Second TED Country Engagement Carried Out: Support to Colombia EUD

The TED Secretariat carried out its second country engagement mission in Colombia in the first week of June, with the aim of supporting the implementation of the recommendations of the 2022 EU Election Observation Mission (EOM). The 2022 EU EOM deployed observers from the 27 EU Member States (MS), alongside a delegation from the European Parliament, to Colombia, to produce recommendations that reflect the wide range of MS interests and priorities. The recommendations were presented at the end of 2022 to the Member States present in the country.

Now the EUD jointly with at least three Member States would like to ensure that MS take up the actions that align with their priorities for the long-term engagement in Colombia, which was identified as a TED partner country by the TED Steering Committee in February 2023.

The specific objective of the TED mission is to support the EUD in Colombia to develop a Strategic Plan for the implementation of the recommendations by identifying reform activities that are feasible to implement in the national context before the launch of local elections on October 29, 2023, and beyond. The work of TED will complement existing support structures and ensure a strong coordination amongst MS in the Latin-American country. This approach encourages timely preparations and enactment of electoral reforms and prevents the tendency for hasty actions shortly before elections.

The mission team, consisting of TED Secretariat Team Leader Marie-Alexandra Kurth and further experts with extensive experience in electoral reform and political participation, held several bilateral meetings with key relevant stakeholders in the sector, including government representatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the National Electoral Council, universities, Member States representatives, and international organizations, to better understand the current local context, identify existing initiatives and priorities in the sector, and investigate how TED can best contribute to advancing electoral reform in Colombia.

Back in Europe, Marie-Alexandra Kurth emphasized that the mission provided important insights and that TED is looking forward to continued successful cooperation with the Colombia EUD.