Taking into account the experience and the competences already acquired by the IEC but also new needs the UN electoral support has evolved from an overall approach to a more specialized one. The Electoral Division currently consists of 178 staff: 51 international staff, 86 UNV and 41 local staff. The Electoral Division has one director, two assistant directors and seven operational units. The Support Project for the Electoral Cycle (PACE) of the United Nations Development Program manages the financial contributions of the international community and manages the procurement of electoral material. These funds allow the execution of a number of projects, among others the one on capacity building.
The Office of the Director is assigned with the politic and the strategic aspects of the electoral process as well as with the overall coordination of activities of the Division. It also searches for financial support and handles all communication with and reporting to United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The Office of the Assistant Director for Outreach, Capacity Building and legal advice manages relations with the IEC, plans and supervises capacity building activities and offers help in judicial issues.
The Office of the Assistant Director for Operations, Planning, Gender and Elections
is in charge of operations, the planning of activities and issues related to integrate the gender dimension into the electoral system.
The Administration Cell is assigned with administration, documentation, archiving, recruitment and management of personnel.
The Office of Operations coordinates all the operational units, and is responsible for the development and the implementation of all operational planning. It is also responsible for the assistance in the conception of different documents, electoral manuals and voter education campaigns.
The Office of Operations is divided in seven units:
- The Procedures and Statistics Unit is assigned with elaborating guides and manuals for procedures, identifying and register voters and organizing elections. It is also assigned with the follow up and management of litigations and legal aspects of local operations.
- The External Relations Unit assists the IEC in managing its relations with political parties, candidates, observers and organizations of the civil society. It is also assigned with supporting the IEC in creating a mechanism allowing to exchange information with different interest groups and to create a system of accreditation for political agents and electoral observers.
- Training Unit supports the Congolese counterparts in the planning, the preparation and the implementation of a training strategy for electoral agents.
It is also responsible for designing, producing and distributing training material as well as animating and supervising training sessions.
· The Field Activity Support Unit manages communication with different field units and coordinates activities in the field.
- The Civic Education and Communication Unit is assigned with supporting the IEC in the elaboration and the implementation of Civic Education and public information strategies for the local elections. It is also responsible for the conception and the production of awareness raising support material.
- The Logistics Unit is assigned with the difficult task of assisting the IEC in the elaboration and implementation of a nationwide deployment plan for material as well as for electoral staff such as electoral agents and national and international observers.
It also helps the IEC in identifying material needs, and elaborating technical specifications for future procurement of electoral material.
- The National Data Processing Facility Unit is assigned with assisting the IEC in technological aspects of the electoral process such as the collection of information suitable for its information technological infrastructure regarding both hard and software. It is responsible for the collection and distribution of electoral data as well as for developing and updating electoral databases while respecting different legal and political constraints. It assists the IEC in printing electoral lists and also engages in capacity building activities for national IT agents.
The Electoral Division has seventeen support units in the field, eleven electoral sections and six sub-electoral sections. These sections assist the IEC at provincial level with electoral operations, logistical issues, civic education campaigns and electoral education, which include the gender dimension. Their focus lies on local capacity building and electoral administration.