Ilona Tip

Strengthening Civic and Voter Education

Kasane, Botswana, 28 - 29 July 2005

groupwork

In July 2005, the SADC Electoral Commissions Forum (SADC ECF) hosted a workshop focusing on civic and voter education. Ilona Tip of EISA facilitated, and she and Grant Masterson (EISA Research) presented at the workshop.

Topics covered by the workshop included

  • The importance of electoral participation in SADC's democratic consolidation
  • The challenge of voter apathy to democracy in SADC (and the wider world)
  • Voter education as a critical tool in promoting greater voter awareness of the importance of voter participation in elections
Grant Masterson

A number of reccomendations emerged from the workshop, including the following

  • The introduction of a staff exchange program between EMB's
  • The commissioning of a workshop to develop generic democratic education materials that can be adopted in national democratic education programs.
  • Compilation of information by the ECF Secretariat
    The ECF Secretariat should commence in sourcing and indexing relevant information on: sharing best practice in education ranging from the appointment of the Commission, management of political parties etc; job descriptions; strategic plans; sourcing materials developing a national database of expertise both human and material
    • voter education materials
  • Facilitate training of EMB staff to develop training materials
    It was noted that EISA offers such a programme and also has an extensive library on relevant voter, civic education, human rights and democracy education material.

The annexures and accompanying documents are available from the EISA library in Johannesburg.

Pictures courtesy FES