About the Electoral Integrity Initiative
In 2013, in line with a recommendation of the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security, the Kofi Annan Foundation launched the Electoral Integrity Initiative (EII). The EII is an informal network of organisations and individuals who share a common concern for the unaddressed political challenges that undermine elections, especially in countries that have recently emerged from, or are experiencing, prolonged political instability.
The project is managed by a small team within the Kofi Annan Foundation. A group of individuals from around the world and from organisations with expertise and experience in improving electoral integrity make up the steering group for the project. Membership of the group is by invitation and informal. A group of Senior Public Figures made up of former statesmen and women has agreed to lend their support to the Initiative, and to engage, where requested, with individual countries where the risks of fraught and possibly violent elections are high.
EII Panel of Senior Figures
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José Manual Barroso
José Manual Barroso served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 2002 to 2004 and President of the European Commission from 20014-2014. Mr. Barroso has a long and distinguished career in academia and politics. He is currently the Frederick H. Schultz Class of 1951 Visiting Professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton University...
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Carl Bildt
Carl Bildt served as Sweden’s Foreign Minister from 2006 to 2014 and was Prime Minister from 1991 to 1994 when he negotiated Sweden’s EU accession. He is chair of the Global Commission on Internet Governance and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Europe. Mr Bildt has a distinguished career in international...
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Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown is former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom serving from 2007 to 2010. He is currently the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Chair of the Global Strategic Infrastructure Initiative of the World Economic Forum, and Distinguished Global Leader in Residence...
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Joaquim Chissano
Joaquim Chissano served as President of Mozambique from 1986 to 2004. He is Chairperson of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation and the Africa Forum of Former African Heads of State and Government. He is a founding member of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and was prime minister of the transitional government to independence....
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Joe Clark
Joe Clark was the 16th Prime Minister of Canada serving from 19179 to 1980. He served as Secretary of State of External Affairs of Canada from 1984 to 1991. He is currently Vice-Chairman of the Global Leadership Foundation and serves on the advisory board of the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University,...
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Ruth Dreifuss
Ruth Dreifuss served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 1999, the first woman to hold that office. She has worked successively as a teaching assistant, journalist, scientific collaborator in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian aid at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and Secretary of the Swiss Trade...
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Bert Koenders
Bert Koenders served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands from 2014 to 2017. He was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives from 1997 to 2007 and served as Minister for Development Cooperation from 2007 until 2010. He later was the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Operation...
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Ricardo Lagos
Ricardo Lagos is the former President of Chile, he served from 2000 to 2006. He is the founder and President of the Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo (Foundation for Democracy and Development) and chair emeritus of the Inter-American Dialogue. Mr. Lagos has a distinguished career in academia and politics. He was a professor and...
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Olusegun Obasanjo
Olusegun Obasanjo served as President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. Currently he serves on the board of the Africa Progress Panel. As President of Nigeria he oversaw his country’s first democratic handover of power and administrative reforms that accelerated economic growth. Mr. Obasanjo has played a pivotal role in the regeneration...
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José Ramos-Horta
José Ramos-Horta served as President of Timor L’Este between 2007 and 2012. Previously, he served as Prime Minister and Minister of Defence from 2006 to 2007 and as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation from 2002 to 2006. With Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo he is the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize “for their work toward...
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Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was the sixth President of Indonesia, serving two terms from 2004 to 2014. Mr. Yudhoyono is presently chairman of Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and, as head of Partai Demokrat, remains active in the politics of Indonesia. A graduate of the Military Academy he achieved the rank of four star general,...
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Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo served as President of Mexico from 1994 to 2000. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, the 21st Century Advisory Council of the Berggruen Institute on Governance, and Co-Chair of the Inter-American Dialogue. He serves on the Global Commission on Drug Policy...
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Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul served as Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development from 1998 to 2009. She was a member of the national parliament, the German Bundestag, from 1987 until 2013. From 2009 to 2013, she served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and as the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDP)...
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Carlos Mesa
Carlos Mesa was the President of Bolivia, serving from 2003- 2005. Mr. Mesa was founder and director of Cinemateca Boliviana in 1976 and since 1979 has been a press, radio and television journalist. He served as deputy director of the newspaper Ultima Hora and director of three TV channels: America TV, Telesistema Boliviano and ATB....
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Hassan Wirajuda
Hassan Wirajuda served as Foreign Minister of Indonesia from 2001 to 2009. He currently sits on the council of presidential advisors of the Republic of Indonesia. He serves on the International Advisory Panel of Nalanda University, the Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, the Trilateral Commission...
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Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Jonathan served as President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He is currently the Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation. He is an advocate for best practices in democracy, economic transformation, and peacebuilding and has led a number of election monitoring missions across the African continent. As President of Nigeria,...
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