As part of efforts to enhance their electoral partnership, the CARICOM Secretariat and the United Nations (UNDP/UNDPA) will conduct a BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections) workshop and round table discussion for participants from the CARICOM Region in Guyana, next week.
The interventions scheduled for 7-9 March 2016, have origins in the work of an Electoral Assessment Mission deployed last year to provide an assessment of the capacities, activities and needs of the CARICOM Secretariat in the area of elections.
Representatives from CARICOM Member States who are involved in electoral observers’ missions, particularly those who have been Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Mission in the past 15 years, as well as support staff from the CARICOM Secretariat, are the main target groups for the interventions. They will explore several key elements of the electoral process including electoral systems, observation of elections, voting and counting, tabulation of results, and gender issues associated with the electoral process.
An in-depth insight into the framework of Election Observation Missions (EOMs) will be analyzed along with the duties of Short Term Observers (STOs), Long Term Observers (LTOs) and Core Team Members (CTMs).
It is anticipated that the highly interactive workshop and round table discussion will provide a venue for exchange of good practices and lessons learned among various Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of CARICOM election observation missions who, at the same time, are mostly from the election management bodies of the CARICOM Member States.
BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections)
Since its creation in 2002, the BRIDGE Project has become the most comprehensive professional development course in election administration. Born from a partnership between the United Nations (EAD and UNDP) in collaboration with the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the Australian Electoral Commission, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the project has been developed by electoral administrators themselves – people with wide experience of elections in many different countries and contexts.
To date, BRIDGE courses have been conducted by skilled professionals in more than 38 countries for over 4,000 participants. Each training aims to improve the skills, knowledge, and confidence of election professionals and key stakeholders in the electoral process, including members of the media, political parties, electoral observers and the donor community.
BRIDGE workshops are included in many electoral assistance projects and missions to develop the capacity of electoral authorities and other stakeholders. (source: http://www.un.org/undpa/elections)
