AEGEE Election Observation Mission invites young people (between 18 and 30 years old) from all over Europe to sign up as Observers for our upcoming mission to the Serbian Parliamentary Election, to be held on the 26th of April 2020.
The Mission will be deployed between the 22nd to the 28th of April (six nights) in Belgrade and other cities around the country. Its purpose is to specifically assess the participation of youth in the electoral process.
As an independent Observer at the AEGEE Election Observation Mission to Serbia successful applicants will receive training, complete specific training assignments, and then follow the voting, counting and tabulation procedures in different locations throughout the country. Observers will meet with local, national and international political stakeholders, civil society organisations and youth representatives in Serbia during the days prior to the election day.
The observation of elections by independent observers contributes to the transparency of the process and is a valuable instrument of democratic control. The findings of the mission will be compiled into a report to be published after deployment and distributed amongst relevant authorities.
MISSION PROGRAMME
Prior to the arrival to Serbia, observers will be required to:
- Take an Election Observation training (online) on the principles and methods of International Election Observation.
- Conduct background research on a specific topic related to participation, involvement, and engagement of youth in the upcoming elections in Serbia.
In Belgrade, between the 22nd and the 24th of April, Observers will:
- Take part in a briefing concerning the political situation of the country.
- Attend meetings with local officials, political stakeholders, experts, scholars and civil society representatives, as well as, in particular, with youth organisations and youth activists in the country.
On the 25th of April, Observers will be deployed in cities around Serbia.
On the 26th of April (election day) Observers will visit a number of polling stations, voting and closing procedures throughout the day, as well as the counting and tabulation processes later that evening.
On the 27th of April, Observers will return to Belgrade to attend a debriefing where they will discuss and summarise the findings of observation with the rest of the mission.
REQUIREMENTS
To become an International Observers with AEGEE Election Observation an applicant must:
- Be between 18 and 30 years old.
- Have a solid command of English.
- Hold no citizenship of Serbia. Please note that Serbian citizens are not eligible to apply as International Observers for this mission. However, their applications will be gladly received for Local Coordinators.
- Legally reside in a European country (geographically speaking Russia, Turkey and the region of the Caucasus). Please note that visas can only be issued for AEGEE members.
- Be available from March to take part in an online training course on Election Observation and participate in background research on the political situation of Serbia as concerns youth.
- Be fully available to travel to Serbia and attend the entire deployment from 22nd to 28th of April 2020.
- Be able to cover own costs*
- Experience from participating in election monitoring in the applicant’s home country or in non-governmental organisations is desirable, but not required.
- AEGEE membership is considered as a secondary criterion in the case to decide between otherwise equal applicants.
- Education or experience related to Serbia, democracy systems or Elections is considered an asset.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Please fill in this application form. The application deadline is Wednesday, 18th of March at 23:59 CET.
In case of questions, please contact us at missiontoSerbia.2020@gmail.com
AEGEE Election Observation looks forward to your application.
*In general, our missions are organised on a 100% voluntary basis and do not involve any remuneration or reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses. This applies to Mission Coordinators as well as members of the AEGEE Election Observation team.