UNDP TRAINS NEC AND ZEC SENIOR OFFICIALS ON ELECTION MANAGEMENT

Twenty (20) senior staff from the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) will undergo a two-week train-the-facilitator programme based on the internationally renowned BRIDGE at the Oceanic Bay hotel in Bagamoyo. The training is expected to usher the two electoral management bodies (EMBs) in a new era of improved professional conduct of elections through the use of own staff to conduct BRIDGE or any other electronic training for both short term and long term professional development. 

BRIDGE stands for “Building Resources for Democracy, Governance and Elections” and is comprehensive professional electoral curriculum based on adult-learning and participatory methodology. The two-week training will be a Train-the-Trainer (TtF) programme which will introduce the 20 EMB participants to the BRIDGE methodology and tools which they can use to undertake own EMB electoral training using the BRIDGE curriculum, methodology and related resources.  

Speaking at the official opening session of the training today, UNDP Country Director Mr Philippe Poinsot, said the training which is sponsored by UNDP through its Democratic Empowerment Project (DEP) will seek to improve the capacity of the EMBs to undertake long term professional development for their own staff thereby fostering credible, transparent and peaceful elections in the country. It will specifically help the two electoral management bodies (EMBs) to prepare for the referendum and the 2015 general elections.

 “Training of this nature is best conducted during the pre-election phases of the electoral cycle so as to ensure that EMBs capacity is enhanced long before the commencement of the hustle and bustle of the election campaign period”, he said.

In his keynote address, the NEC’s Chairperson, Judge Damian Lubuva, welcomed the training opportunity saying it will go a long way to enhance the democratic process in the country through well run elections which inspire public confidence and stakeholder trust in the EMBs, especially in 2015. “Credible elections can guarantee peace and stability in our country, therefore this training is a great step in our collective effort to conduct elections in a professional and credible way. This will help Tanzania become an example of best practices in election management, not only for our region but for other parts of the world”, he said.  Justice Lubuva requested participants to work hard and ensure they acquire new skills which they can plough back in their respective institutions.

Participants in the BRIDGE programme will undergo a certification process that will qualify them as semi-accredited trainers. After two weeks of both theoretical and practical training, participants will be assessed for certification as BRIDGE semi-accredited trainers. After such certification, the candidates will participate in further assessment and training based on BRIDGE modular.

The training is supported by DEP which is a three-year electoral cycle support project (2013-2016) funded by various development partners through a basket. This includes Canada, Denmark, the European Commission, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and UNDP. The 22 million-dollar project seeks to give capacity to democratic institutions, such as the EMBs, the police, judiciary, political parties to support credible, transparent and peaceful 2015 elections in Tanzania. The project also supports greater inclusion of women, youth and people with disability and giving them a voice in decision making processes including elections.

The two EMBs are expected to conduct more BRIDGE training programmes especially after the 20 trainees in this TtF have acquired full BRIDGE accreditation.  The goal of the DEP is to ensure that between our EMBs, Tanzania has adequate capacity to conduct BRIDGE training by using Tanzanians who are fully-accredited BRIDGE facilitators. Notably, once accredited, BRIDGE facilitators will be in a position to train election officials in other parts of the world.