BRIDGE Workshop on Civic Education in Madagascar

This training was organized by UNDP, in the framework of its Electoral Support Project (PACEM), with the financial support of the European Union and Japan. This initiative is part of a series of BRIDGE workshops organized by UNDP Madagascar in order to promote capacity building among electoral stakeholders during the post-electoral period.

Members of the Malagasy Electoral Commission, civil society organizations, women’s associations and political parties were among the twenty-five participants of this workshop. Developing a national voter education and information strategy adapted to the reality of a vast and diverse country as Madagascar is an important challenge at stake for the local elections to come. Participants are expected to play a major role within their respective organizations to accurately identify needs and coordinate the implementation of activities regarding civic and voter education in the future. The programmatic side of such activities was emphasized and participants expressed their satisfaction with this approach.

The training provided the participants with the possibility of discussing, among other issues, on the meaning of civic education, voter education and voter information, roles and responsibilities of electoral stakeholders regarding civic and voter education, strategies to promote access to civic and voter education for vulnerable groups, advantages and disadvantages of different civic and voter education tools, as well as challenges encountered by civic and voter education programs at all phases, including planning, implementation and evaluation.

This workshop was facilitated by Sheila Serrano (Bolivia, workshop facilitator), Lluís Juan Rodríguez (Spain, workshop facilitator) and Andriaharivola Reine Ramananjanahary (Madagascar, workshop facilitator).