Day 1: Wednesday, 20 November, 2024

14:00 - 15:15

High Level Panel featuring: Lech Wałęsa, Former President of Poland, and Speciosa Wandira, Former Vice President of Uganda

Lech Wałęsa, Former President of Poland

Speciosa Wandira, Former Vice President of Uganda

15:15 - 15:45

Official Opening

Piotr Borawski, Vice Mayor of Gdańsk

Meaghan Fitzgerald, Head of ODIHR Election Department

16:15 - 18:00

Session 1: EMBs and Global Democracy Crises: Observing New Challenges and Electoral Management Body Responses

Nadege Carine Domjie, Political and Electoral Affairs Officer, United Nations Electoral Assistance Division

Irena Hadžiabdić, Chair, Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina

McDonald Governor Chipenzi, Commissioner, Electoral Commission of Zambia

Day 2: Thursday, 21 November, 2024

09:30 - 11:15

Session 2: Improving Public Understanding of Our Observation Work and Communicating Complicated Messages

Meaghan Fitzgerald, Head of ODIHR Election Department

Neal Mac Call, European Union External Action Service

Sarah Crozier, communications & elections expert

Charmaine Wright, Head of Media Relations at the Commonwealth Secretariat

11:30 - 13:00

Session 3: Strengthening DoP Engagement in the post-election period

Linford Andrews, Adviser and head of Electoral Support, Commonwealth Secretariat (Moderator)

Hannah Roberts, Expert, IFES

Riccardo Chelleri, European Union External Action Service

Ambassador Calixte Mbari, Head Democracy, Elections and Constitutionalism (DEC) Division, African Union

14:00 - 15:45

Session 4: Observer Rights and the Impact of Intimidation and Obstruction

Cristina Castagnoli, Head of Election Observation Unit, European Parliament (Moderator)

Nino Dolidze, Executive Director, International Society for Free Elections

Gerardo de Icaza, Director, Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation, Organization of American States

Oliver Kask, Substitute Member of the Venice Commission on behalf of Estonia, Justice at the Supreme Court of Estonia

Nacho Sanchez Amor, Member of the European Parliament; Member of the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group

Day 3: Friday, 22 November, 2024

09:30 - 11:00

Session 5: New Tools for Election Observation – presentations from endorsers

Ambassador Calixte Mbari, Head Democracy, Elections and Constitutionalism (DEC) Division, African Union (Moderator)

Jessica Keegan, Senior Advisor for Electoral Integrity, International Republican Institute

Lord Blencathra, Chair Designate, Network of Election Observers, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Ambassador Urszula Gacek, Election-Watch.EU

Amirouche Nedjaa, European Center for Electoral Support (ECES)

Brenda Santamaria, Chief of Electoral Observation Section, Organization of American States

Vladimir Misev, Senior Adviser on New Voting Technologies, ODIHR

11:15 - 12:15

Session 6: Inclusive Election Observation Missions – a look at enabling greater participation of persons with disabilities in our observation activities

Meaghan Fitzgerald, Head of Elections Department, ODIHR (Moderator)

Ranko Vukčević, Election Expert and author of the report on the accessibility of ODIHR missions

Anne Sofie Molandsveen, Thematic Manager Democracy and Elections, Norwegian Refugee Council NORCAP

Helga Stevens, former Member of European Parliament; Head of the ODIHR Election Assessment Mission to the United Kingdom

Lord Blencathra, Chair Designate, Network of Election Observers, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

13:15 - 14:45

Session 7: Generative Artificial Intelligence and Elections

Nadege Carine Domjie, Political and Electoral Affairs Officer, United Nations Electoral Assistance Division (Moderator)

Armin Rabitsch, Chairperson, Election-Watch.EU

Ingo Boltz, Expert on Artificial Intelligence, The Carter Center

Julia Brothers, Deputy Director for Elections, National Democratic Institute

Osama Aljaber, Digital Democracy Specialist, United Nations Development Programme