IOM Trains Sudanese Electoral Commission Staff

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 21, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM has started training new facilitators among 22 selected commissioners and officials of the Sudan National Elections Commission (NEC) on Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) at the Judiciary Training Centre in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

The European-Union (EU)-funded two-week training, which will end on Thursday (23/5), is designed to support Sudan in consolidating its democratization process. Participants will train NEC colleagues, as more staff are recruited in the run up to the 2015 elections.

The training is part of a ten-module BRIDGE strategy implemented by IOM, in partnership with the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES), a Brussels-based non-profit NGO.

The BRIDGE trainings are part of a broader EU-funded project: "Support for Deepening and Consolidation of Sudan's Democratization Process."

In parallel with the trainings, the project also aims to achieve an inclusive and comprehensive voter registration process in 2014; the conduct of free and fair general elections in 2015; and the strengthening of the NEC in the 2010 post-electoral stage by supporting the creation of a professional electoral management body.

The project won EU backing following Sudan's 2010 election, which, despite representing a step towards Sudan's transition to full democracy, was characterized by political tensions, logistical problems and inaccurate voter registration.

The project will contribute to the creation of a professional body of civil servants with specific expertise in democratization and the electoral process, as well as good governance, thereby ensuring national ownership.