VISION STATEMENT OF NEBE

To see a strong constitutional democracy in Ethiopia based upon the will of its nations, nationalities and peoples where citizens are enabled to exercise their human rights to elect and be elected through free, fair, impartial and peaceful elections.

MISSION STATEMENT

In accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Electoral Law of Ethiopia Amendment Proclamation No. 532/2007, the Constitutions of Regional States and other pertinent laws of the country, NEBE will have the following missions:

1. To ensure the establishment of a government at all levels elected periodically through a free, fair, impartial, transparent and peaceful election that fulfils national and international standards;
2. To provide efficient organization for the management, coordination and supervision and execution of elections as defined under Article 2 of the Electoral Law of Ethiopia Amendment Proclamation No. 532/2007;
3. To maintain the integrity and credibility of the electoral process in the country by ensuring that elections are fair, free, impartial transparent, and peaceful;
4. To enhance the participation of citizens in electoral process by providing to the public civic and voter education that encourage the exercise of constitutional human rights to run for public offices and to elect representatives;
5. To ensure that all the laws of the country with regard to election are observed and all political parties and private candidates properly benefit from their legal rights and meet their duties;
6. The NEBE works to provide reliable, transparent and impartial election services that promote positive stakeholder involvement. By serving the Ethiopian people, political contenders, civil society and others involved in elections, the Board can jointly help the country’s democratic development, and so it can be well run, peaceful and prosperous;
7. The Board formulate, communicate and implement electoral strategies that comply with the Constitution and the Electoral Law of Ethiopia Amendment Proclamation No. 532/2007 of our country and thereby, ensure remarkable contribution to build well Developed, Democratic, and Peaceful nation;
8. Execute high quality general elections, local elections, by-elections, re-elections, and referenda conducted in accordance with the Constitution of the FDRE, Electoral Law of Ethiopia Amendment Proclamation No. 532/2007, and Regional constitutions and other relevant laws. Identifying and design of election agendas, Create linkage with various government and none governmental institutions, and community groups and deliver effective organizational support, designing and implementation of capacity building programs regarding election for political parties, Civic Societies and other stakeholders at large;
9. Lead fair, free, impartial and direct election that can support the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia to exercise their right to self- administration without any discrimination through their elected representatives;
10. The Board gives emphasis on Designing, developing, and implementing state of the art technologies (information Technology) that improve fair, free, impartial, and direct election.
11. The Board do understands the scarce resources that our country has to conduct elections, of over 80,000,000 (Eighty Million) Population, diverse nations and nationalities, and geography. Elections consume huge amount of resource. Having this in mind, without compromising the fairness, impartiality, and freeness of elections, the Board executes its duties and tasks at the maximum level of cost effectiveness.
12. To contribute to the social transformation in order to have a well developed and strong democratic nation and society, NEBE conduct action oriented complaints hearing system and implements the out puts/results to get lesson to build culturally well developed democratic society.
13. To be self-sufficient and to deliver excellent electoral services that all Ethiopians can be proud of.
14. To support and work collaboratively with electoral stakeholders (parties, candidates, observers, the public at large etc.) to promote peaceful and constructively competitive elections with maximum participation by an informed electorate.
15. To run a well-managed Secretariat that adapts and develops according to need, which is ethnically and gender sensitive.
16. To recruit, develop, motivate, reward and retain responsible and democrat citizens, exceptional ability, character and dedication by providing good working conditions, opportunity for growth, and a high degree of employment security, attractive compensation and benefit schemes and superior leadership to its staff.

CORE VALUE/OPERATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES

Core Values and Operational Philosophies of NEBE are:

• Independence:

NEBE will maintain the confidence of voters, candidates, political parties and the HPRs in the integrity of the electoral process by being legally and in practice independent of all political parties and interest groups. NEBE will not subject to any direction in carrying out our legal functions, except as provided by the laws of the country.

• Neutrality and Integrity:

NEBE will carry out its legal functions in a politically neutral and non-partisan manner. It shall treat all voters, candidates and political parties fairly and impartially and in accordance with the law. NEBE will ensure that its staff members and employees behave in their public lives in ways, which are consistent with the highest standards of integrity and political neutrality. It shall also keep up-to-date with best international democratic electoral norms, standards and practices.

• Service to the Public:

NEBE provides high level of service to the public. NEBE provides the highest quality electoral services to all voters, candidates and political parties in accordance with the law.  NEBE shall strive to ensure that all sections of the public including persons with disability, women, and the elderly and other minority communities have ready access to the electoral process in accordance with their needs.  NEBE shall tirelessly make efforts to respond promptly and accurately to requests for information about electoral matters, including making information on its activities readily available to the public and the media. In doing this, NEBE shall make use of the state-of-the art technologies that enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the conduct of election.

• Excellence and Quality:

NEBE believes that excellence is the standard for all the services it renders and thus strives for high quality in its services. NEBE is committed to continuously seeking and applying new methods and technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its services. The quality of the NEBE services reflects the quality of its performance as well as its staff. Quality will be NEBE distinguishing mark and it will not be compromised.

• Primacy of the Rule of Law:

NEBE decisions and actions are consistent and unfailing to the Constitution of the FDRE, and other laws of the land. NEBE believes that its decisions and actions should be accurate, transparent and impartial.

• Transparency:

Transparency is not only crucial for democracy and good governance, but essential if all political parties, the citizens and peoples of the nation are to believe in the credibility of the Board. The Board will therefore operate, except for matters where confidentiality is required to protect the interest (sovereignty) of the nation and its people, in a fully open and transparent manner. The Board will therefore announce election results on schedule and timely reports on its activities and operations to the people, including through HPRs.

• Impartiality:

The credibility, and therefore the efficiency and effectiveness, of the Board depend in large part on its ability to act and take decisions and positions in an impartial manner. The actions, decisions and opinions of the Board will be based only and only on the objective assessment of the issues at hand and be based on the existing evidence and in accordance with the appropriate laws, standards, rules and principles compatible with the constitution and appropriate election law of the land.

• Integrity, Accessibility and Commitment of its Staff:

NEBE is committed to ensuring the integrity of the electoral process in accordance with the law. NEBE, the secretariat and other permanent and temporary election officers will always remain committed to perform assigned duties to the best of their ability. In line with professionalism of high excellence, NEBE shall engage in a continual evaluation of its provision of electoral services and internal and external procedures to ensure it is in accordance with the law, it is meeting public needs, is as simple, efficient and effective as possible, and use appropriate information technology. The board and its secretariat, employees, and permanent and temporary election officers, are a team. The Board must treat each other with trust, confidence and respect. Our doors are open to all political parties, civil societies, ethnic and religious groups, both sexes, and all colors without discrimination.

• Development of Staff:

NEBE believes that the Board, the Secretariat, election officers at all levels and all other employees are the most crucial assets and are vital for the services it renders. NEBE works for an efficiently managed secretariat through recruitment and retention of professional staff of high caliber, and through staff development and growth by creating enabling management and working environment and better remuneration.

• Responsiveness:

Mindful of the need for swift and effective election related grievances hearing and complaints handling mechanism, NEBE strives to provide transparent, simple and fair procedures in place to deal promptly with complaints. NEBE will be responsive to changes and developments of internal, as well as external circumstances and constantly developing electoral practice in order to fulfill the needs of our stakeholders.

• Accountability:

Cognizant of the conduct elections has bearing on the scarce resources of the country; NEBE will ensure prudent use of public resource. Thus, the use of resource will be guided by a clear financial and performance accountabilities under appropriate governance structures. It shall also measure regularly its performance against objectives. To ensure accountability it will regularly have independent auditing of financial and operational performance. NEBE will also provide the House of Peoples’ Representatives with comprehensive, accurate and timely reports on its performed activities.

• Reliability:

NEBE's decisions and actions are consistence and unfailing to the Constitution, Electoral Law and other laws of the land. NEBE’s decisions and actions should be accurate, transparent, and impartial.