MEDIA ADVISORY
African Union Commission National BRIDGE Workshop for the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) in Malawi
INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

When:
Monday 29 April – 10 May, 2013

Where: Mangochi, Malawi (29 April – 03 May) 1st Workshop
Lilongwe, Malawi (06 – 10 May) 2nd Workshop

Who:
Organized by the Democracy and Electoral Assistance Unit, DEAU of the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC)

Objectives:
This is part of the Political Affairs Department National Capacity building Trainings for EMBs of member states of the African Union, designed to train staff of EMBs in the continent in various areas of electoral management as requested by them, using the BRIDGE curriculum. This first phase covers seven countries from South, East, Central and West Africa

Participants:

Participants are staff and Members of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC)

Background The Political Affairs Department through the Democracy and Electoral Assistance Unit DEAU is charged with the responsibility of improving the national electoral processes of member states of the African Union towards the conduct of free fair and credible elections within a framework of direct technical assistance to Election Management Bodies, EMBs. In this regard, the DEAU has been developing electoral process standards, which include the provision of BRIDGE electoral trainings in different aspects of electoral management to the various EMBs in the continent. The workshops are organized in the countries of the beneficiary EMBs.
This programme is part of the expanded National Capacity Building Programme of the DEAU aimed at addressing specific electoral training needs of members and staff of Electoral Commissions of member states who have so requested from the African Union Commission. The next AU National BRIDGE Workshop will take place in Abidjan Cote d’Ivoire for the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) of Cote d’Ivoire.

Journalists are invited to cover the Opening ceremony of the AUC National BRIDGE Workshop for the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) in Mangochi, Malawi on 29 April, 2013

For Further Information consult the AU website: www.au.int

Interview requests should be addressed to Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou, Directorate of Information and Communication, Tel. +251 911 3611 85, e-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org / esthertankou@yahoo.com .