The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) developed the “Supporting Electoral Authorities of Mozambique to Enhance the Transparency and Credibility of the Electoral Process” (SEAM) Project to support the country with the 2018/2019 electoral cycle. UNDP Mozambique decided to conduct an evaluation of the SEAM project in Spring 2021 as its activities are concluding, with the potential and interest of partners and UNDP in developing a new project to support the 2022/2023 electoral cycle. The purpose of evaluation is to assess the progress made by the project in its four components and to examine the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the assistance provided. The evaluation has focused on the relevance, sustainability, effectiveness and efficiency of the assistance provided by SEAM to STAE, CNE, the Constitutional Council, Supreme Court and National. The evaluation assesses the impact of the project towards strengthening the capacity of electoral authorities to support credible, transparent electoral processes that are accepted by the electorate.  

UNDP has supported electoral processes in Mozambique since the country’s first multiparty elections in 1994. The country still faces challenges in its efforts to ensure credible and transparent elections that are known and understood by the EMBs, UNDP, and other key stakeholders. The electoral cycle in Mozambique in 2013/2014 exemplified some of these challenges. The 2018/2019 electoral cycle was seen as particularly important for the stability of the country, which could either contribute to a lasting peace or alternatively trigger more conflict. When the project was developed in 2017 and 2018, optimism was rising that the political and military crisis in the country between the two main political parties could be resolved.