The Indonesia BRIDGE programme 2010 was designed by UNDP and the Indonesian Election Commission (KPU) as part of the UNDP multi-donor programme-support to Indonesian’s democratic elections. It was initiated by a needs assessment mission in November 2009 with the perspective of capacity building for KPU based on lessons learned from past elections.

The programme initially comprised two Training the Facilitator (TtFs) and four module workshops. However, on the participant’s initiative following a very successful TtF 1, a new element, a“curriculum development workshop”, was introduced into the programme, in which some modules were customised to reflect the Indonesian electoral context and new resources were created specifically for the new activities in the modules (see article “World first”, Ross Attrill, on BRIDGE website).

As part of the accreditation process, KPU BRIDGE facilitators are doing very well in delivering the module workshops using the customised modules in Indonesian. One participant stated on the evaluation: “the facilitators explain things in such a clear way that it is difficult for me to say I don´t understand”.

In workshops one (Lombok) and two (Yogyakarta), the agenda was a combination of topics from “Voter Registration, Voter Information, Boundary Delimitation and Strategic Planning” modules. The third and fourth workshops will focus on aspects of “Introduction to Electoral Administration, Pre-election activities, Strategic and Financial Planning” modules.

Indonesia being such a vast area with such great diversity, one thing has been constant in all the BRIDGE workshops throughout 2010, and that was the smiles and laughs of participants and facilitators! The participants of the workshops are KPU provincial electoral commissioners who have embraced BRIDGE methodology with interest, motivation, creativity and a very positive attitude, always with ... a smile!

The second module workshop has just concluded in Yogyakarta. In the first two module workshops, eight facilitators completed their accreditation as BRIDGE facilitators, showing great commitment, hard work and excellent performance! Of these, four have also reached the category of “accrediting facilitator” on the basis of the amount of hours that they have been working in various aspects of BRIDGE (implementation, preparation, facilitation, module customisation). In the next two workshops, it is expected that eight more facilitators will achieve the status of fully accredited BRIDGE facilitators. I congratulate you and use the words of a poet* to wish you all the best: “what lies ahead is a happy beginning of something”

A special thanks needs to go to Mareska Mantik, the UNDP sector manager responsible for BRIDGE implementation, who has excelled in her support (performing multi-multi-tasks), and has been essential to the success of the programme.

Thanks also to the local KPU offices (Bali, Bandung, Lombok and Yogyakarta) that have provided very helpful support to the organisation of the workshops and have so warmly hosted the facilitators.

*Agustina Bessa-Luís.