Report on the BRIDGE Training Workshop in Egypt

With the aim of contributing to the electoral reform process and debate in Egypt, IFES and the Egyptian Association for Training and Human Rights – EATHR agreed to join effort to organise a series of 5 BRIDGE training workshops for 100 selected participants representing the Media sector in the country. The overall project objective was to enhance participants understanding of the principles that underpin the electoral process, and share with them comparative experiences from the region and other parts of the world to allow them to assess their own local experience and draw best practices and lessons learned.

To achieve this objective, the training courses were designed and the materials were carefully adapted to reflect issues that are central to the democratic reform debate in the country. In particular, the course was designed to cover the topic of Electoral Systems.

The first training workshop took place from December 4 till 6, 2007. It followed an “ABRIDGE” model of 3-day training workshop. The training topics were carefully chosen with special attention to Egypt specific context.

Electoral Systems, the choices and their consequences with some comparative experiences especially from the region i.e. Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan
Quota and the principle of representation and electoral reform

In addition, Mr. Hazem Mounir and Mr. Samir El-Bagoury from EATHR participated in delivering training sessions on the topics of Fair Media Coverage of Elections and Overview of the Electoral System in Egypt respectively. The lectures were followed by comments and discussion on the lectures topics.

Six facilitators participated in the workshop:

Ossama Kamel – IFES, Egypt
Chantal Sarkis-IFES, Lebanon
Said Sanadiki-LADE, Lebanon
Magued Sorour-One World Foundation, Egypt
Hazem Mounir- EATHR, Egypt
Samir El-Bagoury- EATHR, Egypt

The daily and final workshop evaluations were very positive. It was mentioned by many participants that this training was at a high level. Among other things they appreciated were the training methodology, facilitation style and skills, and creating an environment of dialogue and experience sharing especially in a comparative context.