India has been unanimously elected as the new Chair of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) for 2022-2024 at the Executive Board and General Assembly meeting in Manila, the Philippines, on May 7 2022. Commission on Elections, Manila was the
current chair of AAEA. The new members of the Executive Board now include Russia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Taiwan and
The Philippines.
The Election Commission of India 3-member delegation headed by Deputy Election Commissioner Shri Nitesh Vyas, along with CEO
Manipur Shri Rajesh Agrawal and CEO Rajasthan Shri Praveen Gupta attended the Executive Board meeting in Manila. They presented the
2022-23 and futuristic activities for 2023-24 to the Executive Board. A presentation on ‘Gender Issues in Elections’ was
also given, highlighting India’s various concerted and targeted interventions to break socio-political barriers in electoral and political processes for inclusive and participative elections.
The mission of the Association of Asian Election Authorities is to provide a non-partisan forum in the Asian region for sharing
experiences and best practices among election authorities to discuss and act upon ways to promote open and transparent elections with the
the objective of supporting good governance and democracy.
Officials from many AAEA member countries have been regularly attending International Training Programmes conducted by India International Institute for Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) from time to time. Since 2019, more than 250 officials from AAEA member countries have attended these programmes. In addition, IIIDEM conducts capacity development training programs for specific AAEA member countries. For example, 50 officials of the Bangladesh Election Commission were trained from 2021-to 2022.
Delegates from AAEA have also regularly participated in the International Election Visitors Programme organised by Election.
Commission of IndiaSixty-two62 officials from 12 AAEA members participated in the 3rd International Virtual Election Visitors Programme (IEVP) hosted by ECI during Assembly Elections in 2022. AAEA is also an Associate Member of the 118 member Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB).