India contributes $250,000 to UN election assistance programme

India has made a quarter-million-dollar contribution to the UN programme for helping countries to hold elections and develop their electoral systems. Eenam Gambhir, a First Secretary in India's Mission to the UN, presented the cheque to Kyoko Shiotani, Chief of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General at the UN Department of Political Affairs, on Tuesday.

This is the second Indian contribution of $250,000 to the programmes for electoral assistance and capacity building. The first was made in 2012. Through the Election Assistance Division set up in 1991, the UN has helped over 100 countries with their elections.

The division principally provides technical assistance for organising and conducting elections. But it has also sent observers to ensure the integrity of elections at the request of the General Assembly or the Security Council, and even organised elections in Cambodia and Timor-Leste.