MEC Holds Train The Facilitator course For Staff

With support from the Development Partners through the basket fund, the Malawi Electoral Commission has organized a 12-day Train-The- Facilitator (TtF) course, a module under the Building Resource in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE),for its staff in Mangochi.

Opening the workshop, Commissioner Major Steven Duwa, who is chairperson of the Media, Civic and Voter Education Committee, said the Commission was committed to develop capacity of its staff in various dimensions.

“It is in the same vein that we approached our Development Partners to support this training. The rationale is for the Commission to have a pool of BRIDGE facilitators so that we should be able to conduct several BRIDGE courses parallel to each other.

“In elections management, time is of essence and with a good number of qualified facilitators we will be able to accomplish much of our activities within a short time,” he said.

Commissioner Duwa urged the participants to pay full attention to the training so that at the end they should also qualify to be recommended for accreditation.

“In this course you will be assessed for you to be recommended for accreditation. Make sure that you stick to the BRIDGE guidelines that will be given by your facilitators. It is not automatic that you will be accredited by the mere fact that you have attended this course. You have to demonstrate that you have captured and mastered what has been shared.

“The Commission wishes you all the best and it is our sincere hope that you will all satisfy the requirements for you to be accredited at the end of this training,” he explained.

The Commissioner also thanked the Development Partners that have funded the BRIDGE Course through the basket fund managed by the UNDP in the name of UNDP, EU, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) UK, Irish Aid and USAID.

“The Commission appreciates that the Development Partners have committed to supporting the Commission throughout the electoral cycle” he said.

In his remarks, MEC Chief Elections Officer, Sam Alfandika said hailed the BRIDGE curricula as the most comprehensive compilation in the world in regard to elections training.

The course will run for 12 days from 19 to 30^th October, 2020 and is being facilitated by MsRindaiChipfundeVava who is an accrediting facilitator from Zimbabwe.

Other three facilitators from the Malawi Electoral Commission in the name ofKettieMjojo, WellingtoneKatantha and Sangwani Mwafulirwa.