Building Resources in Democracy, Governance & Elections BRIDGE Project

The BRIDGE Project founding partners are:

New partners joined in March 2007

So what is the BRIDGE Project? A professional development course in electoral administration because… Capable and professional election administrators are essential for organising elections, and without the skills in place, election processes can be undermined to achieve effective, sustainable electoral administrations, the development of the capacity of the staff needs to be prioritised.

A Capacity Building Tool …it builds the skills, knowledge and confidence of participants …it also helps to build a sense of the team …it should not be seen as a quick fix for electoral management bodies and their stakeholders

The History of BRIDGE First Expert Advisory Group (EAG) meeting in 1999 Project first implemented in 2001in East Timor Till that point there had been few formal opportunities available for comprehensive professional development in electoral administration.

Original Aims of BRIDGE to strengthen election administrators capacity to conduct their work in an effective and efficient manner to enhance electoral administrators professionalism to build teams and networks

Potential BRIDGE Target Groups Electoral Commissioners EMB Staff Members of the Media Political Parties Parliamentarians Security Forces Civil Society Groups Academics and University Students

Tailored to individual needs BRIDGE Project courses need to be carefully tailored to the needs of participants and organisations This can only be achieved by developing and delivering them in partnership with local bodies that can contribute to and/or drive the tailoring process.

BRIDGE Methodology uses content developed by electoral experts from around the world is not prescriptive, it encourages participants to develop creative and appropriate solutions to challenges is activity-based and focuses on practical issues is flexible and adaptable, not designed to be used off the shelf

Quality assurance BRIDGE can only be conducted by facilitators accredited by the BRIDGE Project partners 2 phase of accreditation process: 10-day TtF Program Assisted BRIDGE Project Course delivery in the field

How/where to run BRIDGE? Conducting modules for the nationals of one country; Conducting modules for an international or regional group; Conducting modules with or through a partner organisation

Version 1 modules 1.introduction to electoral administration 6. contestants 2. electoral systems 7. preparation for the electoral event 3. public outreach8. polling and counting 4. boundary delimitation9. electoral observers 5. registration of voters10. strategies for sustainability

Expanded Content From 10 Modules to 23 Modules – covering all aspects of elections Many more examples and case studies from around the world New material for each module

More International Writers and Editors

Addition of Implementation Manual and Workshop Greater implementation guidance and support for organisations wanting to use and adapt BRIDGE material and courses Implementation Workshop (2-day) course to assist implementers, project managers and facilitators (for different courses) to implement BRIDGE in the most effective way

BRIDGE Project statistics To date BRIDGE has been conducted: In about 20 countries For over 2000 people from more than 90 countries There are now: Over 400 people who have attended Train the Facilitator programs Over 120 Fully Accredited BRIDGE Facilitators

The BRIDGE Project is fun, whilst

… the hard work is being done

Thank you!