“Elections Management & Operations” BRIDGE Workshop
2 January 2018
The United Nations Development Programme – Lebanese Elections Assistance Project organized a BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections) workshop on “Elections Management & Operations” from 6 to 8 December 2017 in Beirut. Elections officers from the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM) and members from the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) participated in the workshop and were awarded certificates of participation during a small closing ceremony. The three day workshop aimed to increase the knowledge and awareness of the participants on elections management and operations following the adoption of a new electoral law.
The closing ceremony was attended by the Directorate General of Political Affairs at the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, Ms. Faten Younes, the UNDP Country Director, Ms. Celine Moyroud along with LEAP’s Chief Technical Advisor, Mr. Dan Radulescu, and the international BRIDGE accrediting facilitator, Mr. Emad Youssef.
Mr. Radulescu welcomed the participants and congratulated them for achieving the objectives made for this workshop as keeping up the momentum and preparations for the upcoming elections.
From her end, Ms. Moyroud appreciated the dedication and commitment of the participants, highlighting the importance of the coordination between the MoIM, the civil society and the United Nations. And she reiterated UNDP’s willingness to provide technical support to the MoIM in order to conduct credible, transparent and inclusive elections in Lebanon.
As for Ms. Younes, she also thanked the participants for their engagement and contribution in the workshop, and she extended her gratitude to UNDP and LEAP team for their continuous support. In addition, she mentioned that the upcoming period will be very essential and critical for the Ministry, and that the workshop came at the right time to clarify some issues related to voting procedures, ballot papers, results management, amongst others.
Mr. Yousef praised the participants for their interaction, enthusiasm and expertise which enriched the sessions and discussions, stressing on the importance of the upcoming period where the Ministry will be preparing for elections following the adoption of a new electoral law.
Mr. Yousef, along with LEAP team officers: Nora Mourad (semi-accredited BRIDGE facilitator), Guilnard Asmar (semi-accredited BRIDGE facilitator), and Nazih Darwish, facilitated the sessions which tackled many subjects relevant to the upcoming parliamentary elections. Including the concept of free and fair elections, election 2018 legal framework, elections management, electoral calendar 2018, candidates and list registration, ballot paper design, voting procedures, results management, seat allocation, voting process simulation, elections stakeholders and planning for the electoral event.
It is worth mentioning that LEAP has been working on enhancing and sustaining the capacity of the Electoral Management and Administration body in Lebanon (MoIM) since its establishment in 2012. This support includes providing support to the MoIM to better prepare and conduct the upcoming parliamentary elections in a professional, transparent and inclusive manner.
LEAP is fully funded by the European Union.