Celebrating the 20th anniversary of BRIDGE
2022 marks the 20th anniversary of BRIDGE and the BRIDGE Partners recently came together at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to celebrate this significant milestone. The anniversary celebrations were coupled with a series of BRIDGE Partner meetings – the first face to face meeting of the Partnership since 2019. It was joyful and productive, with representatives from each BRIDGE Partner organisation in attendance.
To commemorate the anniversary, the BRIDGE Partners organised an outdoor photo exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The outdoor exhibition was on display from 8 September to 10 October 2022 and coincided with the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The exhibition included 8 photo cubes, each consisting of four 2m x 2m panels, that showcased the diversity and global reach of BRIDGE over the past 20 years through photos, statistics and content. It also served as an opportunity to increase public awareness and understanding of BRIDGE. The exhibition was launched at an inauguration ceremony on 8 September attended by all the BRIDGE Partners and invited guests.
The ceremony and the photo exhibition were a magnificent way to celebrate and showcase what BRIDGE has achieved in the field of democracy and elections in the past 20 years – the conduct of more than 2,295 BRIDGE workshops (including 175 Train the Facilitator courses) in more than 50 countries that have been attended by more than 17,500 participants from 120 countries and established a network of more than 1,600 BRIDGE facilitators globally.
The review and update of the BRIDGE curriculum, along with the release of the new BRIDGE website and Portal form a solid foundation for the future of BRIDGE – as the BRIDGE partnership builds on the achievements of the program’s twenty-year history and seeks to further enhance the reputation of BRIDGE as the preeminent electoral professional development program.
