Maputo 2008

Effective electoral assistance

The 5th Joint Training on Effective Electoral Assistance organised by the European Commission (EC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) took place in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, from the 23rd to the 27th of June 2008.

It was the first training organised in collaboration with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) and Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) in the context of the Global Platform on Effective Electoral Assistance and of the sub-group on Effective Electoral Assistance that EC-UNDP Joint Task Force (JTF) coordinates with the Train 4 DEV initiative.

The course was therefore not just opened to selected EC-UNDP staff, but also staff of other interested development partners, international organisations dealing with electoral assistance, electoral management bodies, national authorities and civil society organisations.

A total number of 71 participants, including a core team of 9 resource persons, attended the training.

In addition to EC, UN and International IDEA staff, representatives came from EMBs (Brazil, Guinea Bissau, Moldova, Mozambique, Zambia), bilateral development organisations (SIDA-Sweden, CIDA-Canada, DFID-UK), regional and international organisations (OAS, IOM, EISA) and embassies (Sweden).

Based heavily on experience with previous trainings, the EC-UNDP-IDEA team produced a comprehensive training agenda.

The training was conducted over five consecutive days and comprised a mix of presentations, discussions, workshops and case studies.

The primary objectives of the training was to familiarise the participants with the electoral cycle approach and the policy/strategic framework as well as procedures governing EU and UN involvement in electoral assistance in order to build capacity for formulation and implementation of future electoral assistance projects.

The issue of new technologies and their relevance in electoral assistance programming received particular attention with procurement, costs and budgeting being other topics addressed.

The five-day face-to-face training was delivered by the members of the EC-UNDP Joint Task Force, staff of International IDEA and EISA as well as senior electoral experts that regularly collaborate with the JTF or with other international organisations participating in the training. The primary source of the training was the Training Manual and the JTF website both of which had undergone revision before the training.

DOWNLOAD THE AGENDA
EN