BRIDGE in Washington!

On June 20 & 21, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) held a long-awaited internal BRIDGE training for 20 of its Washington DC based staff.The 2-day interactive workshop explored standards and practicalities of electoral administration, principles, case studies and historical perspectives on boundary delimitation, electoral assistance, civic education and gender & elections.

The training was facilitated by IFES very own BRIDGE facilitators including Ambar Zobairi (MENA Deputy Director) and Kamissa Camara (West Africa Program Officer), with targeted presentations from Gregory Kehailia (MENA Senior Program Manager and former DRC Country Director) on civic education and Chad Vickery (Europe & Asia Regional Director) on the legal framework for elections.

IFES has been one of the most active implementers of the BRIDGE methodology since it joined the partnership in March 2007. It is estimated that IFES implemented about 50 workshops in over 15 countries over the last 3 years. However, most of the IFES-led BRIDGE trainings are implemented as part of IFES technical assistance to election management bodies and electoral stakeholders around the world. Therefore, the participants really appreciated the exposure to the principles and technical expertise IFES practices around the world.

This training was the first of a series of internal trainings scheduled for 2012, specifically targeting IFES staff based in Washington, DC.

The IFES BRIDGE partnership and related activities are currently managed by IFES F. Clifton White Applied Research Center.