First Train the Facilitators Workshop in Ukraine
8 March 2016
IFES Ukraine in cooperation with the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine and with the financial support of USAID and Global Affairs Canada, held the first-ever Train the Facilitators (TtF) BRIDGE Workshop in Ukraine.
The workshop was conducted by Natia Kashakashvili (expert BRIDGE facilitator – Georgia), Shalva Tskhakaya ((expert BRIDGE facilitator – Georgia) and Pavel Cabacenco (accrediting BRIDGE Facilitator – Moldova) during 8-19 February 2016 in Odessa, Ukraine. In total twenty-two participants representing the CEC of Ukraine, civil society organizations and IFES (13 female, 9 male) attended the workshop.
The aim of the TfF was to create a pool of BRIDGE facilitators in Ukraine who will strengthen the training capacities of the Ukrainian CEC and will be able to facilitate BRIDGE workshops for all election stakeholders in Ukraine in the future. The TtF gave a start to implementation of a large-scale BRIDGE program in Ukraine that will be concentrated in a new center for training within the CEC being established with IFES’ support.
Throughout the workshop, participants were guided to discover BRIDGE methodology, facilitation techniques and tips. To obtain semi-accreditation, participants were required to successfully accomplish the following mandatory activities under the supervision of the accrediting facilitators:
- Facilitate an activity in a pair and an activity drafted by other pair;
- Draft and design an activity in pairs, based on predetermined learning outcomes and resources;
- Conduct an energizer;
- Attend and actively participate throughout the workshop.
The TtF workshop was conducted in a very positive and friendly atmosphere. Final feedback from participants was highly positive: “BRIDGE TtF was one of the most useful and interesting workshops I ever attended,” said one of the participants. Overall, participants found the workshop well-structured, informative, comprehensive and practical.
All participants were granted a semi-accredited level as a facilitator. Ukrainian CEC deputy chairman Andrei Magera, who led the closing certification ceremony, expressed his high appreciation for IFES efforts in bringing BRIDGE to Ukraine and hoped that in the nearest future more BRIDGE workshops will be organized led by Ukrainian facilitation teams.