first ever BRIDGE Boundary Delimitation workshop conducted for Malawi
7 December 2015
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and the European Union Democratic Governance Programme (DGP) organised a five-day Boundary Delimitation BRIDGE workshop at Malawi Sun Hotel in Blantyre, Malawi from 5th to 9th October 2015. The workshop was funded by the European through the Democratic Governance Programme. This was the first ever BRIDGE Boundary Delimitation workshop conducted for Malawi. Thirty two participants comprising Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Commissioners, MEC Senior staff, Secretaries General and Directors of Elections for major political parties in Malawi attended the training workshop. This workshop was meant to equip participants with knowledge, skills and understanding of the roles in Boundary Delimitation and also what should be followed to delimit boundaries of constituencies and wards in Malawi.
The overall objective of the training package was for participants to appreciate and understand the boundary delimitation processes in a country and how the process can affect the outcome of elections.
The workshop could not have been successful without the financial, logistical and administrative support from the EU and MEC. The MEC secretariat needs special mention for professionally taking care of all logistical issues before and also during the course. No major issues were raised by participants during the training period.
At the end of the training, 32 participants were issued with certificates which also marked the closing ceremony and a group photo of participants showcasing their certificates.
In Conclusion, the BRIDGE Boundary Delimitation Module training was rated highly by all participants. The evidence is in the participants’ evaluation comments as well as ratings with regards to the course’s usefulness. The participants felt they needed more time to grasp the practical aspects of Boundary Delimitation.