Baku, 8 - 10 July 2004

SYNOPSIS

The Venice Commission organised an electoral training workshop for trainers of the electoral commissions in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 8 to 10 July 2004 in co-operation with IFES and the Central Electoral Commission of Azerbaijan. The workshop was opened by Mr Namig Mammadov, Secretary of the Central Electoral Commission of Azerbaijan.

The workshop was held over three days. The participants were divided into three groups for group works on the second and third days of the workshop. Over 35 participants attended the workshop.

The first day was dedicated to presentations by the experts of the Venice Commission:

- “The role and responsibilities of the Constituency Electoral Commissions and Precinct Electoral Commissions before the Election Day and on the Election Day” was presented by Mr Jean-Stéphane Szijarto (Switzerland);

- “Election campaign and rights and obligations of the candidates (independent and representing parties)” by Mr Bernard Owen (France); and,

- “The results of the elections such as counting the ballot papers, transmitting the results, handling observers and other key elements” by Mr Richard Barrett (Ireland).

Additionally, two sessions on presentation skills were presented by IFES Azerbaijan local coordinators. The session on how to organise a training, including the design of a training programme, assessment of the programme’s needs, preparation to the training, conducting training and the follow up group work was presented by IFES Civic Education Coordinator, Mr Servet Maharramov. The other session on interactive methods using presentation aids such as flipcharts, overhead projectors and other audiovisual aids, as well as how to deal with difficult participants was presented by IFES Election Assistance Coordinator, Mr Parviz Musayev.

The second day included two presentations:

- “The final election standards presentation” followed by discussion on “Election International Standards and the Role of the Elections Observers”, was presented by Mrs Gabriella Bernasconi Walker (Switzerland); and,

- IFES Azerbaijan Deputy Country Director, Mr Piers Von Berg conducted an interactive session on “What is a constructive feedback?”

After the presentations the participants were divided into three groups to identify key elements of the respective sets of international election standards presented by the Venice Commission’s experts.

On the third day, the groups made their presentations on prepared subjects and critique was given by the Venice Commission and IFES experts. As a close out, a training methodology presentation on preparations for conducting training aimed at developing a checklist for successful and flexible facilitation was conducted by Mr Parviz Musayev.

This training was the second organised by the Council of Europe’s VeniceCommission in Azerbaijan and the first in collaboration with IFES. The first electoral training workshop took place in September 2003.

The participants will now train the members of constituency and precinct election commissions.