CEC Georgia BRIDGE Showcase

UNDP has already targeted mid-level EMB and conducted 5-day course for the members of the District Election Commissioners during 2009. Therefore, BRIDGE showcase was conducted for the members of the Central Election Commission of Georgia and heads of departments of the Secretariat through 4-6 December, in Sheraton Batumi Hotel, Batumi, Georgia.

The BRIDGE project in Georgia is implemented by UNDP project Promoting Dialogue and Capacity for Effective National Electoral Processes funded by the European Union. Three major components of the project support are: Facilitation of a Revised Electoral Code, Effective Electoral Administration and Other Stakeholders, Voter Education and Public Awareness.

The agenda for the showcase was designed so to make the CEC feel the methodology of BRIDGE as well as understand the depth of the content. Agenda included: Electoral Cycle, EMBs’ case studies, Electoral Systems and country profiles, Boundary Delimitation and its case studies, Ethics in Election Administration and Codes of Conduct of stakeholders. Participants and especially the Chairman of the CEC, noted the importance of BRIDGE in Georgia and it’s benefit for the future usage for different target groups. Participants were extremely impressed with the organizational part of the BRIDGE workshop. As the participants were representing the different departments (e.g. HR, PR, IT, Finance, Legal, Operations, etc.), it is recommended for future workshops to create the specific target group to be able to tailor the modules of interest noted during the final evaluation.

Showcase’s aim has been met; participants who has never attended the BRIDGE workshop before, are eager to get more workshops and knowledge; they are also confident that continuous BRIDGE workshops shall be even more productive and shall trigger secretariat staff to do more self-learning. CEC Chairman is especially interested in delivering the BRIDGE methodology/content to the University students.

At the end, participants were granted the certificates for the completion of the 3-day showcase Introductory module for the Central Election Commission of Georgia.