The Elections Reform Support Group (ERSG) was a forum of donors co-chaired by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

to coordinate the reform of the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

electoral system. ESRG was founded in 2002.http://www.ifes.org/westbankgaza.html?page=past IFES-West Bank/Gaza. Accessed June 30, 2006http://www.undp.org/governance/eventsites/electoral-manila/files/UNDP%2520PAPP%2520democratic%2520elections.doc+Elections+Reform+Support+Group+(ERSG)&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us UNDP/PAPP Support to the Electoral Process in Palestine. Accessed June 30, 2009 Members include the states of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the

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, the

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, and the United States. Also international organizations such as the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, the office of the European Union Presidency, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and the United Nations Development Program participate in this program.

International Foundation for Electoral Systems The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an international, non-profit organization, non-profit organisation founded in 1987. Based in Arlington County, Virginia, Arlington, Virginia, United States, the organization assists a ...

supported the forum in secretarial role. Since 2007 the ERSG was reformed and integrated into Election Working Group or (EWG), which is part of the "Governance Sector Group", one of the four Strategy Groups under the aid coordination structure in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. Role of the secretariat is assumed by the

Local Aid Coordination Secretariat Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

(LACS).

Formation

ERSG was formed as an outgrowth of the UN Task Force on Palestine. The UN task force consists of the

Quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

(U.S., EU, Russia and the UN Secretary General), Norway, Japan, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund and first met July 10, 2002. Task Force on Palestinian Reform
August 23, 2002. Accessed July 1, 2009. This task force was responsible for forming support groups for several areas of reform including Civil Society, Elections, Financial Accountability, Judicial Reform, Local Government, Market Economics, and Ministerial and Civil Service Reform. These groups were a reaction to the declining humanitarian situation in the

. Once the Elections Reform Support Group was organized, the task force was advised in election activities by Ambassador Jean Breteche of the EU, who would later become the Secretariat of ERSG.EU Recommendation for Jean Breteche
November 15, 2003. Accessed July 1, 2009 Secretarial role was in 2005 assumed by

IFES The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an international, non-profit organisation founded in 1987. Based in Arlington, Virginia, United States, the organization assists and supports elections and electoral stakeholders. Sin ...

Activities

The ESRG was supported by the entire task force and coordinated funding for elections programs from USAID, the EU, European countries and Japan. The ERSG worked with the

Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinians, Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the Wes ...

to develop and implement a project to draft election law, supported formation of independent Palestinian Elections Commission and its development into a single, independent, authoritative election management body of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

. As part of this support the European Union provided five elections experts and 10 million Euros to support the project,

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

/ PAPP provided two experts, Japan contributed 1 million dollars, Canada contributed 1.2 million Canadian dollars and an expert, Norway contributed 1 million dollars and Denmark provided 300,000 dollars.

References

{{Quartet on the Middle East Politics of Palestine Organizations established in 2002 Electoral reform