BRIDGE Partner meeting November 2014

The BRIDGE partner committee, comprised of representatives from the AEC, IFES, IIDEA, UNDP, UNEAD, met in Canberra from 16-17 November to discuss the assessment report and its recommendations. These discussions addressed a limited number of recommendations that the Partners identified as the most pressing. The Partners, while recognising the considerable accomplishments of BRIDGE over the past 15 years, affirmed the need to adapt the management and practice of BRIDGE to current trends and within available resources. The partners committed to:

• Strengthening the BRIDGE Office by renewing Partner commitments and defining contributions more equitably. The BRIDGE Office will remain based in Canberra and discrete functions will be carried out by Partner organisations from various locations under the coordination of a BRIDGE Manager. The Partners agreed to ratify this arrangement in a renewed MOU by the end of 2014. The MOU will be reviewed on a biennial basis;

• Revitalising the use of BRIDGE into larger technical assistance and development programs. The partners agreed to encourage the engagement of a broader network of stakeholders through targeted outreach to participate in BRIDGE workshops and to develop case studies demonstrating the impact of systemic applications of the BRIDGE curriculum;

• Improve the quality control of the BRIDGE curriculum and establish a process to update modules recognising that one of the key strengths of BRIDGE is in the curriculum. Partners agreed to develop a schedule for review of BRIDGE modules and prioritisation of particular modules for update in the coming two years. To accomplish this, the BRIDGE Partners also committed to developing tools to assist in the update process, including instructions for updates and a style guide;

• Developing a robust BRIDGE monitoring and evaluation methodology that provides a streamlined, standard process for assessing the quality of BRIDGE workshops and facilitators and collects useful data for practitioners while documenting tangible impact. The Partners agreed that the methodology may include confidential participant surveys while protecting the privacy of respondents;

• Adapting and strengthening the accreditation for facilitators based upon consultation with expert and accrediting facilitators, including but not limited to simplifying the facilitator levels, reviewing and updating the TtF module, utilising social media to build a refreshed BRIDGE community and encouraging mentoring;
• Exploring synergies and linkages with the ACE Project and the ACE practitioners’ network. The Partners agreed to encourage all BRIDGE participants to register with the ACE practitioners’ network to expand their electoral knowledge and connectedness to the community of practice. The partners also agreed to initiate a dialogue with the ACE project to explore concrete synergies in the coming year.

Further information and next steps on the implementation of these decisions will be provided in the next BRIDGE newsletter.