The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) offered two workshops to Angolan election administrators last month within the framework of an ongoing technical assistance program to the electoral commission, Comissão Nacional Eleitoral (CNE) of Angola. They took place in the province of Malanje, near the lush cliffs in the home of Africa's largest and most scenic Kalandula waterfalls. The workshops drew upon the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections curriculum (BRIDGE), a comprehensive professional development course designed by and for election administrators. This training was part of a USAID-funded training program led by IFES.

In a constructive sharing of regional experiences, the Angolan trainings were conducted by fellow African Lusophone electoral administrators from Mozambique. The two seminars were facilitated by Cesar Perreira da Silva and Gilberto Castro, two senior officials from the election commission in Mozambique, the Secretariado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral (STAE), which recently organized the general elections on October 28, 2009. This permitted the two BRIDGE facilitators to share their experiences and main challenges with their counterparts of CNE Angola.

The first workshop on Electoral Management engaged the 18 presidents of the Provincial Electoral Commissions (CPEs), with some key staff from CNE headquarters. During the second training, IFES worked with 18 provincial Chiefs of Operations during a training workshop focused on Operations Management. The first workshop was held in Kalandula from November 13-14 and the second took place in the city of Malanje on November 16-17, 2009.

Training topics were carefully designed to suit the immediate needs of the two target groups and the local context in Angola. The seminars' agenda combined broad topics from the BRIDGE Introduction Module with hands-on practical exercises focused on Electoral Administration and Operations Management challenges. In preparation for the seminar, IFES translated many materials from the pre-election module into Portuguese, which will soon be available at www.bridge-project.org.

Highly engaged and enthusiastic through the two workshops, the participants appreciated the BRIDGE methodology and the participatory training approach. In evaluations, participants almost universally recommended that the BRIDGE program should be continued, with even more practical exercises and case studies based on the challenges they face on a daily basis.

The two BRIDGE workshops definitely fostered relationships between STAE Mozambique and CNE Angola by sharing experiences and deepening the confidence building between IFES and the two institutions for the development of other BRIDGE workshops in the Portuguese speaking world.