7 May 2007
Election management bodies in East and Southern Africa are investing in
their training experts by visiting South Africa to participate in a specialised
training programme. Election administrators from eight East and Southern
African countries (Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania,
Zanzibar, Uganda, and Zambia) are taking part in this "Train the Trainer"
course, conducted by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral
Assistance (International IDEA) and the Electoral Commission of South Africa
(IEC), with funding from the Australian Government. The training is taking
place in Pretoria, South Africa, from 7 to 18 May 2007, and will enhance the
training skills of the participants in the area of election administration.
The course is based on a capacity-building curriculum known as "the BRIDGE
project" (www.bridge-project.org), specially designed to improve the skills,
knowledge and confidence of election administrators. BRIDGE, which stands for
Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections, is widely recognised
as the most comprehensive training curriculum of its kind in the world. BRIDGE
has been run in 23 countries across the globe, including eight in Africa with
more that 2 000 participants and covers topics such as electoral systems,
public outreach, registration of voters and electoral observers.
The BRIDGE "Train the Trainer" course aims at ensuring sustainability in
professional development training in the field of elections by transferring the
necessary training skills to the national electoral commissions so that they
can utilise BRIDGE for their own national training programmes.
Dr Brigalia Bam, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa
(IEC), says that "the IEC is committed to enhancing the professional management
of elections and the BRIDGE course forms part of the curriculum of the IEC's
Centre for Elections Learning. The co-hosting of the course also gives the IEC
the opportunity to strengthen ties with other election management bodies and to
share electoral expertise."
"Elections are the largest and most extensive logistical exercise conducted
during peacetime involving almost the entire adult population of a state or
nation" says Dr Abdalla Hamdok, IDEA Regional Director of Africa and Middle
East Programme. "Despite the complexity of the task there is no formal
university level degree or diploma available for the study of election
administration. This is why IDEA has developed the BRIDGE training curriculum
specifically to meet the needs of election administrators. There can only be
true sustainability in election processes when Election Management Bodies
invest in their greatest resourceâtheir personnel."
The 10-day course is funded by a grant from the Australian Government
through its aid organ AusAID and is part of a two-year programme to support the
professional development of election administrators in East and Southern
Africa. BRIDGE was developed by International IDEA, the United Nations and the
Australian Electoral Commission in 2001.
For enquiries, contact:
Margot Gould
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
Cell: 076 1144 586
Lydia Young
Independent Electoral Commission
Cell: 082 650 8652
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
7 May 2007
