Gender and Elections workshop in Madagascar

24 electoral administrators, civil society activists, and UNDP staff gathered in Antananarivo for a 3-day Bridge Training on Gender and Elections, sponsored by UNDP, from the 12th till the 14th of March 2014. The workshop focused on providing the participants with the tools and skills needed to empower gender in electoral process and enhance the participation of women as voters, candidates and members of the EMBs.

During the workshop, participants were taken through the customized gender and elections curriculum, featuring emerging issues and opportunities to probe further into priority areas common to the participating countries. The training was facilitated by Samia Mahgoub (Belgium, Expert Facilitator), Pierre Claver Nya ( Burundi , Workshop Facilitator) and Luis (Spain , semi accredited).

The participants’ evaluations, collected after each day session, applauded the BRIDGE methodology, and the comparative nature of the curriculum. There was significant interest to learn more about many of the topics covered, particularly international standards, gender and elections, accessibility, public outreach, electoral systems, and political parties.