Electoral officials from Samoa are part of the 34 senior officials from the Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand Electoral Administrators (PIANZEA) Network who met in-person for the first time since the COVID pandemic to celebrate 25 years of collaboration and mutual assistance in support of free, fair, and credible elections.

In delivering his opening remarks PIANZEA Chair and Australian Deputy Electoral Commissioner Mr Jeff Pope stated: “We are proud of the strong and enduring partnership between Election Management Bodies that the PIANZEA Network has built, and we are proud of Australia’s role in supporting the Network.

“Through PIANZEA the Pacific region has a strong network of Electoral Administrators who are promoting democracy and good governance. The Network has not only built the technical and operational skills of our organisations but has also forged strong friendships and people-to-people links across the region”.

In delivering her opening remarks, the Acting Supervisor of Elections (Fiji) Ms Ana Mataiciwa stated it was always wonderful when member countries gather as one Pacific family.

“And even more special when we gather for the development and betterment of our respective democratic processes,” she said.

“This week we are celebrating the progress and collaboration our forebearers envisioned for us 25 years ago. The Fijian Elections Office is humbled to host senior officials from PIANZEA here in Fiji, where the Network began”.

The PIANZEA Network was established at the Warwick in Korolevu, Fiji, on 10 October 1997. The founding document of the network is known as the Warwick Declaration which states: ‘[We] hereby unanimously and collectively declare that it is indeed our joint commitment to continue and maintain in the Pacific spirit, a close association of Pacific Electoral Administrators with a view to establishing a networking arrangement to facilitate and encourage the free flow of electoral information among member countries and to provide assistance where possible.”

The PIANZEA Network is comprised of Electoral Management Bodies from the following countries: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Timor-Leste (associate member). The Office of the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner (OBEC) is also included in Network activities.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) host the Secretariat for the PIANZEA network, through ongoing support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The PIANZEA Network has worked through many challenging times together, not least the COVID-19 pandemic, and looks forward to many more years of collaboration into the future.