WAWEO Training Narrative Report- Monrovia (Oct, 2011)

1 | E l e c t i o n s O b s e r v a t i o n T r a i n i n g R e p o r t

ELECTIONS OBSERVATION TRAINING ORGANISED FOR

WEST AFRICAN WOMEN'S ELECTIONS OBSERVATION

TEAM (WAWEO)

8-9 OCTOBER 2011

Palm Spring Hotel, Monrovia-Liberia

ELECTIONS OBSERVATION TRAINING REPORT

Introduction

Women in Africa are increasingly making their presence felt in the political arena. Despite this

progress, the number of women actively and visibly engaged in politics remains low in most

African countries mainly due to prevailing societal belief that politics is a male domain. 2011

and 2012 present new opportunities for women in West Africa with eight countries scheduled to

hold parliamentary and presidential elections. In view of this, the delegates at the 2nd Annual

West African Women Policy Forum conveyed by WIPSEN-Africa and WACSI under the theme:

“Our Politics is NOW: Moving Beyond the Rhetoric of Women’s Political Participation”

called for the formation of a West African Women Elections Observation Team (WAWEO)

consisting of two representatives from each of the fifteen ECOWAS member States. They

represent women within the civil Society, Electoral Commissions and non-governmental

organizations and government. WAWEO is a women-oriented, women-focused and women-

driven Elections Observation Mission established to monitor, serve, protect and promote the

broader interest of women from all sectors during the forthcoming elections in West Africa

including parliamentary, presidential and (general) elections. It is envisioned that the WAWEO

team of women observers be deployed to complement the work of the ECOWAS Elections


Observer Mission in every general election across the sub-region. Women observers with gender

expertise are better placed than male observers to understand how electoral procedures affect

women’s participation in elections and the need to protect women’s interests, promote women’s

participation in politics. Hence, there is a great need to train women elections observation team,

representatives from across West Africa on election observation techniques.

Section 1 of this report presents the opening ceremony; Section 2 summarizes the training and

discussions held and finally Section 3 provides main recommendations arising from the training.

SECTION 1: OPENING CEREMONY

The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) in partnership with the Women, Peace and

Security Network (WIPSEN-Africa) and IBIS-Liberia organized a two-day Elections

Observation training from 8-9 October 2011, in Palm Spring Hotel, Monrovia-Liberia. The

training aimed at equipping the WAWEO team with requisite elections observation skills,

techniques and procedures in preparation for electoral processes in the sub-region in order to

play effectively their role of elections observers. It also aimed at strengthening the knowledge of

women of electoral processes and advocating for more gender sensitive election plans in West

Africa by documenting and disseminating lessons from the observation of elections in all the

targeted countries. The training, initially scheduled for 30 participants, was held for only 7

participants due to resource constraints. Participants were from Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia,

Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Ms. Eunice Roberts, Facilitator of the training and Ms

Rosalind Alp-Hanson, Country Director of IBIS- Liberia. IBIS is a non-profit, Danish non-

governmental organization that works at global, national and local levels to support equal access

to education, influence and resources for both men and women through advocacy in Africa and

Latin America. Ms Eunice Roberts welcomed participants to this august training defying all odds

and outlined the rationale behind the establishment of the West African Women Elections

Observation Team (WAWEO) and the objectives of the Elections Observation training. Ms Pearl

Atsou-Dzini, Executive Assistant of WACSI, representing the Institute also welcomed

participants and expressed the Executive Director’s best wishes for the training. Ms Rosalind

Alp-Hanson in turn expressed her appreciation and excitement for this initiative, which she


believes has a great future. She stated that this marks the first time IBIS is partnering with a

women organization. She reassured the team of her support and that of IBIS to this laudable

project as it is important and necessary that women are involved in elections observation. It is an

important step for all women globally for taking the stand to observe. She thanked the organizers

for the opportunity given IBIS to be part of this initiative. She reiterated IBIS’s commitment to

support elections observation of WAWEO in any way they can and wherever IBIS has a country

representative in West Africa. Ms. Rosalind Alp-Hanson wished the team a fruitful training and

seized the opportunity to introduce the Communication Officer, Ms Rikke Bruntse-Dahl and

Program Development Advisor of IBIS-Liberia, Ms. Kadja Christensen.

The Country Representative of UN WOMEN, Ms. Derex-Briggs attended the opening ceremony

and showed solidarity and support to WAWEO team. She encouraged members of the WAWEO

team and wished them a successful training.

WIPSEN-Africa, WACSI’s partner in this initiative and in charge of deployment was

represented by Ms. Blanche Selmah.

BRIEFING FOR ELECTIONS OBSERVERS

As the National Elections Commission of Liberia (NEC) was holding a briefing session for all

international observers, the WAWEO team was conveyed to the NEC secretariat. The briefing

aimed at providing international observers with detailed information about the overall

preparations towards the 2011 general elections in Liberia. After welcoming all observers, the

executive Director of NEC, Hon. John Langley, gave an overview of the 2011 elections which

started with the registration of voters, a referendum to agree on certain decisions regarding the

number of years of stay in Liberia before qualifying as presidential candidature. The Field

Coordinator, Mr. Lamin Lighe then gave updates from the field. He informed observers on the

arrival of elections materials, the logistics and security put in place to ensure transparency and

fairness of the elections. He also informed observers on the number of magistrates, districts and

polling stations and how many NEC staff will be deployed in every polling station. Observers

were asked to introduce themselves upon arrival to the presiding officer of each polling station.

The next person to intervene was the IT specialist of NEC who highlighted the new technology

which will be used to tally and count votes. He assured of the safety of the link and made some

demonstration to observers. Participants were given the chance to ask questions which were


mostly answered to their satisfaction, except one question relating to how people with disability

are catered for during electoral processes, especially the visually impaired. As regards this

particular question, NEC explained that during the 2005 elections, arrangements were made for

tactile ballots but since it was not used, no provision has been made for the 2011 general

elections. Voters with visual impairment are advised to get assistance from their relatives; this

hinders the secrecy of one’s vote.

WAWEO members at the briefing session at NEC Other International observers at NEC

SECTION 2: REPORT ON TRAINING AND DISCUSSIONS

The two-day training focused on six (6) major topics, namely:

- Meaning and types of election observation

- The purpose and importance of elections observation

- What to observe during elections observation

- Code of conduct for election observation

- Election observation procedure

- Election Day observation and report writing

The methodology used by the facilitator throughout the training was interactive and participatory

based on Information, Communication Technology (ICT), PowerPoint presentations and some

explanations were written on flip charts to help participants follow on the discussions. Practical

exercises were carried out to deepen participants’ knowledge and understanding of elections

observation. They were also encouraged to give their views on questions and share what is done

in their respective countries.


2-1: Meaning and types of election observation

Participants were taken through a series of definitions of key words in elections observation.

What is election? Why do we say that an election is a process?

Elections are a celebration of fundamental human rights and more specifically civil and political

rights. A genuine election is a political competition that takes place in an environment

characterized by confidence, transparency and accountability that provides voters with an

informed choice between distinct political alternatives. Election observation therefore contributes

to the overall promotion and protection of these rights.

We say that Election is a process because there are so many elements that take place before the

Election Day itself. There is demarcation of electoral boundaries, registration of voters,

nomination of candidates, campaigning, conduct of the election, counting of votes, declaration of

results and resolution of conflicts that arise before, during and after the conduct of the election.

In different settings or countries, electoral processes are handled by special institutions or

organizations known as the Elections Management Body (EMB). However, EMBs have different

names in different countries. For example, in Sierra Leone, it is the National Electoral

Commission; in Liberia, they call them National Elections Commission; in Ghana, it is the

Electoral Commission of Ghana; in Gambia and in Benin, it is the Independent Electoral

Commission and in Nigeria, it is the Independent National Electoral Commission. EMBs may

have different names, different composition and their members may not all be appointed by the

Government but they perform the same task as to ensuring the good conduct of elections. The

most important point to note here is the need for observers to make informed judgments about

elections. Any pronouncements made about the election must be borne out by facts and not mere

assumptions. There is also the need to use Election language correctly in interpreting the facts

(free and fair, irregularity, fraud, rigging, etc.).

Knowing that Election is a process and Election observation enhances accountability and

transparency thereby boosting both domestic and international confidence in the process. What

are the types of elections observation?

There are two types of elections observation, the Long Term Observation and the Short Term

Observation. A long-term observation refers to Election observation that covers the entire


process or the major activities of an election whereas the short-term election observation covers

only aspects of the election, usually towards the tail end of the process. Most of the time, short

term observers arrive late and leave early. Long term observation helps to track the overall

election process, the adequacy and timeliness of electoral preparations. It helps to detect

fraudulent activities at early stages that could affect the eventual outcome of the election, abuse

of incumbency and monitors the behavior of electoral actors. It watches the nature of the

campaign and any election-related human rights violations and the media coverage of elections.

Due to the fact that long-term observation requires huge funding, more experienced observers

and most observers are working people who cannot be away from their jobs for a long time and

also the fact that long-term observation has not been adopted as a policy, most organization do

not patronize it. Only few organizations like the European Union and the OSCE have adopted

long-term election observation as a policy. Even in the case of those organizations that do not do

full scale long-term observation, the trend these days is to station a few long-term observers or

an advance team of observers in the host country, so that the short-term observers would be

better informed about the country’s electoral preparations and the general environment.

Some organizations, in order to cut down cost, use the services of domestic observers to provide

long-term election observation. Among those who observe elections, one can distinguish

between international observers and domestic observers. International observers are those who

come from outside the country holding the elections, and domestic observers are the ones who

come from the host country. For example in Ghana, there is a Coalition of Domestic Elections

Observers (CODEO). During the 2008 elections, they sent out 22 000 observers in the entire

country. During Election Day, party agents and journalists are sometimes considered as domestic

observers. Party agents are there to gather information about voting in a particular area and

inform their party about its credibility whereas journalists as the watchdog of society only

observe and report to the public on the credibility of the elections process. Though they may be

accredited by EMBs, their impartiality is not always assured.

The importance of domestic election observation lies in the fact that it is more cost effective

compared to long-term observation. It makes the civil society strong. Furthermore, domestic

observers have intimate knowledge of local conditions and national peculiarities. Challenges

facing domestic observers include the view that observation is primarily a lucrative business to

be done for money; lack of training on the part of domestic observers. EMBs must endeavor to


train observers. There must be a policy that ensures people are trained before accreditation,

especially personnel from the Elections Management Body. As most foreign observers

sometimes are better equipped for elections observation, the collaboration between national and

international observers is desirable in the sense that International observers could benefit from

the intimate knowledge of local conditions of domestic observers whereas Domestic observers

could benefit from the credibility of findings by international observers.

Election observation is an important part of the election process but Election monitoring is not

less important. What is the difference between Elections Observers and Election Monitors?

Observers are likened to physicians whereas Monitors are pathologists. Therefore, the monitor

can take decisions and responsibilities in the course of its observation whereas the observer can

only observe and cannot in any way intervene during the election process. Whenever the

observer sees anything requiring intervention, she has to draw the attention of the secretariat

which in turn conveys the message to the EMB of the host country. Though observers are not to

intervene, they are not helpless. Their report is used whenever difficulties arise. The monitor is

rather an integral part of the election administration process, s/he has the power to supervise and

intervene in the administration of an election, s/he can give binding instructions to an election

official in the course of his/her work and s/he requires technical competence in administration

unlike the observer. It is wrong to use the terms election observation and election monitoring

interchangeably. An election observer is not an election monitor: on the other hand, a monitor is

much more than an observer. Unlike an observer, the monitor must know not only how an

electoral activity is carried out, but also why it is done that way. Where necessary, this

understanding enables the monitor to prescribe an alternative way of carrying out a particular

activity, without compromising the underlying electoral principle. The observer watches, sees,

notes and reports what takes place in relation to an election and the scope of his/her work may

cover the entire electoral process or some aspect at the process. As election officials, observers

are required not to overstep their bounds and act like monitors.

2-2: Purpose and Importance of Elections Observation

What are then the purposes and importance of election observations?

Elections observation brings legitimacy to the electoral process, the elected government and wins

international acceptance (foreign assistance linked to democracy). Some countries or


organizations also sponsor groups to observe elections in order to reinforce democratic practices,

to deter election-related violence, fraud and rigging, to promote adherence to human rights and

boost the confidence of the opposition parties, which do not trust government and EMB.

The importance of election observation cannot be overlooked as every election observation has

the potential of making election managers and officials sit up to their obligations; allaying the

fears and suspicions of voters and thereby engendering a high voter turnout; deterring violence,

fraud and rigging; fostering transparency, fair play, and respect for human rights; enhancing the

credibility of elections and the acceptance of results; legitimizing the electoral process and the

elected government; enhancing the international respectability of country and government; and

also deterring the abuse of incumbency and disseminating good electoral practices through

competent reports.

Elections observation is therefore necessary to avoid fraud and rigging. What to watch out for

during elections observation?

As elections systems vary from one country to another, the first thing to watch out for is the

Domestic Context meaning the laws, rules, regulations, processes and procedure of the electoral

system of the country where one is to observe. For example, some countries hold elections every

4 years (Ghana), others 5 years (Gambia) and few ones 7 years (Senegal). Observers need to

watch out for elements that make the elections genuine as they are based on universal suffrage

but also note elections procedures that are peculiar to a given country. For example, in Cape

Verde, people vote with their Identity card whereas in other countries, Ghana or Nigeria, one can

only vote with voters’ cards.

Another important element to pay attention to in every country holding elections is the electoral

system. Given that international instruments on human rights state that, if elections are to express

the will of the people and give legitimacy to governments, they must be periodic, genuine, and

based on universal suffrage, equal suffrage, and secrecy of the vote. Participants were introduced

to universal principles, and encouraged to look out for the electoral laws of the country.

Observers have to participate in any briefing organized by the host EMB and seek clarification

on issues, while in country. Observers must take into due consideration both the electoral laws of

the respective country and universals principles of democratic elections. The universal principles

include Independence of the EMB; Freedom of expression, movement, assembly, choice;


Respect for electoral rights; Competitiveness; Transparency; Fairness; Impartiality;

Inclusiveness; Accessibility; Accountability; No corruption; No cheating.

Participants working on strategies to increase women’s participation in politics

Further to the scrutiny of electoral laws, participants reflected on how these laws promote

women in politics and how easy it is for women to contest in their respective countries.

In Liberia, women do not build constituencies; they don’t connect with other women in their

communities. This becomes a handicap. Though it is difficult to get funding for their campaign,

if women are able to build the confidence of other women, they will receive funding for their

activities as mostly male candidates are supported by women.

In Nigeria, political parties do not support female candidatures, no matter how competent they

may be. The family status of women in politics is always threatened and this discourages women

from engaging into politics.

In Gambia, women are given a place in politics. The vice-president is a woman. There are about

2 women elected and 3 appointed in the National Assembly of Gambia.

In Ghana, political parties do not support women. They rather use politics as a sex game. They

accuse women in politics of lesbian, divorced and rogue. The negative ideas about women in

politics shy women off though nothing in legislations prevent women.

From the various contributions, it came out that women are legally free to participate in political

activities. However, there are many socio-cultural barriers that prevent them from contesting in

elections. Participants as part of their group work proposed strategies that will boost participation

of women in politics as follows:

Mentoring (grooming young women interested in politics)

Help women build constituency (Meeting women in communities)

Motivational speeches (need to go with providing economic abilities)


Political parties must agree to cede some constituency (safe seats) to women

Prepare the mindset of women to rise above socio-cultural barriers

Build capacity on international principles to enable women know their rights

Train young women to be enterprising and innovative and learn to do things by

themselves (not be dependent on men)

Customs and traditions must be changed

Set up a west African women trust fund for all individual countries

Politics being a career, employ these young graduates in political setups to enable them

acquire political competences

Start with a pilot program and groom women gradually

Train girls towards politics

In brief, participants acknowledged that lots have been done to ensure women participation in

politics but they remain insignificant. Older women in politics were encouraged to groom young

and focused young women so they are exposed to the political arena and learn to be prepared for

the tasks ahead.

Participants engaged in warm-up exercise before tackling next topic

2-3: Code of Conduct for election observation

Apart from the laws of the country and the electoral systems in the host country where one is to

observe, observers have to familiar with codes of conduct for election observation. The most

used codes are the code of conduct of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe) and ODHR (Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights) and that of ECOWAS

(Economic Community of West African States).

For example, both codes recommend that Observers maintain strict impartiality while carrying

out their duties and at no time, publicly express or exhibit any bias or preference in relation to


national authorities, political parties, candidates or with reference to any issues in contention in

the election process. They both urge observers to undertake their duties in an unobtrusive manner

and not interfere in the electoral process. Observers may raise questions with election officials

and bring irregularities to their attention, but they must not give instruction or countermand their

decisions, etc. But a thorough study of both codes reveal that the ECOWAS code of conduct

looks more practical and down to earth, it brings out African realities and cautions are clearly

illustrated. OSCE code is more professional and integrates the general international rules and

expectation of elections. Both codes are not gender inclusive. Despite the similarities and

differences, both codes complement each other. It is clear that observers need to be careful not to

associate themselves with the colors or symbols of any political party in that country. For

example, in Liberia, the green color is the dominant color of the ruling Unity Party and therefore

an observer wearing such color on Election Day will be taken for a partisan of the ruling party.

Observers must not intervene in the actual administration of an election but rather conduct

themselves in a responsible manner by not showing any form of bias, but rather making

judgments based on facts. Observers must remember that they do not enjoy any special immunity

from offences under the laws of a given country. They must therefore abstain from making

personal statements about the election to the media as they might be premature; they may

contradict or prejudice the eventual official statement; or dent the credibility of the group and

increase tensions or lead to actual conflict. This explains why the need for observer groups to

always identify a group leader who will be the person authorized to speak on their behalf.

Facilitator writing down main concepts on flip chart

The choice of the team leader of spokesperson of the group is part of the procedures usually

applied in observing elections. Procedures may vary slightly from one organization to the other,

but there is much common ground among reputable observer organizations. The first step is the

pre-election assessment to make on the spot evaluation in the host country, of conditions within

which the election is likely to take place and find out whether conditions exist for organizing


democratic elections. The assessment team may also be charged with other tasks, including

finding from the political parties whether they are willing to receive the observers and to permit

them to do their work freely and gathering accommodation, transportation, security situation, and

health facilities. It is interesting to note that a pre-election assessment team is different from an

advance party of the observer group. Because it is only after the pre-election assessment reports

that good conditions exist for the organization of elections that observers are recruited either by

nomination of members by sponsoring organization or application is sent out through

advertisement or by individual invitation. After their selection, irrespective of their competence

or prior experience, there will be one form or other of briefing to help observers be familiar with

the electoral system to be observed or the conditions in the country where the elections will be

hosted. One of the features that make WAWEO unique is the conduct of in-depth training for

observers prior to deployment what most organizations don’t do. The WAWEO team was

determined to work hard and bring WAWEO to the level that countries will invite them to talk to

political parties just as countries invite UN missions for example. Participants acknowledged that

this was a challenge to live up for.

2-4: Election observation procedures

It is also interesting to note that a pre-election assessment team is different from an advance

party of the observer group. The advance team is usually sent to the country of observation ahead

of the main mission to make contacts with various authorities and stakeholders to brief the

observer mission, to make arrangements for accommodation and transportation in and outside

the capital and to gather relevant political and electoral information for the benefit of the

observer mission. However when the observers have arrived in the country of observation, they

have to undertake some of the important activities that usually take place including group

meeting, arrival statement, accreditation, consultation, deployment, and field observation. To

comply with these procedures, the WAWEO advance team issued upon their arrival in the

country an arrival statement to inform the public of their arrival and mission. They also received

accreditation from the National Elections Commission and held consultations with civil society

organizations (WANEP-LIBERIA, OSIWA-Liberia, and STD), media organizations (Truth FM,

LBC) and Women organizations (LIWOMAC, WIPNET) in order to be abreast with the pre-

elections situation in the country.


Advance team meeting Civil society (WANEP) Advance team meeting political parties Advance team meeting women media organization

2-5: Election Day observation and report writing

Apart from activities undertaken prior to Election Day, a key aspect of election observation

consists in gathering facts about the election on Election Day. These facts relate to whether or

not the election is carried out in accordance with the particular country’s own laws, rules,

regulations, processes and procedures and to which extent the stakeholders behave properly in

accordance with the norms associated with democratic elections. There is therefore the need for a

good election observation checklist which is mainly aimed at making possible uniform

observation by all members of the observers’ group, providing a firm basis for common

judgment and making the basis of report writing factual and not subjective.

The normal checklist used by most organizations is the A, B, and C Forms. Participants realized

gender aspects are not captured in these checklists. After working in group, they proposed gender

focused questions that will enable to account for the gender aspects of the election and the most

gender sensitive questions were adopted and incorporated in the checklist to reflect the mandate

of WAWEO observers’ team. The new checklist will be used for deployment and election

observation (Appendix #).

As part of documentations to be produced after Election Day observation, we have the

preliminary statement, which is a general appraisal of how the election went, without much detail

and the final and detailed elections observation report. The preliminary statement as the arrival

statement is released to the press before the departure of the observers. Characteristics of a good

election observation report include the following:

Separation of performance lapses and genuine mistakes from deliberate wrongdoing; Display of

a sense of proportion through careful assessment of the distribution and effect of any

occurrences; Careful examination of irregularities to determine their probable overall effect on

the electoral outcome; Allegations of wrongdoing is not treated as facts unless that could not be


confirmed; Not an inventory of only things that went wrong: credit also must be given for things

done well; Structured in a logical manner; Makes recommendations on institutional and

procedural matters for improving future elections.

The final report is a detailed account of all that happened based on responses provided in the

various checklists used by observers on Election Day.

The group works provided participants an opportunity to test their understanding of elections

observation and make contributions to various topics according to experiences from their

respective countries. Key recommendations arising from the elections observation training are

summarized as follows:

1. Follow-up on IBIS’ promise to support WAWEO to observe elections in countries

where IBIS has a country office

2. Produce the report of the election observations in Liberia with pictures of every

stage

3. Approach UN Women and other women organizations for more support to this

initiative

4. Lobby ECOWAS to support WAWEO

5. Always include training aspect in election observation, especially on domestic

context and experience sharing

6. WAWEO observers trained should be encouraged and supported to train others

(Domestic observers) on the ground in their respective countries

7. Lobby countries to invite WAWEO to talk to political parties and women ahead of

elections

8. Design WAWEO Polo shirts, Jackets, bags, caps, etc. with the logo of WAWEO and

other partners

9. Design an Identity Card (ID) with the picture, name and country of the WAWEO

member wearing it

10. Advise countries to proceed with demarcation before voters’ registration.

11. Encourage women in politics to groom young ladies who want to take up political

positions

12. Put in place institutions to groom ladies in politics.


Participants recommended that though the idea of having a big WAWEO team is laudable, it is

also prudent to start by sending a small number of trained observers on the ground and increase

the number gradually as the team grows to its initial number (30). Participants were reminded

that the task of the WAWEO team is to observe the gender aspects of the organization and

conduct of elections, whether conditions were in place for women to freely express their votes

without any intimidation and violence.

The closing ceremony was made up of the presentation to participants of their elections

observation certificates and the allocation of polling stations for the Election Day observation.

They were congratulated for taking part in the training and for accepting to be members of the

West African Women Elections Observers. The WAWEO team was assigned polling stations in

the three districts in the neighborhood of the Capital Monrovia, namely Montserrado, Margibi

and Bomi. They received from the National Elections Commission, their accreditation package

including a map of the different regions of the country, the country’s laws and regulations, the

map of the earmarked electoral districts, an observer badge.

Participants with 2011 Peace Nobel Prize, Leymah Gbowee Plenary session at the Elections Observation Training

Section 3: Participants’ Evaluation of the training session

The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) in partnership with the Women, Peace and Security

Network (WIPSEN Africa) and IBIS-Liberia organized a two-day Elections Observation training from 8-9

October 2011 at Palm Spring Hotel in Monrovia-Liberia. The training was organized for the West African

Women Elections Observation Team (WAWEO) and was attended by 7 participants all female from

Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.


At the end of the two-day training, participants assessed the overall delivery of the training by

answering a questionnaire, on the three main sessions- overall course delivery, course content and

course duration. Below is a compilation of participants’ answers to questions:

Session A. Overall Course Delivery

Participants were asked to rate their satisfaction of the overall delivery of the training and give

reasons to support their ratings. They were asked to use 3, 2 or 1 indicating respectively Very

Satisfied, Satisfied and Not Satisfied. Below is a tabular presentation of the ratings in percentages by

participants.

Participants were mostly satisfied with the overall delivery of the training as indicated the tabular.

Percentage Rating of

Participants’ outcomes

Areas of Assessment Very

Satisfied

Satisfied

Not

Satisfied

1. What is your overall impression of the workshop?

60% 40%

2. Were your objectives for this workshop met?

20% 80%

3. Rate your satisfaction with the Course training

materials

40% 40% 20%

4. Taking into account your knowledge on Elections’

observation before the training, did the workshop help to

enhance your knowledge and skills in this area?

60% 20% 20%


5. How effective was the methodology

used in the workshop?

The Discussions 60% 40%

The Practical

Sessions

60% 20% 20%

Participants’ responses to ratings

Overall impression

Participants provided their opinions on the overall training and the following answers were given

to explain their ratings:

The workshop was rewarding. Its content, methods of presentation and all sessions were participatory. The time was very short

The WAWEO training should be well documented and very clear with the gender focus to serve as an example, a different example

The training is very important for observers The sessions were very interactive and facilitator was on top of the issues It was a good start and it was very interactive Extremely practical with more participations. Time just flew by.

Were your objectives for this workshop met?

Yes, this has been part of things that I want to be doing from time to time Yes, the instructions were clear and my memory refreshed on election observation issues My objective was to share my own experience with my sister observers Yes, partially Most definitely Because the time was too short, my objectives were not fully met

Course training materials

They were good Training materials were relevant and useful Yes, I’m satisfied Could definitely have been better I’m satisfied I developed a good sense of understanding about elections observation

Knowledge and skills acquisition

Participants acknowledged the usefulness of the training compared to their level of understanding

on elections observation.


The training has given me a refresher to the things I studied before Yes, it was like a refresher course to me Before participating to this training, I was a domestic observer. Now my capacity in

observation is strengthened and I will help me in this area No Very much as I learnt very important things which I didn’t know before Yes, the training enhanced my skills, knowledge and gave me a sense of appreciation

towards this area of election observation

Training methodology

Discussions

They were very effective It provided us the opportunity to discuss our various country situations and apply our

learning to the Liberia context Very good Too many points discussed were left hanging Excellent Involving

Practical sessions

It was very interactive Group work was interesting and educative Very interactive Great Relevant to practical life situation, ie those that occur worldwide most especially to Africa.

SESSION B

Course Content

How effective were the training components (listed in the box below) in strengthening your

Elections’ observation skills. Please tick in the box which represents your opinion:

Women Elections’ Observation

Percentage Rating Outcomes of Participants Very useful,

Am very

satisfied

Satisfied with

this topic, May

be useful

Not satisfied,

May not be

useful

1. Principles on Democratic Elections 100% 0% 0%


2. Role of WAWEO in elections in the West African sub-region

100% 0% 0%

3. The meaning of Election Observation 100% 0% 0%

4. Election Observation and Election Monitoring

100% 0% 0%

5. Long-term and short term observation 100% 0% 0%

6. What to observe 100% 0% 0%

7. How to Observe 100% 0% 0%

8. WAWEO Code of Conduct for Observers 100% 0% 0%

9. Observation Procedure 100% 0% 0%

Write one or two sentences to describe what you learned from the workshop

What I learnt from the workshop was very educative and it will boost my capability in elections

observation

The workshop served as a refresher of previous training programs I have received in the past on

elections observation

I learnt new things which can help me as a foreign observer

The universal principles and code of conduct were enlightening

Qualities of a good observer, importance of country context including laws

I was motivated, sensitized, informed and educated about Elections observation which I did not

know and understand

Advice to the trainer in adapting and delivering this workshop

Trainer should keep it up. She did a good job and she is worth to be commended

PowerPoint presentations should be prepared on topics before the workshop and should be sent to

participants’ email addresses or given as hand-outs

Continue her methodology because it is very good and relaxed


She should use more engaging lecture materials, use of reference materials, and control of

participants. There were too many lists, therefore visual aids are necessary

She needs more time

Allocate more time because the theme is too much to be covered in a workshop of this nature

Assessment of facilitator She did wonderful and the training was educative and interactive

She made the workshop very interactive enabling participants who have observed elections in the

past to share experiences and learn from each other

She delivered to my satisfaction

Her performance was satisfactory

Obviously, she knows the topic. She is very patient in imparting her knowledge

The facilitator’s methods of presentation were participatory, hence superb

Session C. Course Duration

Percentage rating outcome of participants

Course duration Too short About Right Not assessed

28% 43% 29%

CONCLUSION

Elections observation is a very important aspect of the electoral process. It boosts confidence of

all stakeholders in the election and also enhances credibility of the new government at the

international level. Elections observation is necessary in any country whether it is emerging from

a prolonged civil war, has experienced many years of military rule or has held two successive

credible elections. After paying due attention to the laws of the country and the particularity of

each country, observers must conduct themselves blamelessly and make informed judgment


based on facts as their pronouncement may tear up a country or unify it. The government, EMB,

political parties, the electorate and sponsoring organizations all benefit from the election

observation to ensure that elections are well conducted and that the democratic process is on

course. Observer are to observe the election process, not to supervise it, to consider all the

factors that impinge on the credibility of the election process as a whole and find fact, not to find

faults. Above all, election observation calls for a display of integrity and non-partisanship of all

times.


Appendix 1: Training Agenda

Workshop Agenda West African Women Election Observation Team (WAWEO) Training

October 8 – 9, 2011 – Palm Spring Hotel Monrovia, Liberia

DAY 1 Saturday 08/10/2011

TIME

ACTIVITY RESOURCE

PERSON

09:00 – 10:00 Opening Ceremony/ Introduction of the course

Eunice Roberts

10:00 – 11:30 Briefing by the National Elections Commission (NEC) Eunice Roberts

11:30 – 13:00 Meaning and types of Election Observation Eunice Roberts

13:00 – 14:30 LUNCH BREAK

14:30 – 15:30

The purpose of Election Observation

Eunice Roberts

15:30 – 16:30

What to observe

“

16:30 – 16:45 SNACKS

17:00 – 17:30 Comments and Questions Eunice Roberts

END OF DAY 1

DAY 2 Sunday 09/10/2011

TIME ACTIVITY RESOURCE

PERSON

09:00 –10:00

09:00 – 09:30

Code Of Conduct For Election Observation

Opening Ceremony

Eunice Roberts

10:00 – 12:20

Election Observation Procedure

Introduction of the course

Eunice Roberts

12:20 – 14:00

13:00 – 14:30

LUNCH BREAK

14:00 – 15:45

15:450

11:00 – 13:00

Election Day Observation And Report Writing

Meaning and types of Election Observation

Eunice Roberts

15:45 – 16:00 –

10:20

09:30 – 10:30

SNACKS

16:00 – 17:00

13:30 – 15:30

Group Work

The purpose of Election Observation

Eunice Roberts

17:00 –17:30

17:00

Presentation of certificates/Closing Ceremony Pearl Atsou-Dzini

END OF DAY 2


Appendix 2

Elections Observation Training for WAWEO Team

8-9 October 2011 - Palm Spring Hotel

Monrovia - Liberia

List of participants

No Full Names Organization Position Country Contact Number Email

1 AZANHOUE Corine Centre Houefa pour la promotion du Genre Jurist Benin 00229 95 11 12 13 [email protected]

2 Lucy PAGE CEP Executive Director Liberia 00231 0655206 [email protected]

3 Derex-Briggs UN-WOMEN Country Representative Liberia 00 231 511 00 88 [email protected]

4 Oby Nwankwo CIRDDOC Executive Director Nigeria 00 234 803 313 24 94 [email protected]

5 Afia Appiah Hedge- Ghana Executive Director Ghana 00 233 260 439 0375 [email protected]

6 Eunice Roberts WAWEO Consultant Ghana 00 233 208 193 900 [email protected]

7 Rosalind Hanson-Alp IBIS Country Director Liberia 00 231 77 636 353 [email protected]

8 Rikke Bruntse Dahl IBIS Communications Advisor Liberia 00 231 77 673 97 50 [email protected]

9 Kadja H. Christensen IBIS Program Dev. Advisor Liberia 00 231 77 693 44 54 [email protected]

10 Sarjo M. Camara WAWEO Observer Gambia 00 220 99 14 602 [email protected]

11 Etweda A. Cooper WAWEO Observer Liberia 00 231 651 86 66 [email protected]

12 Pearl Atsou-Dzini WACSI Executive Assistant Ghana 00 233 302 54 10 20 [email protected]

13 Barbara Bangura GEMS National Coordinator Sierra Leone 00 232 76 60 41 58 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]















Appendix 3:

WAWEO MEMBERS

No Name Organization Position Country

1 Eunice Roberts Electoral Commission of Ghana (Retired)

Consultant GHANA

2 Afia Appiah HEDGE, Ghana Executive Director

Ghana

3 Oby Nwankwo CIRDDOC Executive Director

Nigeria

4 Sarjo Camara Gambia Media Support (GPU)

Journalist Gambia

5 Corine Azanhoue Mahussi

Centre Houefa pour la promotion du Genre

Jurist and Executive Director

Benin

6 Barbara Bangura Women Solidarity Support Group (WSSG)

Coordinator Sierra Leone

Documents

WAWEO Training Narrative Report- Monrovia (Oct, 2011)