Voter and Civic Education workshop in Armenia

UNDP Armenia in cooperation with the Central Election Commission of Armenia, and with the financial support of UNDP, EU, Governments of Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK conducted a BRIDGE modular workshop on Voter and Civic Education V3.

The workshop aimed to examine approaches on civic education, electoral education and voter information. Participants were trained on how to build effective voter education programs and build long term strategies on civic education. The practical part included the development of the voter education complex program for Armenia local elections scheduled for autumn 2021. Therefore, the workshop was constructed on Eight Step approach of implementing the VCE program.

The workshop was conducted on August 05-08, 2021 in Antarut, Armenia and facilitated by international facilitators Iuliia Shypilova and Tetyana Bibik. Twelve participants from the CEC of Armenia, IFES and UNDP attended the workshop.

The sessions engaged the participants with high interaction and enabled them to discuss the various steps of development and implementation of the Voter and Civic Education Programs. Some of the sessions encouraged participants to be creative and engaged them to develop their own voter education programs for the upcoming elections. The members and staffers of the Armenian CEC emphasized the importance of voter education programs before elections and value of civic education during the whole electoral cycle.

The workshop has met its objectives. Final evaluation was arranged by targeting the stakeholders’ learning outcomes and future usage of the knowledge. Participants marked the value of mixed groups of participants where there is a place to develop broader civic education programs. Many participants noted the value of the international experience given within five days. Also, participants marked interactive approach of the workshop and lots of practical exercises.

At the end, all the participants have received certificates in recognition of completion of 5-day VCE workshop.