BRIDGE Workshop on Electoral Training was conducted
5 October 2016
IFES Ukraine in cooperation with the joint IFES-Central Election Commission (CEC) Administrative Center for the Training of Elections Process Participants and with the financial support of USAID and Global Affairs Canada conducted a BRIDGE modular workshop on Electoral Training.
The aim of the workshop was to provide participants with knowledge and skills on planning and implementing the Electoral Operation Training Program. The workshop allowed participants to discuss the concept of the training cycle; needs assessment procedures; various methodological approaches (such as cascade or simultaneous methods); logistics and budgeting of the training; preparation of the operational plan preparation and its coordination with other departments; selection of trainers and development of training materials; monitoring and evaluation of the training program.
This BRIDGE module was conducted in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 13-16, 2016, and hosted by the joint IFES-CEC Administrative Center for the Training of Election Process Participants.
The workshop was held in Russian language and was facilitated internationally recognized BRIDGE expert Natia Kashakashvili together with the semi-accredited facilitators Alyona Dolya, Anna Bandurka and Serhii Serjan. Twenty-four participants from the CEC and CSOs of Ukraine attended the workshop (out of which 12 were male and 12 female).
The workshop participants agreed on the importance of proper planning and organization of trainings in the electoral sphere. Since all training materials are based on the electoral legislation, all participants stressed the need of adapting complex legislative language and developing user-friendly training materials, such as manuals and memos for members of election commissions.
All sessions were highly interactive and enabled participants to practice all steps of the training cycle. Participants had the opportunity to try themselves in the role of a training organizer during the “make it happen” session, and developed their skills of planning and implementing training programs.
The ultimate goal of the training was to change their mentality and approach to implementing professional operational training programs and to provide them with theoretical and practical knowledge for working in this sphere.
As a result of completing the conduct of the modular workshop, Alyona Dolya has been granted accreditation as the workshop-level facilitator, joining the pool of four workshop-level BRIDGE facilitators in Ukraine.