Training Maputo

A training entitled "Leadership and Conflict Management Skills for Electoral Stakeholder", LEAD, is currently taking place in Maputo, Mozambique from 7 to 11 October 2013. The LEAD training is a part of a large-scale training scheme in the framework of the project in support of the prevention of electoral violence in the Southern African Development Community and the 14 countries it comprises, abbreviated PEV-SADC,www.pev-sadc.eu. The LEAD training in Mozambique is thus a part of the overarching PEV-SADC project and organised in close cooperation with the Observatorio Eleitoral, the member organisation in Mozambique of the SADC Election Support Network.

The ambition behind the LEAD training, developed in collaboration between ECES expertswww.eces.eu and the Center for Creative Leadership CCL www.ccl.org - among the top 10 organizations world wide for leadership training for senior managers according to the Financial Times - is to embark on a learning experience, to identify and develop the skills, behavior and attitudes for electoral stakeholders to deal with unpredictable and potentially violent situations. By merging leadership development exercises with conflict prevention and management curricula and the electoral cycle approach, the specific goal of the LEAD is thus to enhance capacities at the crossroads between electoral administration, conflict management and leadership.

The LEAD course targets the senior and middle management personnel of electoral management bodies (EMBs). The course also targets representatives of parliaments; the media, NGOs, Justice related to electoral dispute resolution (supreme court) and security forces to strengthen their leadership skills via self-awareness, influence, communication and learning agility and by focusing on "Leading trough collaboration" and "Leading within the system". The diverse participant group serves the purpose to increase understanding and promote networking across different fields.

Furthermore, the participants will be exposed to a dynamic and interactive learning environment where the participatory exercises will constitute a natural forum for exchange and dialogue. It is crucial for a sustainable political and electoral environment to prevail, that the people with stakes involved have a fundamental knowledge and respect for the other, sometimes opposing, party. The LEAD environment is built to provide a creative, explorative and conducive environment for a wide range of electoral stakeholders to interact and share experiences within the field of electoral administration.

Following the LEAD training, ECES will give the award-winning BRIDGE training curriculumwww.bridge-project.org. The BRIDGE is an interactive training programme that uses an adult learning methodology to enhance the capacity of electoral stakeholders. The curriculum comprises 23 topics from electoral administration, strategic and financial planning, electoral architecture, electoral operations to working with electoral stakeholders modules. It was developed by the Australian Electoral Commission, UNDP, the United Nations, IDEA and IFES Nations. The BRIDGE training, which will be delivered between 14 – 25 October in Maputo, Mozambique is considered the most advanced training programme in the field of elections since it was founded in 1999.