Conakry La Belle Workshop!

BRIDGE Workshop in Conakry la belle (Guinea) for IFES staff and local partners, May 17 – 20, 2012

IFES has had close to 12 years of continuous presence in Guinea through funding from diverse donors such as USAID, UNDP and Swiss Peace.

Although IFES played a significant role in building the capacity of local Civil Society Organizations nationwide, IFES has also been working hand in hand with the National Electoral Commission of Guinea (CENI) and continues to accompany the institution as it consolidates its prerogatives in the Guinean democratization process.
With a very strong network of staff and partners, IFES/Guinea took the initiative of holding a 4-day BRIDGE workshop for 25 IFES local staff, CENI Technical Assistants, CSO and political parties’ partners.

This workshop was the second BRIDGE training ever held in Guinea, following the training of trainers organized in Kindia back in February 2011.

The training was very intense and saw the very active and enthusiastic involvement of the 25 participants.

The topics were carefully chosen to fit the daily duties of the participants. Activities related to electoral administration, civic education, media, gender and elections, electoral observation and electoral assistance were given throughout the workshop.

Facilitators were:

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

• Mr. Mountaga Sylla (Guinea, Semi-Accredited Facilitator – IFES/Guinea Finance and Administration Facilitator)

• Mr. Amadou Macka Diallo (Guinea, Workshop Facilitator – IFES/Guinea Electoral Commission Specialist)

• Mr. Richard Kourouma (Guinea, Semi-Accredited Facilitator –IFES/Guinea CENI Technical Assistant)

Due to their unconditional involvement during training preparations and great facilitation performance, both Richard and Mountaga obtained their full accreditation as BRIDGE workshop facilitators at the end of the fourth day of training.

Congratulations to both of them!