Activity 1.1

CSO Capacity Assessment Exercise to be conducted in all ESN-SA countries:

The Project will deploy a series of missions whereby ECES experts will analyse the current status of CSO capacities in the areas of promoting electoral processes with a particular emphasis on combating elections-related violence and conflict in the SADC region. A capacity assessment methodology will be established that will include a baseline survey against which project results will be measured. The missions will map and analyse past experiences and ongoing initiatives, existing capacities, capacity gaps and learning context of CSOs working in the cross-roads between electoral/democratisation processes and conflict prevention/management. The missions will work in close collaboration with the in-country ESN-SA member organisation(s) but also meet with other CSOs, NGOs and community-based organisations and electoral stakeholders (i.e. members of EMBs, representatives from media institutions etc.). By doing so, the NAM will provide a comprehensive picture of the needs and ensure that beneficiaries are directly involved in the development of the detailed plan of action for the Project.

Hitherto, a NAM mission and NAM report have been produced for each of the target countries with only Angola pending. The SADC member organisations current state and subsequent need constitutes the basis of the following Actions foreseen in the capacity-building scheme. Drawing from the NAM report of each country, training programmes will be tailored to respond the country-specific status and make sure the Activities runs concurrently with the electoral cycle.

Activity 1.2

Development of capacity assessment reports and dedicated training and research priorities:

The mission reports will provide a complete up-to-date analysis of the status of ESN-SA with regards to capacity to manage election-related violence and skills audit. Lay out an overview over the CSO capacity building needs in each of the 14 countries. The reports will tentatively entail the following items: i) introduction, ii) executive summary, iii) assessment methodology, iv) analysis, and v) key findings and recommendations. Of direct relevance to the Project, the mission reports will identify the topic of the two BRIDGE workshops as well as establish training timelines and target CSOs for BRIDGE and LEAD workshops. Moreover, it will inform the research agenda, data collection and case study development. The report will be “living documents” and continuously updated and revised. Notably, as the project will produce locally accredited BRIDGE and LEAD facilitators, training plans may be expanded and identify areas where local initiatives to address local needs could be foreseen beyond the Project itself.