The first ever TtF entirely conducted in Portuguese was held in Bissau, the capital of the western-African country, Guinea-Bissau, between April 11 -22. The event was the first of a wider BRIDGE programme of the UNDP electoral support project (UNDP Pro-PALOP/TL), which aims at organising not only TtFs but also module workshops in all the African Portuguese speaking countries (PALOP), and Timor-Leste.  The course was facilitated by Fernanda Lopes and Deryck Fritz.

The 24 participants came from the CNE (National Election Commission), GTAPE (the governmental body responsible for voter registration), civil society and representatives of the political parties represented in the Popular National Assembly. Throughout the two weeks, the participants enthusiastically embraced all the new challenges of BRIDGE methodology and carried out activities and presentations using a variety of the newly learned participatory techniques.

“I really appreciate this opportunity to participate in such an interesting type of training, I have learned a lot more than I expected”, said one of the most senior participants of the workshop, on the last day.

The BRIDGE programme in Guinea-Bissau will now continue with curriculum development and module workshops, the first of which will focus on voter registration and will take place between 16-18 May.