Research

Research and Data Collection on ERV

To date there has been no systematic data gathering on electoral violence and conflict, although some of the SADC countries have collected ample accounts (South Africa and DRC) in a less systematic manner. Most SADC countries have clear provisions in their legal frameworks to identify and hold perpetrators of electoral violence responsible.

Under the supervision of the Observatory, after a common strategy has been agreed on at regional level and formulated by the Partners together with SADC-ESN and country researchers drawn from each SADC country, the Action will conduct a conflict mapping exercise to ascertain levels of election conflict in previous elections, areas where the conflict has occurred, type of conflict, perpetrators etc. which will be used as the baseline for future election violence. This will result in a valuable asset in terms of new, ground-breaking data shared and govern by the SADC-ESN and its members. The gathering of data at country level will feed into the Observatory's resource and the data collection will be of both quantitative and qualitative nature. It will be organised in a semi-structured manner to allow for comparative analysis of lessons learned while at the same time reflect the different circumstances and socio-political contexts of the different countries involved. The Observatory will engage national researchers familiar with electoral processes and conflict dimensions in their respective countries to carry out desktop research, focus group, interviews, surveys, etc. All research activities will be closely monitored by and feed into the resource bank of the Observatory on ERV.

This activity also opens up for interaction and future collaborations with universities or other organisations that carries research on electoral violence. The SADC-ESN and relevant external actors may therefore find reasons for cooperation and thus, this activity can open up for the SADC-ESN to meet future partners that want part of the data. This activity will therefore also benefit the in-country researchers as their close regional cooperation and continuing reporting and communication with the Partners and SADC-ESN requires frequent interaction across the SADC region.