About EISA

EISA NAME CHANGE
EISA has evolved from an election NGO servicing Southern Africa into a more diversified organisation working throughout the continent with national, regional, Pan-African and global partners. The Institute’s work now covers not only elections but also other Democracy & Governance fields like political party development, conflict management, legislative strengthening, the African Peer Review Mechanism and local governance and decentralisation. Outside the southern African region, EISA has current and past field offices in countries like Burundi, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and Sudan, a reflection of its broader geographical mandate. The EISA Board of Directors met recently and decided to change the name of the Institute in line with its new geographical and programmatic scope of work. The new name is Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa (EISA). We thank you for taking note of this change.
EISA a un nouveau nom. Nous sommes passés d'une ONG d'assistance électorale en Afrique Australe à une organisation plus diversifiée travaillant d’un bout é l’autre du continent avec des partenaires au niveau national, régional, Pan-African et mondial. Aujourd'hui, les activités de l’Institut ne couvrent plus uniquement les élections mais s'étendent é d'autres domaines de la démocratie et de la gouvernance tels que le développement des partis politiques, la gestion des conflits, l'appui aux parlements, le Mécanisme Africain d'Evaluation par les Pairs, la gouvernance locale et la décentralisation. En dehors de l'Afrique Australe, EISA a ouvert des bureaux nationaux au Burundi, en Côte d'ivoire, au Kenya, au Soudan et au Tchad, une présence passée et actuelle qui atteste d’un mandat géographique plus large. Le Conseil d'Administration de EISA s’est réuni récemment et a décidé d'un changement de nom de l'Institut conformément é sa nouvelle direction stratégique ainsi qu’à l’envergure géographique et thématique de ses activités. EISA devient Institut Electoral pour une Démocratie Durable en Afrique. Merci de tenir compte de ce changement.

EISA is a not for profit organisation. It was established in 1996 and is based in Johannesburg (South Africa) with field offices in Bujumbura (Burundi), Kinshasa (DRC), N'djamena (Chad), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Maputo (Mozambique), and Nairobi (Kenya).

Our vision

An African continent where democratic governance, human rights and citizen participation are upheld in a peaceful environment.

Mission statement

EISA strives for excellence in the promotion of credible elections, participatory democracy, human rights culture, and the strengthening of governance institutions for the consolidation of democracy in Africa.

Board of directors

EISA is governed by a Board of Directors. It also enjoys the patronage of Sir Ketumile Masire (Botswana).

Executive Director

Mr Denis Kadima took up the position of Executive Director of EISA in December 2002. Before this, he worked for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) from January 2001 to November 2002 as the Senior Programme Manager in Windhoek, Namibia and Resident Director in Lesotho. Since joining EISA, Mr Kadima has expanded the organisation's geographic and programmatic scope, which now covers the whole of Africa and encompasses not only elections but also selected areas in the field of democracy and governance. Mr Kadima is currently completing a PhD on political party coalitions in Africa at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He founded EISA's accredited Journal of African Elections and has published extensively on elections, democracy and governance. Mr Kadima speaks French, English and basic Portuguese.
Email the Executive Director

Programme areas

EISA works in a number of programme areas, including

  • Democracy, conflict management and electoral education
  • Elections and political processes
  • Balloting and electoral services
  • Governance (political partes, APRM, institutions of governance and local governance)
  • Online Democracy Encyclopedia
  • Research and information (including a specialised library and in house publications)

Support services

Program activities are supported by a number of programme officers in special focus areas:

  • Research
  • Library
  • Publications
  • ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies)
  • Finance and Administration