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8/10/2019 Dep Monthly Newsletter Inaugural Edition Nov Final
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A monthly newsletter of the Democratic Empowerment Project | November 2014
DEP supports pre-electionvoter education campaign
Stakeholders' role in mitigat-ing election-related conflict
Underlining the gender andsocial inclusion imperative
EMB leaders, senior manag-ers undergo professionaltraining
Human rights training forpolice strengthened
Bolstering capacity of com-munity media practitioners
UN Resident Coordinatorpays a courtesy call on NEC
ZEC staff hone their comput-er skills
DEP boosts operations ofRPPs office
EMBs get semi-accredited
BRIDGE facilitators Study underscores NECs in-
stitutional strengthening
Technical support providedto voter registration roll-out
ZEC assessment triggers araft of reforms
Community media ready formarathon voter education
DEMOCRATIC EMPOWERMENT PROJECT DEP)
In partnership with the National Electoral Commission and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission and managed by the UNDP
The DEP is supported by Canada, Denmark, the EU, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland , UNDP, the One UN Fund and UK
A Message from the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident RepresentativeIN THIS EDITION...
December
Steering Committee meeting
UPCOMING EVENTS
Welcome to the inaugu-
ral newsletter of the
Democratic Empower-ment Project (DEP), a
three-year multi-donor initiative aimed
at capacity strengthening of key insti-
tutions of democracy in Tanzania in-
cluding the National Electoral Com-
mission (NEC), Zanzibar Electoral
Commission (ZEC) and the office of the
Registrar of Political Parties (RPP).
The project has been under implemen-
tation now for over a year and this pub-
lication fulfils a long standing need for
disseminating news and information to
Development Partners, implementing
partners and the Tanzanian public at-
large.
I would like to acknowledge all our
donors and partners and thank each
and every one of them for enabling the
project to take off and support Tanza-
nian partners.
In particular, we recognise a number of
donors who have pledged additional
funds to the project on top of their ini-
tial planned contribution.
Among the many project milestones,
BRIDGE training for both Electoral
Management Bodies (EMBs) was initi-
ated with the training of staff as
BRIDGE facilitators.
EMB capacity needs assessments were
undertaken, and this will provide the
basis for further support in various
priority areas as identified.
Training of middle-ranking Tanzania
Police Force (TPF) officers in public
order management was completed as
planned and has been well received.
ICT upgrading work with the EMBsand the RPP is well advanced and
should bring immediate benefits when
completed.
Significant technical support was pro-
vided to both EMBs on their biometric
voter registration systems.
UNESCOs support for community
media has run smoothly and will pro-
vide a useful foundation for future pro-
ject initiatives on voter education and
maintaining a peaceful elections envi-ronment.
Significant progress was also made
with UN Womens support for inclusive
participation; following stakeholder
mapping and identification of women,
youth and persons with disabilities
seeking nomination the next phase of
capacity development will follow.
Via this monthly newsletter we will
highlight milestones and achievements
and provide you with information up-dates.
Happy reading,
Mr Alvaro Rodriguez
UN Resident Coordinator and
UNDP Resident Representative
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A monthly newsletter of the Democratic Empowerment Project | November 2014
The NEC is to embark on an extensive public infor-
mation campaign aimed at sensitizing eligible Tanza-
nians to register to cast their ballot in a forthcoming
referendum on a proposed constitution as well gen-
eral elections in 2015.
The campaign is
being supported
by the DEP and
will reach out to a
broad spectrum of
the citizenry in-
cluding women,
youth and first-
time voters, per-
sons with disabili-
ties and other
m a r g i n a l i z e d
groups.
The new voter reg-
istration will use bio-
metric technology. Under this system, voters will be issued with
a new smart-card like voters card compared to the 2010
laminated card.
This process means doing away with the old national permanent
voter register and creating a new one based on the biometric
technology.
In addition, the public awareness and education will reach out
to key electoral stakeholders who need to understand and have
confidence in the workings of the new biometric technology.
Tanzania has approximately 23 million eligible voters.
The current and future use of biometric technology and finger-print and facial scanning will enable NEC to eliminate any mul-
tiple registration.
Various means will be used to reach out to the public, the elec-
torate and other stakeholders - including radio spots, leaflets
and posters, newspaper adverts and social media.
Political parties, the civil society, the media and other key stake-
holders are expected to collaborate with the authorities to in-
form and educate the public about the mechanics of the new
voter registration process.
DEP supports pre-election voter education campaign
Stakeholders role in mitigating election-related conflict
The proposed voter
education and stakeholder
engagement will reach out
to a broad spectrum of thecitizenry including women,
youth and first-time voters,
people with disabilities,
non-literate and other
marginalized groups.
Efforts to promote peace and stability requires
the active role and collaboration of all key
s t a k e h o l d e r s ,
according to a
strategy aimed
at supporting peace infra-
structure in the current
electoral cycle in Tanza-
nia.
The proposed strategy
follows a study commis-
sioned by DEP and is de-
signed to guide the inte-
gration of activities in
support of mitigation and
resolution of election-
related conflict across the
project .
To this end, DEP expects
to provide support to anumber of activities to-
wards capacity building,
training and stakeholder engagement.
The performance of the EMBs is seen to be particularly
crucial in reinforcing peaceful elections through strong
capacity, credibility and
transparency and active
stakeholder engagement.
On their part, political
parties can credibly com-
mit to peaceful campaign-
ing and the management
of intra and inter-party
disputes.
According to the strateg y,
civil society and political
parties have an important
role in enabling the citi-
zenry make informed elec-
toral choices.
The ongoing support to
community radio through
UNESCO can enhance
civic participation in dem-
ocratic processes includ-
ing peaceful resolution of conflict.
Community radio practitioners such as depicted are seen to en-courage peaceful conduct of electoral processes
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A monthly newsletter of the Democratic Empowerment Project | November 2014
EMB leaders, senior managers undergo professional training
Underlining the gender and social inclusion imperative
The Democratic Empowerment Project will organise a
training workshop for Commissioners and Directors
of Elections from the two EMBs of Tanzania aimed at
discussing their roles and responsibilities in building
electoral institutions with credibility and good working culture.
The workshop will introduce participants to theoretical, concep-
tual and practical aspects of election management including
electoral systems and laws, electoral management designs and
models, EMB-stakeholder engagement and electoral reform
issues.
The overall aim is to introduce participants to best practices and
comparative experiences in electoral management in an effort to
foster improved knowledge and skills necessary to enhance the
quality and credibility of elections.
It will follow the internationally renowned comprehensive pro-
fessional electoral curriculum based on adult-learning and par-
ticipatory methodology known as Building Resources for De-
mocracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE).
Key topics will include the electoral management design, elec-
toral technology, gender and elections, elections and media and
voter education. The workshop is also an opportunity to get the
Commissioners and Directors of Elections from the EMBs to
discuss some of the major tenets that define their organisations,
their structures and roles and areas of cooperation that might be
explored or improved between the two organisations.
Julius Mallaba, NEC's Director of Elections, officiating a past
BRIDGE training event
I
nclusive elections, where all those eligible and interested
have the opportunity to participate in electoral processes
as voters and as candidates, was the theme of a one-day
workshop in September organized by DEP.
The workshop brought together leaders of the NEC, ZEC, Office
of the Registrar of Political Parties and the Tanzania Police
Force so as to identify entry points and strategies to promoting
gender and social inclusion among their activities supported by
DEP.
UN Women is leading DEP work on supporting womens politi-
cal participation and leadership in electoral processes as well as
a broader inclusion agenda covering youth and persons living
with disabilities (PWDs).
The project will support the training of candidates for nomina-
tions by the political parties.
This means addressing the obstacles that mitigate inclusive
participation by these groups and the creation of sustainable
processes to empower and build capacities for effective partici-
pation in politics and elections, said Anna Collins-Falk, UN
Women Representative in Tanzania.
The decision by DEP to support inclusive participation in elec-
tions came in response to a decision taken earlier by political
party leaders to support more women, youth and PWDs as can-
didates in the 2015 election.
Bernadeta Killian. Principal, Mkwawa Constituent College of
Education, presents a paper at the stakeholder workshop
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A monthly newsletter of the Democratic Empowerment Project | November 2014
Bolstering capacity of community media practitioners
Ninety Tanzanian police officers have undergone a
training course in public order management as part
of a programme under the DEP to strengthen the
capacities of the Tanzanian police to ensure peace-
ful elections for 2015.
Delivered by trainers from the UKs College of Policing, the
training in public order benefited ninety senior and middle-ranking officers from every region. The training began in June
and took eight trainers from the College a total of two months to
complete. It was delivered through four two-week courses in
Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.
It is expected that this training would be cascaded to reach as
many police officers as possible through regular training ses-
sions in the regions.
Commanders were then expected to return to their stations and
cascade the training in every region in the country.
This training is timely for the field and operation officers be-
cause as we approach the general elections, the question of hu-
man rights and managing crowds is inevitable, the DeputyCommissioner of Police, Simon Sirro, said.
The training would allow police leaders to establish a command
structure and deal with issues regarding human rights, manag-
ing crowds, critical incident management, tactical planning and
decision making.
DEP is now working with the police on the content and struc-
ture of the next phase of training on human rights, gender and
the role of the police in the elections.
It is proposed that through this course the same approach to
public order management and minimal use of force is communi-
cated to approximately 10,000 rank and file officers in all re-
gions via a cascade training process.
Human rights training for police strengthened
One of the police commanders trained in public order man-
agement receives his certificate of participation
T
wenty four media practitioners from five community
radio stations have been trained on codes of ethics,
gender responsive reporting and conflict sensitive re-
porting as part of an intervention by the DEP to
strengthen community media as a platform for community dia-logue and sustainable development.
The training attracted practitioners from Masasi, Pangani, Mi-
cheweni, Makunduchi and Unguja urban.
It highlighted the importance and tactics for promoting inclusive
participation and addressed challenges of minority groups, in-
cluding PWDs.
Participants gained practical experience interviewing community
members and local government authorities.
The training was organised by UNESCO and aimed at empower-
ing community media as a means for civic engagement includingpromotion of a peaceful election and social dialogues.
As part of the intervention, a training manual for conflict sensi-
tive journalism and a conflict sensitive reporting checklist were
drafted for Tanzanian community media practitioners and other
stakeholders in response to identified needs for common termi-
nology and approaches to reporting on conflict sensitive journal-
ism in Kiswahili.
A community radio correspondent puts her training into prac-
tice following a workshop on conflict-sensitive reporting
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A monthly newsletter of the Democratic Empowerment Project | November 2014
The Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) received in
September ICT equipment under the DEP.
The equipment comprised 30 laptops, 15 desktop
computers, a digital scanner, 2 printers and a Server.
The equipment is expected to bolster the RPP's operational effi-
ciency including improved
communication between the
headquarters and its region-
al offices, and more im-
portantly, with its key stake-
holders and the wider pub-lic.
The goal of this support is
to ensure that the RPP has
improved capacity to sup-
port political parties as
agents of democratic consol-
idation; this is an important
step towards improved de-
mocracy in Tanzania, said
Mr. Philippe Poinsot, UND-
Ps Country Director.
Receiving the items, Justice
Francis Mutungi, the Regis-
trar of Political Parties, highlighted that the provisioning of ICT
equipment to his office was timely and was deemed essential in
improving the capacity and credibility of the RPP to contribute
to the democratization of political parties and politics at large.
In a world where information and communications technology
has made it possible for institutions to deliver improved ser-
vices, we really appreci-
ate this support which
will help improve the
quality of services ren-
dered by our institu-
tion, said Justice Mu-
tungi.
DEP is also currently
facilitating the upgrade
of the RPPs ICT infra-
structure at its head
office in Dar es Salaam.
The specific areas of
support to the office of
the RPP are ICT, legal
and institutional reform
and effective stakehold-
er engagement includ-
ing for intra- and inter-party dispute resolution mechanisms.
DEP boosts operations of RPPs office
T
wenty one staff from the two EMBs graduated in May
as semi-accredited BRIDGE facilitators after attending
a two-week Train-
the-Facilitator (TtF)
workshop funded byDEP.
The workshop introduced the
participants to the BRIDGE
learning methodology, which
has a strong emphasis on adult
learning techniques by capital-
izing on individual experience,
knowledge sharing and peer
learning.
The trainees are expected to
undergo further instructionthrough under the tutelage of
an accredited facilitator be-
fore they themselves become fully accredited and being able to
deliver such training on their own. Both EMBs have agreed to
work with DEP to support more modular training sessions in
order to enable more staff to become exposed to the BRIDGE
training and for the
trained semi-accredited
staff to become fully ac-credited facilitators.
The ultimate goal of the
programme is to create
sufficient capacity within
the EMBs to accredit
BRIDGE facilitators with-
out the reliance on exter-
nal facilitators.
The two EMBs said they
looked forward to using
the BRIDGE methodologyand training techniques in
their training pro-
grammes, particularly for the coming voter registration, the con-
stitutional referendum and the 2015 general elections.
EMBs get semi-accredited BRIDGE facilitators
Justice Francis Mutungi, Registrar of Political Parties (extreme left)
Participants of the BRIDGE Train the Facilitator workshop proudlypose with their certification
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A monthly newsletter of the Democratic Empowerment Project | November 2014
Study underscores NECs institutional strengthening
The NEC is committed to delivering professional and
technically sound elections and has initiated a pro-
cess to address organizational capacity gaps to
achieve this objective, according to a study supported
by the DEP.
The Capacity Needs Assessment
(CNA) was conducted be-
tween July and September.
It will assist NEC to de-
sign and implement effec-
tive strategies to conductthe forthcoming referen-
dum and general elections,
as well as to enhance its long-
term capacity development requirements to conduct elections.
Concurrently, NEC needs to establish greater autonomy from
government structures to enhance its image as an independent
and impartial body. According to the CNA, a management de-
velopment programme should target Commissioners and also
senior management and middle level cadres of staff to strength-
en the organization and improve efficiency and service delivery.
Legally and in the longer term, the assessment recommends the
need to establish an expert-based NEC where recruitment
and selection of Commissioners can be through nomination
procedures by the President fol-
lowed by a screening process
in Parliament.
In the same vein, govern-
ment should rethink its
funding strategy by provid-ing Parliament the where-
withal to approve finances
directly to the EMB. A legally
binding Code of Conduct for political parties needs to be estab-
lished as a way to reduce and prevent the likelihood of conflict
during electoral events and increase cross-party cooperation.
The study noted that the ongoing constitutional review present-
ed a useful opportunity for NEC to amend its governing laws
and legal guiding principles.
DEP is supporting the EMBs to develop detailed vot-
er registration strategies and plans in relation to
the use of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR).
Although the project did not have a direct role in
the procurement of Tan-
zanias BVR system, DEP
and NEC agreed to coop-
erate in the rendering of
technical and advisory
services to the BVR roll-out and the project is fully
supporting this process.
In addition to deploying
an international expert,
DEP also provided les-
sons from recent experi-
ences in other African
countries that have intro-
duced BVR systems.
DEP further the overall
proposed logistical ar-rangements for the roll-
out, as well as the customization of the software that will be
installed in each kit.
Beyond that, DEP facilitated two workshops on BVR-related
issues with NEC: on overall BVR planning and on the develop-
ment of a logistics plan covering arrangements for delivery and
dispatch of the kits, training of personnel, and operational
planning.
DEP previously
supported ZEC in
updating the Zan-
zibars voter regis-
ter, conductingvoter education,
producing voter
cards, and provid-
ing technical assis-
tance for upgrad-
ing and maintain-
ing the voter regis-
tration system.
In total, 29,660
new voters were
registered and6,792 voters infor-
mation was updat-
ed. The registration process concluded earlier this year.
Technical support provided to voter registration roll-out
Registration of voters in the archipelago of Zanzibar in a past event. Tanza-
nia is gearing up to roll out a BVR system across the country
NEC needs to establish greater autonomy
from government structures to enhance
its image as an independent andimpartial body.
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A monthly newsletter of the Democratic Empowerment Project | November 2014
ZEC assessment triggers a raft of reforms
CONTACT DETAILS
Nicodemus Odhiambo MarcusCommunications Analyst
Email: [email protected]
MAILING ADDRESS: c/o United Nations Development Programme |P. O. Box 9182, Dar-es-SalaamTELEPHONE: 255 22 2112576 |FACSIMILE: 255 2111168
The Zanzibar Electoral Commission has performed rela-
tively well as an EMB and is developing a solid track
record of credible and professional elections and refer-
enda in Zanzibar, according to a recent study support-
ed by DEP.
Nonetheless, the Capacity Needs Assessment has revealed vari-
ous structural, systemic and organisational capacity gaps, deficits
and challenges that require a strategic response to improve ZECs
core functions and responsibilities.
The key findings identified capacity constraints amongst electoral
staff as being one of the greatest challenges to the EMBs ability
to deliver on its mandate. Additionally, human resource proce-
dures and processes will require attention, including a gender
mainstreaming policy, a robust monitoring and evaluation frame-
work and a formal staff appraisal system.
Other important challenges include ZEC's capacity to develop
budgets and operational plans efficiently and cost-effectively us-
ing the electoral cycle approach. While ZEC successfully intro-
duced a biometric voter registration in 2009, improved systems
to produce efficient and transparent election results, for example,
require staff training and technical assistance. Similarly, inclu-
sive stakeholder participation in all aspects of the electoral cycle
is essential for credible and peaceful elections. The assessment is
the initial step in a process that will assist ZEC in building a more
skilled, professional and service-orientated EMB.
Community media ready for marathon voter education
Select community radios being supported by the DEP will
embark on a voter education campaign aimed at sensi-
tizing Tanzanians
about the forthcoming
constitutional referen-
dum and general elections.
With financial resources from
the project, the radios will air a
wide range of key messages in
various formats including radio
spots, special voter educationprogrammes and interviews.
Among the key messages, the
radios will prompt eligible per-
sons to register as voters and to
actually cast their ballot when
elections are due, provide a plat-
form for candidates and their
parties to present their manifes-
tos and political advertising to the wider citizenry and explain to
the electorate, in clear and simple language pieces of legislation
and other regulations govern-
ing the conduct of elections.
They are also expected to
mainstream key issues of con-
cern to citizens which political
parties and candidates should
address as they seek to be vot-
ed to public office. These in-
clude issues relevant to theelderly and the young, women
and other marginalised
groups. At the same time, com-
munity media practitioners
must continue to demonstrate
their professionalism. A key
issue in this context is the way
the media deal with election-
related conflicts.
Stakeholders participate at a validation seminar of the CNA
Piencia Etanga, Senior Legal Officer, office of the Registrar of
Political Parties, speaks to community radio practitioners