David Ward, Deputy Chief Observer (UK)

David has worked on a wide range of media law and policy issues for a number of European governments and broadcasters as well as international organisations including the European Commission, Council of Europe, ERIS and UNDP. He has managed technical assistance programmes and has acted as a media analyst, reporting officer and press officer on European Union (EU) election observation missions in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. He has a PhD.

Florence Ganoux, Election Analyst (France)

Florence has a background in political science and human rights. She  has experience working in the field of human rights as a researcher and analyst for international and national agencies. She has participated in many observation missions for the OSCE and for the European Union. Most recently Florence worked for the EU EOM East Timor 2007 and Sierra Leone 2007 and was part of the European Union Election Expert Mission to Zambia 2008.

Tania Marques, Legal Analyst (Portugal)

Tania Marques holds a Master of Laws in International Peace Support Operations from the National University of Ireland and studied International Relations at the University of Lusiada in Portugal. She also has been awarded certificates in Human Rights Law, Conflict Analysis and Legal Analysis of Electoral Processes. Tania has been involved in election observation for the past three years and has participated in several EU election observation missions in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Javier Gutierrez, Media Analyst (Spain)

As a journalist, Javier Gutiérrez has more than 12 years of experience in different Spanish media (newspapers, radio and TV). He started to work for the European Union in 2002, acting for the first time as media expert and press officer in the EU EOM to Sierra Leone. Since then he has worked in the same position for European Union observation missions in Malawi (2004), Ethiopia (2005), Liberia (2005), Fiji Islands (2006), Nicaragua (2006), Guatemala (2007), Angola (2008) and Guinea-Bissau (2008). He has also participated in several UN missions, as Public Information Officer and Spokesman Assistant (MINUGUA 1998-2000), Civic and Voter Education Officer (UNTAET 2001, UNAMSIL 2001, UNMIN 2007) and Electoral Assistant (in UAE for the Iraqi elections, 2005).

Mathias Eick, Press Officer and Public Outreach (Germany)

Mathias Eick is an independent media consultant based in South Africa. He started his career as a journalist for a number of international media organisations working on the Balkans, in Africa and the Middle East. For the past eight years, he has lived in the Balkans working on a number of media projects for the OSCE in Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. He was also the spokesperson for the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro and the Head of the Communications & Information Unit of the European Agency for Reconstruction. The EU EOM to Ghana is his fifth EU election observation mission, having served as press and public outreach officer in West Bank & Gaza (2006), Uganda (2006), Pakistan, Rwanda (2008) and most recently in Ghana.

Mindaugas Mecius, Observer Coordinator (Lithuania)

Mindaugas Mėčius has a background in political science and international relations. His previous professional experience includes work for the Office of the Lithuanian Parliament and the OSCE Mission to Croatia. Since 1997 he has worked as a polling/voter registration supervisor, short and long term observer on several OSCE and European Union election missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Aceh Province, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan and recently Cambodia and Bangladesh