BRIDGE Technical Agent training in Côte d’Ivoire

BRIDGE Training for Technical Agents for the Ivoirian Electoral Commission May 8 to 11, 2012.

Côte d’Ivoire is slowly recovering from over a decade of continuous political crisis. With contentious presidential elections held towards the end of 2010, Ivoirian stakeholders are learning from the past and discussing the best strategies forward in the consolidation of their democracy.

Through a USAID-funded program, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), in close partnership with the Independent Electoral Commission of Côte d’Ivoire (CEI), held a 4-day BRIDGE workshop for 28 technical agents of the CEI in May 2012. With the CEI playing a central role in the Ivoirian electoral process and political stability of the country, the need for its capacity building in electoral administration was great.

The workshop was facilitated by two members of the Ivoirian Electoral Commission and two IFES staff, namely:

• Ms. Kamissa Camara (Mali, Accrediting Facilitator – West Africa Program Officer and IFES BRIDGE Coordinator)

• Mrs. Marguerite Yoli-Bi (Côte d’Ivoire, Semi-Accredited Facilitator – Head of CEI Training Department)

• Mr. Salomon Dagrou Bayoro (Côte d’Ivoire, Semi-Accredited Facilitator – CEI Commissioner)

• Mr. Corneille Nangaa (DRC, Expert Facilitator – IFES Country Director in Côte d’Ivoire).

The training covered activities pertaining to the Introduction to Electoral Administration module, as well as the Legal Framework and Post-Electoral Activities modules.

The training was a venue for CEI Technical staff to draft a 3-year capacity building plan to improve their performance in the democratization of their country.

This initiative was saluted by the President of the Electoral Commission, Mr. Bagayoko, and also allowed the full accreditation of Mrs. Yoli-Bi and Mr. Bayoro as BRIDGE workshop facilitators.