Article 11 The provisions of Article 42 of the Protocol of 10th December 1999 hereby complemented by the provisions under this section. Article 12 1. At the request of any Member State , ECOWAS may provide assistance in the conduct of any election. 2. Such assistance may take any form. 3. Also, ECOWAS may dispatch a monitoring team to the country concerned for the purpose of monitoring the elections. 4. The decision in this respect shall be taken by the Executive Secretary. Article 13 1. As elections in a Member State approach, the Executive Secretary shall dispatch a fact-finding Mission to the Member State conducting an election. 2. This mission may be followed by an exploratory Mission aimed at: • Collecting all texts governing the elections concerned; • Gathering all information on the conditions under which the elections shall be conducted; • Collecting all pertinent information relating to the contesting candidates or political parties; • Meeting all candidates, political party leaders, government authorities and other competent bodies; • Assessing the status of preparations for the elections; • Gathering any other useful information that may provide a clear picture of the situation. Article 14 1. The Executive Secretary shall appoint the leader and the members of the Observer/Supervisory Mission, who shall be independent persons and Nationals of Member States other than the Member State conducting the Elections. 2. The Members of the Mission shall include women. 3. Staff of the Executive Secretariat shall be designated to assist the Mission . Article 15 1. The Observer/Supervisory Mission , with the documents collected by the exploratory Mission and the report prepared by the Mission , shall arrive in the Member State concerned at least forty-eight hours prior to the conduct of the elections. 2. The Observer/Supervisory Mission may be preceded by ECOWAS Staff, who shall prepare the meetings to be held between the Mission and the national authorities. 3. The Mission shall be expected to hold consultations with the relevant authorities of the host government for an exchange of views and in order to determine the mode of deployment in the host Member State . 4. It may establish cooperation links with NGO or any other observer team while maintaining its autonomy.