Good Practice The General Election Network for Disability Access in Southeast Asia (AGENDA) brings together DPOs and election observation organizations from Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand to conduct research, election observation focused on accessibility and advocacy with national-level and ASEAN officials. AGENDA partners meet in person annually, and share best practices through a newsletter and multimedia tools year-round. processes. Including DPOs in these networks and coalitions serves multiple functions. First, it allows DPOs to gain experience and learn best practices from fellow civil society organizations (CSOs). DPO members gain skills in identifying issues and creating campaigns, and often experience an increase in confidence through work with peer organizations. This enhanced sense of dignity is instrumental in inspiring DPOs to continue political engagement and move into leadership roles. Second, the interactions encourage other coalition partners to take a more active approach to supporting the disability community and take an introspective view of their own internal efforts at inclusion. For example, a youthfocused CSO might find a deficiency in its understanding of youth with disabilities, or a DPO might recognize its need to expand its leadership to employ more women in leadership positions. Finally, inclusion of DPOs in these coalitions cements the practice of seeking input from the disability community and serves to promote an image of persons with disabilities as capable, empowered citizens. 4. Assisting Political Parties in Conducting Outreach to Persons with Disabilities Development assistance directed at political parties also provides openings to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities. In programs designed to assist political parties in activities such as developing platforms, training party members/candidates for office or creating election campaign strategies, democracy assistance organizations can link parties with DPOs to promote outreach to persons with disabilities on issues that affect them. Supporting parties in these outreach efforts not only raises their awareness of disability rights, but also encourages them to include input from citizens during the campaign period more broadly, thereby enhancing space for political participation for all citizens. Political parties should also be encouraged to include persons with disabilities as candidates and in leadership roles within the party. The Electoral Cycle To better envision the interrelated components of an election process, as well as the development needs and opportunities for inclusion, this manual will be organized around the electoral cycle. The electoral cycle provides a framework for analysis and developing assistance strategies that support more open, inclusive and credible election processes. It can be roughly divided into three overlapping periods: pre-election, election and post-election. As the following diagram illustrates, the beginning and end points of the cycle are not fixed and each period is organized around different fundamental aspects that help ensure more sustainable election processes. For example, the pre-election period is the time for planning, budgeting, training and registration. The election period is the time for campaigning, voting, counting and complaints. The post-election period is the time for review, reforms and strategizing. The diagram provides illustrative examples of specific stakeholders and actions that can be supported during each period, while recognizing some elements cut across the entire cycle, such as civic education and citizen engagement. 36 International Foundation for Electoral Systems and National Democratic Institute