Ref: 26/2021

Date: 24 March 2021

On Wednesday, 24 March 2021, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), in cooperation with dozens of civil society organizations (CSOs), completed the training of two groups of local observers, from northern Gaza governorate, to monitor the upcoming legislative and presidential elections scheduled to be held on 22 May and 31 July 2021 respectively, including electoral campaigns, polling and vote count and the announcement of the elections’ final results.

It should be noted that PCHR, in cooperation with dozens of CSOs, selected 450 observers from a pool of thousands of persons who have previously received PCHR training on human rights and democracy. These observers will be trained and registered with the Central Electoral Commission as election monitors across the Gaza Strip.

The observers receive an intensive training program to gain skills needed for elections monitoring conducted by PCHR’s team of specialized trainers from its Training, Democratic Development and Fieldwork Units. It is worth noting that PCHR has extensive experience in this field, especially that it led the monitoring of the first Palestinian general elections of 1996, the 2004-2005 Palestinian local elections, the 2005 Palestinian presidential election and the second legislative elections in 2006. PCHR had previously recruited hundreds of qualified local observers and issued special reports regarding the results of those elections.

The 15-hour intensive training program, which was held for 2 days for each group of observers, included 5 sessions on: the 2007 General Elections Law and its amendments; election monitoring, its significance and the electoral process stages; code of conduct for the observers; the monitoring indicators for the electoral process, campaigns and polling stations; and finally the monitoring indicators for campaigns, electoral complaints and the mechanisms to address them.  A third day will be determined to train observers on the election monitoring forms and to identify tasks.

In the coming days, the remaining trainees will be divided into groups of 20 to avoid overcrowding and maintain social distancing according to the protective measures followed across the Gaza Strip’s five governorates.

PCHR will continue monitoring the next stages of the electoral process within its efforts to support the elections on the one hand and to guarantee free and fair elections on the other.

It should be mentioned that PCHR, al-Haq and al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights jointly monitor the elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and a joint evaluation of the monitoring results will be issued on behalf of the three organizations.