming month.
Asian Regional Forum Meet 2022
- About: India hosted the Asian Regional Forum meet of the Election Management Bodies (EMBs) to reflect upon the changing geo-politics, emerging technologies and their use in election management in view of the challenges presented by COVID-19 pandemic.
- As part of this ‘Global Summit for Democracy’, five Regional Forums namely Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and countries of the Arab States have been created.
- Theme: Asian Regional Forum Meet 2022 was organized on the theme “Making our Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative” at Nirvachan Sadan.
- Participation: Representatives from EMBs of Mexico, Mauritius, Philippines, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Maldives, International IDEA, Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) and International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) participated in the meet.
- Senior officials from Election Commission of India were also present during the meet.
Asian Regional Forum Meet- Key Activities
Asian Regional Forum Meet had two following sessions-
- First Session: on ‘Inclusive Elections: Enhancing Participation of Youth, Gender and Citizens in Remote Areas’.
- It was co-chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner from Mauritius and Nepal.
- Second Session: on ‘Accessible Elections: Enhancing Participation of Persons with Disabilities & Senior Citizens’.
- It was co-chaired by the Commissioner, COMELEC, Philippines and CEC of Uzbekistan.
Summit for Electoral Democracy
- About: Summit for Electoral Democracy is organized to strengthen electoral processes within democratic processes.
- Key Objective: to create a synergy among international organizations, and electoral authorities and bodies from around the world to promote an intellectual and institutional mobilization to strengthen electoral democracy in the world.
- Implementation: the main goal of the Summit for Electoral Democracy is to be achieved through the conduction of regional Forums: Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and countries of the Arab States.
- These will take place within June through August, culminating with the Global Forum, which will take place in September.
About ECI
- The ECI is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India.
- The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
Organizational structure
- ECI consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
- Secretariat: It has a dedicated secretariat located in New Delhi.
- At the state level, ECI is assisted by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) who is generally an IAS rank officer.
- At the constituency level, ECI appoints a Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officer in consultation with the government of State or Union Territory as the case may be.
Democracy Cohort on Election Integrity | Summit for Democracy