Implementation Workshop: UNEAD

The participants came mainly from: UN (United Nations) Electoral Assistance Division, Division of Political Affairs, and Peacekeeping Best Practices Section, Department of Peacekeeping Operations. There was one representative from the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF). The new BRIDGE partners UNDP and IFES were also well represented at this workshop.

The participants had no prior exposure to BRIDGE, so some activities were tailored to showcase BRIDGE methodology. The participants were project managers from their respective organisations and whilst they may not be directly involved in the implementation of BRIDGE programs, it was felt that they would benefit from some exposure to the implementation issues of BRIDGE.

Description of Implementation Workshop

The purpose of this workshop is to provide guidance to individuals and organisations responsible for designing and setting up training courses that use material taken from the BRIDGE Project curriculum. It aims to familiarise participants with what BRIDGE is (its scope and flexibility), & how to best implement it. Experience with the conduct of courses in a diverse range of countries has confirmed that to achieve the best possible outcomes, it is necessary to ensure that all parties are committed to the success of the project. This requires extensive consultation, detailed planning, meticulous preparation, systematic implementation with an eye to sustainability, and careful evaluation. The workshop is based around the BRIDGE Implementation Manual and, like the Train the Facilitator (TtF) course, is conducted by fully-accredited BRIDGE facilitators. Developed in 2005, the Implementation Workshop is recommended for potential BRIDGE project managers considering setting up a BRIDGE Project of a size that includes a TtF program component and multiple professional development modules.

Essentially, this 2 day course covered the following topics: Day One: Overview of BRIDGE (what it is, aims, flexibility, modalities, stages of implementation, considerations for course design and implementation, etc). Day Two: Budgets, Evaluation and Implementation Proposals.

Course Evaluation

The facilitators felt that the workshop was successful in meeting its objectives. The facilitators approached most of the participants throughout the first day of the workshop to gauge how the participants viewed the activities. At the end of the first day verbal evaluation was sought from the participants revealing that the activities were generally well received by the majority of the participants. Evaluation Sheets were completed at the end of the second day which also confirmed that the workshop activities were helping the participants to meet the learning objectives of the course.

Typical comments about what the participants felt they learnt, included:

1. The workshop helped me to better understand the concept of TtF and the methodology to be used in implementing the BRIDGE course. I also realized how flexible BRIDGE is
2. What and when to use BRIDGE
3. Essential elements of BRIDGE, adaptation methods, budgeting, basic program design
4. I learnt about the BRIDGE program and general contents and modalities, its methodology and implementation

Several of the participants commented that they felt they would have benefited from a showcase of BRIDGE before attending this program, and such a course is highly recommended for these participants for the near future.

Implementation Workshop New York – Group Work

Implementation Proposals

Participants developed BRIDGE Implementation Plans for 5 different hypothetical scenarios: Nepal, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Iraq & Bolivia. Click the following link to download the Case Studies for BRIDGE Implementation workshop