The European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) represented by its Executive Director, Fabio Bargiacchi, has been invited to moderate sessions during the International Electoral Affairs Symposium and International Electoral Awards organised by the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS), in cooperation with the Mozambique Electoral Commission (CNE).
This event was the 13th International Electoral Affairs Symposium and International Electoral Awards and was held in Maputo, in Mozambique, between 5th-6th December 2016. It brought together international election management bodies, NGOs, donor agencies and other electoral stakeholders to share their experience, discuss challenges in election management, and strengthen international relations. Furthermore, in the context of the country, the event served as platform for reflection on the previous electoral process and lead national electoral stakeholders to improve and redefine the orientation strategies for the electoral process 2017-2020, as it was highlighted by Mr.Sheik Abdul Carimo Nordine Sau, CNE’s Chairman.
Fabio Bargiacchi moderated two panels, the first on “Improving Data and Information Exchange before, during and Post-Elections” and the second on “An Analysis of Elections in 2016”. The full agenda of the event is available here.
Several Electoral Commissions were represented at this event: the Independent Electoral Commission of Guinea, with President Mr. Bakary Fofana; the Electoral Commission of Namibia, with Commissioner Mrs Alberthina Nangolo; the National Electoral Commission of Burkina Faso, with the electoral expert and former President Mr. Barthelemy Kere; and the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa, with Commissioner Mr. Terry Tselane. Electoral Commissions of Cameroon, India, Palestine, Tanzania, Philippines, Mauritius, Guyana and Georgia were also represented.
In the following days, the project “Preventing electoral violence in the countries of the southern African development community” (PEV-SADC) – funded by the European Union (75%), cofounded (25%) and implemented by ECES and the Electoral Support Network of Southern Africa (ESN-SA) – organised the “Leadership and Conflict Management Skills for Electoral Stakeholders – LEAD” training, held between 12th-16th December in Maputo, for the Mozambique Electoral Commission (CNE) and the Technical Secretariat for Election Management (STAE).
LEAD training used education techniques with an interaction-based approach. Indeed, instead of relying on conventional teaching methods such as lecturing, LEAD focused on practical problem-solving. The training used cases that electoral stakeholders actually face, promoting experience sharing among the participants. The purpose of this methodology was to provide content of direct relevance to participants’ concerns as well as to deliver this content in a creative manner. By promoting a practical and interactive learning experience, LEAD encouraged participants to think outside the box in order to bring creative and innovating ideas to the table.
Due to the flexibility of LEAD’s training curriculum, the five-days training in Maputo was customised to bring more focus on Gender policies and equality in managing electoral conflicts.
PEV-SADC project has already delivered several LEAD and BRIDGE trainings: a BRIDGE Training of Trainers in October 2013 and three BRIDGE modules in October and November 2015. A LEAD training has been delivered in Maputo in September 2014 and it has been the first occasion for key players from various fields – such as political parties, media, civil society organisations and observer groups – to come together ahead of the general elections of November 2014. Participants of the one-week training worked together and truckled various topics pertinent to the Mozambican context when it comes to conflict management and leadership.
The PEV-SADC project will continue to support Mozambicans’ electoral stakeholders and to strengthen their capacity to face challenges of electoral cycle approach.
