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Elections Monitoring Expert-P3/P4-Travel around West Bank
West Bank, West BankPosition Title: Election Monitoring Expert
P Level: P3/P4
Location: Travel around West Bank
Duration: 8 weeks
Language: English and Arabic required
Background
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, Palestine, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has faced a sharp deterioration in terms of security, political, economic, and social conditions. The West Bank has seen severe escalation, marked by intensified Israeli settlement expansion, near-daily military raids, increase in settler attacks, mass arrests, and large-scale forced displacement. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) faces deep political and financial crises, compounded by internal Palestinian political divisions and declining public trust. Israel’s withholding of Palestinian revenues has further eroded the PA’s capacity to provide services. Together, these dynamics are pushing the West Bank to a crossroads, where violence, insecurity, political fragmentation, and loss of governance capacity threaten the prospects of peace and seriously undermine the viability of a two-state solution. The situation in the Gaza Strip, with its 2.4 million inhabitants, is one of extreme crisis. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed; an estimated 66 per cent of all buildings have been destroyed; and more than 80 per cent of basic infrastructure has sustained significant damage. Humanitarian conditions are catastrophic, with reported hunger and malnutrition, severe water shortages, and a persistent health crisis. Around 95 per cent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are reported to be internally displaced amid the destruction of homes, hospitals and clinics, roads and other infrastructure. Coupled with limited access to food, basic survival remains a daily challenge.
In positioning itself as the natural authority to take over governance in Gaza, the PA has committed to several technical and political reforms. In June 2025, President Abbas committed to the international community that the PA would hold general and presidential elections. As part of the pathway to general elections, the PA has called for local elections to take place April 25, 2026, governed by a new decree-law governing local elections. Since the 2007 Fatah-Hamas split, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) has organized three rounds of local elections in the West Bank (2012, 2017 and 2021). Palestinian civil society groups have widely objected to some provisions included in the new local elections law, specifically an article that requires candidates to recognize the PLO and abide to its commitments and international obligations.
Canada’s Approach: Canada seeks to assume a leadership role in Palestine and is well-positioned to support reform and readiness in electoral policy through a strategic, non-administrative role, working alongside partners such as the EU, UK, and France. Recognizing the risks, Canada has identified programming opportunities designed to mitigate them while advancing initiatives that deliver both high impact and high visibility. Global Affairs Canada intends to direct new funding to scale up international assistance programming in Palestine, including towards governance and elections support. The Palestine bilateral development program has identified high-impact and high-visibility elections and governance support that would be delivered through Technical Assistance and Development Initiatives and complemented by targeted political advocacy to advance the PA’s reform agenda.
Objective: Deploy election observer to monitor the April 2026 Palestinian local elections in the West Bank for a six-week period.
Scope of Work
CANADEM and its partners have a no-tolerance policy for inaction to prevent, respond to and follow up on alleged cases of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (SEAH). For this reason, we adhere to all policies, procedures and training of the United Nations on The Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH). CANADEM mandates all deployees successfully complete the PSEA online course. This e-learning course is composed of a set of lessons designed to raise awareness about SEAH, become familiar with a range of measures to combat SEAH, understand the impact on victims and the consequences for UN Personnel who commit Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment.
P Level: P3/P4
Location: Travel around West Bank
Duration: 8 weeks
Language: English and Arabic required
Background
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, Palestine, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has faced a sharp deterioration in terms of security, political, economic, and social conditions. The West Bank has seen severe escalation, marked by intensified Israeli settlement expansion, near-daily military raids, increase in settler attacks, mass arrests, and large-scale forced displacement. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) faces deep political and financial crises, compounded by internal Palestinian political divisions and declining public trust. Israel’s withholding of Palestinian revenues has further eroded the PA’s capacity to provide services. Together, these dynamics are pushing the West Bank to a crossroads, where violence, insecurity, political fragmentation, and loss of governance capacity threaten the prospects of peace and seriously undermine the viability of a two-state solution. The situation in the Gaza Strip, with its 2.4 million inhabitants, is one of extreme crisis. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed; an estimated 66 per cent of all buildings have been destroyed; and more than 80 per cent of basic infrastructure has sustained significant damage. Humanitarian conditions are catastrophic, with reported hunger and malnutrition, severe water shortages, and a persistent health crisis. Around 95 per cent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are reported to be internally displaced amid the destruction of homes, hospitals and clinics, roads and other infrastructure. Coupled with limited access to food, basic survival remains a daily challenge.
In positioning itself as the natural authority to take over governance in Gaza, the PA has committed to several technical and political reforms. In June 2025, President Abbas committed to the international community that the PA would hold general and presidential elections. As part of the pathway to general elections, the PA has called for local elections to take place April 25, 2026, governed by a new decree-law governing local elections. Since the 2007 Fatah-Hamas split, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) has organized three rounds of local elections in the West Bank (2012, 2017 and 2021). Palestinian civil society groups have widely objected to some provisions included in the new local elections law, specifically an article that requires candidates to recognize the PLO and abide to its commitments and international obligations.
Canada’s Approach: Canada seeks to assume a leadership role in Palestine and is well-positioned to support reform and readiness in electoral policy through a strategic, non-administrative role, working alongside partners such as the EU, UK, and France. Recognizing the risks, Canada has identified programming opportunities designed to mitigate them while advancing initiatives that deliver both high impact and high visibility. Global Affairs Canada intends to direct new funding to scale up international assistance programming in Palestine, including towards governance and elections support. The Palestine bilateral development program has identified high-impact and high-visibility elections and governance support that would be delivered through Technical Assistance and Development Initiatives and complemented by targeted political advocacy to advance the PA’s reform agenda.
Objective: Deploy election observer to monitor the April 2026 Palestinian local elections in the West Bank for a six-week period.
Scope of Work
- Develop deep contextual understanding of the electoral and political situation in Palestine, as well as relevant local elections legislation and regulations;
- Support and coordinate election monitoring activities;
- Liaise with the CEC, as well as local domestic and international observers deployed in Palestine;
- Consistent with the CEC’s Code of Conduct, monitor immediate pre-electoral environment, the election campaign and administrative preparations in Palestine; Observe election day procedures, counting and tabulation operations; Monitor immediate post-electoral developments including complaint procedures;
- Report to the Program Manager of the political team within the Representative Office of Canada to the Palestinian Authority;
- Observers must adhere to the CEC guidelines and Code of Conduct, both linked on this page.
- Accreditation: Complete accreditation application online, with supporting documentation.
- Reporting: Submit an End-of-Mission report; draft interim updates or reports as needed/requested.
- Advice: Contribute to a mission After Action Report.
- Location: Hybrid work model (mix of virtual and in-person work) possible. Travel around the West Bank as part of the observation mission should be expected.
- Duration: Deployment for eight weeks, beginning April 2026.
- Previous electoral observation experience and/or other relevant experience including electoral training, technical assistance or experience in the region in relevant fields.
- Previous experience in the country and/or region or in a similar context will be considered an asset.
- Previous experience of work as a civilian in a large-scale international mission or in a human rights monitoring mission is an asset.
- Demonstrated commitment to democracy and human rights.
- Excellent communication skills, including a demonstrated ability to both write and present high-quality written documents/presentations in English and Arabic is required.
- Computer and IT (Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Access, Adobe Acrobat, Outlook, Android, internet browser and web mail software) literacy. Familiarity with use of satellite phones, GPS, BGAN, use of Signal, Teams and SharePoint.
CANADEM and its partners have a no-tolerance policy for inaction to prevent, respond to and follow up on alleged cases of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (SEAH). For this reason, we adhere to all policies, procedures and training of the United Nations on The Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH). CANADEM mandates all deployees successfully complete the PSEA online course. This e-learning course is composed of a set of lessons designed to raise awareness about SEAH, become familiar with a range of measures to combat SEAH, understand the impact on victims and the consequences for UN Personnel who commit Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment.