Introduction to Electoral Administration in South Sudan

As part of the extensive efforts of the UN Integrated Electoral Assistance Team, led by the UN Mission to South Sudan (UNMISS), to strengthen the country’s electoral processes through a series of BRIDGE workshops. An Introduction to Electoral Administration workshop was held in Juba from 25 to 27 June 2024, targeting key electoral stakeholders including participants from the National Elections Commission (NEC), CSOs, and the United Nations.

The workshop was facilitated by BRIDGE Accrediting facilitators Katia Madanat, Utloile Silaigwana and Aiah Mattia.  The Workshop A total of 24 participants (8 Female and 16 Male).

The primary objective of the workshop was to enhance the capacities of key election stakeholders, enabling them to effectively fulfill their electoral roles, in which it provided a comprehensive understanding of critical standards, principles, and techniques in electoral administration. The engaging and interactive sessions encouraged dynamic involvement from participants, who engaged in thought-provoking discussions and practical exercises, all aimed at enhancing their skills in managing electoral processes.

In order to achieve workshop’s primary objectives, the following topics were included:

– Exploring electoral standards and the significance of international obligations and good practices.

– Examining the nature and purpose of the legal framework and its application in the electoral context.

– Introducing the main principles of electoral system design.

– Exploring various models of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), their functions, and guiding principles.

– Promoting equal access to electoral processes.

– Introducing concepts and methodologies of electoral operational planning as a management tool.

– Discussing the rationale and importance of voter and civic education programs.

At the end of each training day, participants were asked to fill in evaluation forms that aims to measure the degree to which the sessions content was informative, clarity of objectives, training methodology and appropriateness of the workload.  As a result, participants highly commended the knowledge gained, the new interactive training methodology and the skills demonstrated by the facilitators.  Additionally, many participants expressed their interest in attending more BRIDGE sessions to further increase their knowledge around elections, best practices and international experiences.