16 August 2006
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)
and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), with funding from the
Australian Government, are training 27 election administrators from 13
countries in East and Southern Africa (Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda,
Zambia and Zanzibar), in Pretoria, South Africa from 14 to 18 August.
The training course will enhance the professional skills of the
participating election administrators and covers such topics such as electoral
systems, public outreach and voter registration. The course is based on a
capacity-building curriculum known as âthe BRIDGE projectâ (http://www.bridge-project.org), specially designed to
improve the skills, knowledge and confidence of election administrators. The
BRIDGE, which stands for Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and
Elections, was developed by IDEA, the United Nations and the Australian
Electoral Commission in 2001 and has been run in 20 countries across the globe,
including eight in Africa.
âElections are the largest and most extensive logistical exercise conducted
during peacetime involving almost the entire adult population of a state or
nationâ says Dr Abdalla Hamdok, IDEA regional director of Africa and Middle
East Programme. âElection administrators who are responsible for the daunting
task of organising elections are often the unsung heroes of democracy. 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.â
Dr Brigalia Bam, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa
said that, âthe IEC knows how important it is that the professional development
of election administrators be cultivated in capacity-building programmes such
as this one. The IEC is very pleased to be hosting this event that brings
together election professionals from so many countries.â
The five day course, which begins today, is funded by a grant from the
Australian Government through its aid organ Australian Agency for International
Development (AusAID) and it is the first part of a two year programme to
support the professional development of election administrators in East and
Southern Africa.
Contact IDEA:
Margot Gould
Tel: 072 932 2371
Contact IEC:
Lydia Young
Tel: 082 650 8652
Contact AusAID:
Anne Zeindl-Cronin
Tel: (012) 423 6169
Issued by: International Institute for Democracy
16 August 2006
