Activity 2.1

Adaptation, delivery and evaluation of 14 BRIDGE TTF workshops:

 

The BRIDGE TTF training curricula will be adapted to the regional and country context in which each of the TTFs will take place. To promote the ESN-SA network and raise awareness of the different challenges experienced among the network’s member organisations and partners, case studies and examples will be collected from throughout the region to be used in the TTFs. Adaptation will be followed by the implementation of the 10-days intensive BRIDGE TTF programme in all 14 target countries. The workshop provides participants with practical skills and knowledge about BRIDGE module workshops. Developed on the train-the-trainer concept and aiming at accrediting a core group of local trainers as BRIDGE facilitators for in-country workshops, the TTF targets personnel with training capacity within the selected CSOs. Each BRIDGE TTF will cater for a maximum number of 25 participants. Altogether 84 of the semi-accredited facilitators will become fully accredited in the delivery of activities under Activities 2.2) Each TTF workshop will be assessed in multiple rounds. First, the participants will provide feedback on the general usefulness of the workshop, issues discussed, etc. The information will feed into the organisation of the other TTF that will be organised in the context of the Project as well as to the larger BRIDGE community. At the same time, the team of facilitators will assess the involvement, performance and commitment of the participants with the overall objective of singling out persons that will have the opportunity to become accredited BRIDGE facilitators (see Activity 2.2)

 

Since it's start, the Action completed six BRIDGE TTF workshops during the reporting period, namely in Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia and Malawi.

 

BRIDGE TtF Madagascar | 16-26 Jul 2013

BRIDGE TtF Tanzania | 23 Sept - 4 Oct 2013

BRIDGE TtF Madagascar | October 2013

BRIDGE TtF Mozambique | 14-25 Oct 2013

BRIDGE TtF Zambia | 11-22 Nov 2013

BRIDGE TtF Namibia | 25 Nov - 6 Dec 2013

BRIDGE TtF Malawi | 20 Jan - 31 Jan 2014

Activity 2.2

 

Preparation, delivery and evaluation of 28 BRIDGE workshop modules:

 

The implementation of BRIDGE workshop modules – which at the same time works as a vehicle for accrediting BRIDGE facilitators having participated in the TTF training – comprises four stages. Frist, based on the TTF participants’ evaluation, the Project will select six persons per country that will work with the Project’s Accrediting BRIDGE facilitator, making up two BRIDGE teams per target country. The persons will be selected on the basis of their knowledge, performance, commitment and potential as facilitators as demonstrated in the TTF. Second, the selected persons will be involved in all stages of the BRIDGE workshop development and delivery and eventually become accredited BRIDGE facilitators with the opportunity to use, adapt and roll out further BRIDGE initiatives beyond this Project itself. The facilitator teams will adapt the workshop materials to the country context. The adaptation process will take into account the specific target group in question, i.e. CSO members, as well as the political and cultural history of the country. Cross-cutting issues will be mainstreamed throughout workshop materials. Case studies from within the country as well as the SADC region will be incorporated into the workshop materials. When required, workshop materials will be translated into French and Portuguese. Third, the workshops will be implemented, each lasting four days. Participants will be selected among the ESN-SA member networks, their main partners in the country as well as other CSOs and CBOs working in the field. Each workshop will cater for a maximum of 25 participants to create room for interactive pedagogical methods and exchange of experiences within the group. For each workshop, the three semi-accredited facilitators part of the facilitator team will fulfil the accreditation requirement of 30 hours of training and become fully accredited BRIDGE facilitators. Fourth and finally, participants’ evaluations will be carried out whereby participants assess the content, group dynamics, facilitators’ performances etc. The evaluations will feed into subsequent BRIDGE workshops organised in the context of the Project. The workshop reports will furthermore reflect on participants’ statistics.

 

Following the two-week BRIDGE TtF training session, a BRIDGE workshop with a more a content-specific aim is given where the NAM report and follow-up determines which of the 24 different modules the BRIDGE curriculum treats is more relevant to the country in question. During the BRIDGE workshop, also entitled modular training, a selected number of participants who successfully gained semi-accreditation will have the opportunity to facilitate alongside a more experienced trainer, thus climbing the ladder within the Actions lifetime, allowing for independent consultant missions but foremost, knowledge dissemination within the own organisation and beyond. Up until now, two modular workshops have taken place in Madagascar. Taking close consideration of the recent elections in Madagascar (25 October and 20 December) and the SADC member organisations needs, the modules consisted of a curriculum development session and electoral observation.

 

BRIDGE Curriculum Development Madagascar | 15-19 Nov 2013

BRIDGE Module Customised in Election Observation Madagascar | 20-23 Nov 2013

BRIDGE Module Botswana | Oct. 2014

BRIDGE Module on Legal framework 27 Oct-29 Oct 2015

BRIDGE Module, Introduction to electoral administration 11 Nov - 13 Nov 2015

BRIDGE Module on Conflict Management and electoral security | 16 Nov - 19 Nov 2015

 

Activity 2.3

 

Leadership and Conflict Management Skills adapted to CSOs:

 

The LEAD workshop for CSOs will be implemented in five stages. First, the Project will produce a set of three (3) short documentaries from three (3) different countries, representing the English, French and Portuguese speaking countries in the region that will be used as the key training material to raise discussions around the topic at the intersection between leadership and conflict management. The documentaries will follow different activities and/or stakeholders operating in the electoral cycle, such as voter registration processes, campaigning, election day and post-election dispute resolution and, in particular, put on display how good (or bad) leadership and managerial actions contribute to solve (or worsen) relations among stakeholders and impact on the electoral process. Notably, The documentaries will be made available to the ESN-SA network after the end of the Action who may use the materials for organisational capacity development but also for larger awareness raising campaigns, public debates etc. Second, the CD team will adapt the LEAD curriculum to the specific needs of the CSO sector in the country (as identified in the NAM) as well as to the country context in question. Such training materials – presentations, case studies, group work exercises, icebreakers and background materials – will be adapted, translated and available in English, French and Portuguese and available for post-Project initiatives by the network and its member organisations. Third, the LEAD workshop will be implemented in two stages. In phase one, the TTF will be implemented over five days and train participants on key issues related to leadership styles and values, communication and outreach strategies, strategic planning and SWOT analysis, conflict perspectives and conflict analysis, strategies for prevention, mitigation and resolution of electoral violence etc. Moreover, they will be trained in facilitation strategies, interactive learning methods, enabling learning environments, group dynamics and training assessment. In phase two, the newly trained facilitators of phase 1 will put their learning and experiences into practice and train in a cascade fashion a great number of their colleagues and members of partner organisations. Divided into groups of three, eight facilitator teams will in turn train another 25 participants under the supervision of Expert LEAD Facilitators. Thus, for each country, an additional number of (8 workshops x 25 participants) 200 CSO and CBO members and staff will be trained on key issues related to leadership and conflict management issues. The LEAD phase II lasts for five days. Finally, the workshops will be evaluated both form the participants and facilitators side. ECES will take the lead when it comes to the implementation of Activity 2.3.

 

A LEAD ToT and cascade has successfully been delivered in DRC on three different locations: Kinshasa, Lubmbashi and Bukavu. In Mozambique, a LEAD ToT was given in a particular appropriate time, namely in October 2013 where the voter registration process commenced in June the same year had rocked the period of relative calm. Indicators of a potential relapse into a state of electoral and political violence was dealt with during the training, as several key electoral stakeholders from the civil society, the EMB's and STAE was brought together to develop joint strategies to stamp out malpractices within electoral administration and becoming better equipped to deal with threats to Mozambique's peaceful electoral future.

 

LEAD ToT Kinshasa | 26 -31 Aug 2013

LEAD ToT Lumbumbashi | 2-6 Sept 2013

LEAD ToT Bukavu | 9-13 Sept 2013

LEAD ToT Mozambique | 7-11 Oct 2013

LEAD Modules Kinshasa | 8-11 May 2014

LEAD Module Bukavu | 8-11 May 2014

LEAD Module Lubumbashi | 8-11 May 2014

LEAD Mozambique | September 2014

LEAD Module Zambia | 22 - 26 Sept 2014

LEAD Module Botswana | 12-17 Oct 2014

LEAD Module Zanzibar | 10-15 Nov 2014

LEAD Module Zanzibar | 2-15 Jun 2014

LEAD Madagascar | April 2015

LEAD Module Zambia | 5-9 Oct 2015

LEAD ToT Zimbabwe, with Swaziland and Mauritius included | November 2015

LEAD Zimbabwe | 23 Nov - 1 Dec 2015

LEAD Curriculum Botswana | December 2015

LEAD Module South Africa | June 2016

LEAD ToT South Africa | June 2016

LEAD ToT Lesotho | September 2016

LEAD Mozambique | December 2016

LEAD ToT Zimbabwe | March 2017

 

Activity 2.4

 

Design, development and implementation of an eLearning Course on CSO Engagement in Electoral Processes and Conflict Management:

 

A modular eLearning course will be established based on the materials and experiences from the face-to-face trainings and the research carried out in the context of the Project. The course will tentatively comprise three (3) training modules: i) introduction to ERV and key concepts (targets, victims, motives, timing etc).; ii) ERV in the SADC region (to be based on the research and data collected under Results 6 and 7); iii) and leadership and conflict management (building on the documentaries produced and LEAD face-to-face training experiences). The eLearning course will be implemented on the ESN-SA website (see Activity 6.5). The course will ensure that the knowledge produced in the context of the Project will benefit those CSO members that have been unable to attend the face-to-face trainings.