Building Institutional Excellence in Elections

Council of Europe Office in Chisinau, in cooperation with the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Republic of Moldova implemented a 4-day BRIDGE modular workshop Building Institutional Excellence in Elections for the CEC representatives. The was organized for the CEC members, key/senior CEC secretariat staff and ten District Election Commission heads (twenty-seven participants, comprising 18 women and 9 men attended the workshop) during May 22-25, 2024, in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova.

The workshop aimed to explore themes relating to the management, organization, structure and culture of an EMB and enhance participants’ understanding of how to build institutional excellence in election administration.

The workshop was led by BRIDGE facilitators Natia Kashakashvili and Shalva Tskhakaya and co-facilitated by Rodica Sirbu. The workshop was inaugurated by the CEC chairperson Mrs. A. Caraman and Mr. F. Lange, head of Council of Europe Office in Chisinau.

The workshop agenda primarily centered on introducing the four building blocks and five enablers of the Institutional Excellence Model. In summary, the first three days of the workshop focused on providing participants with an understanding of the foundational building blocks and the enablers of institutional excellence, while on day 4, participants synthesized their knowledge to construct a roadmap for CEC’s journey towards institutional excellence.

Participants provided overwhelmingly positive feedback throughout the workshop, commending the engaging and participatory approach, thus a very serious approach of the teaching methodology. Participants actively engaged in all the activities and discussions. The participants particularly appreciated the final-day activities, which resulted in comprehensive understanding of the previous three-day content.

Workshop allowed participants to envision the crucial next steps for the CEC in its pursuit of Institutional Excellence. As part of the final evaluation, deputy chairperson has emphasized that the workshop enabled to assemble the puzzle of the already-known separate topics; other participants have reiterated the same message by mentioning that before this workshop they did not know how to put bricks (of institutional excellence) together. Some of the participants have commended the orchestrated facilitation team that created a trusted and friendly atmosphere, where the participants felt open and free to talk/discuss various topics. DEC chairpersons have stated their readiness to share the received knowledge with the other colleagues in the regions. In her final remarks, the CEC chairperson has stated that the workshop exceeded the expectations; Mrs. Caraman has stressed that during the strategic planning exercise Japanese model was used, but it’s important not to be afraid of using other business excellence models. Mrs. Caraman referred to the quote of organizational culture – that it’s the air we breathe and the water we swim every day, so it’s better not to be polluted. The CEC chairperson has praised the workshop for making it possible to get to know better the colleagues at the various level of the administration. She has highlighted that the CEC of Moldova already has good fundament, and they will strive to develop and become a better/excellent institution.

Participants certification was facilitated by the CEC chairperson, CoE and the facilitators.

At the end of the preparation and conduct of the modular workshop, TtF-complete facilitator Rodica Sirbu has completed the accreditation process and has been granted a certificate of Workshop Level BRIDGE facilitator.