The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (the Centre), in collaboration with Open Society Foundation will host a webinar to launch the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Elections Report titled “Proactive Disclosure of Information During Elections: An Evaluation of DRC’s Compliance with the Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa During the Harmonised Elections of 23 August 2023.” This webinar will convene voices from academia, civil society, media, youth formations and public institutions to interrogate the extent to which DRC’s electoral stakeholders complied with the Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2017.

Event Details

Date: 17 March 2026
Venue: Virtual (Zoom)
Time: 09:00 - 12:00 (SAST)

Register on Zoom Downloasd concept note

Drawing on qualitative research methods, including document analysis and stakeholder interviews conducted between July and October 2023, the report assesses compliance using four qualitative indicators: total compliance, substantial compliance, partial compliance and non-compliance. The findings demonstrate notable gaps in proactive disclosure across key institutions involved in DRC’s 2023 elections. Further, the report points out the failure by the Electoral Commission and other stakeholders to systematically disclose key information undermined civic education, public awareness, transparency, and accountability, and weakened meaningful engagement between institutions, voters, political actors, media, and civil society. In an increasingly digitised electoral environment, these gaps further heightened vulnerabilities to misinformation, disinformation, and public mistrust.

Background

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held its fourth general elections on 20 December 2023, following the 2018 elections that marked the country’s first peaceful transfer of presidential power. The 2024 electoral process was notable for the first-ever local municipal elections and the organisation of presidential voting in five diaspora polling centres (South Africa, the United States, France, Canada, and Belgium).

Despite these milestones, the elections were widely described by observers as chaotic and shambolic, characterised by significant irregularities, including delays in the opening of polling stations, unlawful extensions of voting days, and the cancellation of votes for nearly 80 candidates in the national legislative elections. These challenges underscored deeper structural weaknesses within the DRC’s electoral and information governance framework.

The assessment finds the existence of a widespread culture of non-disclosure of information of public interest by key electoral stakeholders before, during, and after the elections. This culture is compounded by weak legal and institutional frameworks, including the absence of an explicit constitutional guarantee of the right of access to information, the lack of a dedicated access to information law, and limited statutory obligations on institutions to proactively disclose electoral information.

This webinar is therefore convened as a deliberate accountability and coordination platform to reflect on the findings of the DRC report, situate them within continental human rights standards, and collectively identify pathways for strengthening information integrity, proactive disclosure, and electoral transparency in the DRC.

Objectives

The webinar aims to:

• Launch and disseminate the DRC’s Elections Report to a regional and international audience;
• Critically assess compliance with the Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa during DRC’s 2023 elections;
• Examine the role of digital and social media in shaping electoral information ecosystems;
• Identify institutional, legal and policy reforms required to enhance proactive disclosure and transparency;
• Foster collaboration among electoral stakeholders, civil society, academia and media actors to safeguard information integrity and democratic participation.

Expected Outcomes

The engagement is expected to achieve the following outcomes:

• Increased awareness of the findings and normative implications of the DRC elections information ecosystem report.
• Strengthened institutional accountability regarding obligations to proactively disclose electoral information of public interest.
• A shared understanding of how gaps in access to information undermine civic education, electoral integrity, and public trust.
• Enhanced collaboration between electoral bodies, human rights institutions, media, and civil society actors.
• Identification of concrete, context-specific actions to address legal and administrative barriers to proactive disclosure.
• An agreed roadmap for reform, coordination, and monitoring to support transparent and rights-based electoral processes in the DRC.

Format and Approach

The engagement will take the form of a 3 hour virtual discussion of the report findings by all stakeholders with practical and forward-looking deliberations.

Programme Components

• Introductions
• Welcome Remarks
• Launch Speech
• Presentation of Findings
• Panel Reflections
• Plenary
• Call to Action and Next Steps

Contact persons

Michael Aboneka
michael.aboneka@up.ac.za

Tresor Makunya
tresor.makunya@up.ac.za

Ivy Gikonyo
ivy.gikonyo@up.ac.za