The Network of Europeans for Electoral and Democracy Support (NEEDS) brings together some of the leading European organisations and individuals involved in the field of democratisation and election observation to increase the capacity of both the European Union and civil society organisations to conduct credible and effective election observation missions. The objective of the project is to train international and domestic election observers and thereby increase their professionalism and capacity to deliver effective and credible election observation in EU partner countries. In order to do this the project will conduct a series of targeted training seminars and forums, facilitate regional networking, develop a series of new and updated tools and reference materials and conduct a programme of technical assistance for selected observer groups (see more on www.needs-network.org).