Municipal council elections, 16 March 2022

Following an invitation from the Dutch authorities to observe the 16 March 2022 municipal council elections, and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) from 31 January to 3 February. The NAM included Hamadziripi Munyikwa and Goran Petrov, ODIHR Election Advisers.

The purpose of the NAM was to assess the pre-electoral environment and preparations for the elections. Based on this assessment, the NAM recommends whether to deploy an ODIHR observation activity for the forthcoming elections and, if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state and local institutions and with representatives of political parties, media, civil society, as well as the resident international community. A full list of meetings is annexed to this report