THE FORTHCOMING GENERAL ELECTIONS ARE OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE NOT ONLY FOR PAKISTAN BUT ALSO HAVE VITAL SIGNIFICANCE AND RELEVANCE FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad
Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan
Islamabad, the 22nd October, 2007.- The UNDP Project “Support to the National Elections in Pakistan” (SNEP) is providing technical assistance and support to the ECP for the forthcoming General Elections. One of the core activities of SNEP Project is the training of Returning Officers and Polling Personnel. For this purpose, the SNEP Project has designed and developed a comprehensive cascade Training Plan in consultation with the ECP. To launch the national level Training Plan, the Project organized a 3-Days Workshop from 22 to 24 October 2007 for the “Training of Lead Trainers” at Hotel Holiday Inn, Islamabad.
2. The Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan Kanwar Muhammad Dilshadinaugurated the 3-Days Workshop for the “Training of Lead Trainers” at Hotel Holiday Inn, Islamabad. The inauguration Session was attended by Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez (Country Director, UNDP), Mr. Farhan Sabih (Chief Governance Unit UNDP), Mr. David Avery, (Chief Technical Advisor), Mr. Azhar Saeed Malik (National Project Manager), Mr. R.B. Jan Wahidi, Joint Secretary (Administration) and Mr. Ejaz Ahmed ( Consultant UNDP).
3. In his opening remarks the Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan welcomed the participants of “Training of Lead Trainers Workshop”. He said that under the current geo-political scenario, the forthcoming General Elections are of utmost importance not only for Pakistan but also have vital significance and relevance for international community. In fact, world eyes are focused on this important event. The International Observation Missions by International NGOs and Intra-Governmental Organizations, National Observers, CSOs, NGOs, Political Parties and Media Experts will observe and report the conduct of these elections through Electronic and Print Media.
4. The Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan further said that for the smooth conduct of elections, the training of Returning Officers and Polling Personnel is of paramount importance. The capacity building of election functionaries through comprehensive targeted training is one of the main objectives of the “Support to National Elections in Pakistan” Project funded by UNDP and Donor Community.
5. To conceptualize a comprehensive cascade Training Plan, the Training Need Assessment Workshop was conducted with the aim to assess the capacity and competency of polling staff regarding election mechanism and processes; and to identity the factors affecting the performance of the election functionaries and polling officials. The overall training structure is based on the 3-tier training architecture for the election functionaries at grass-root level:
1) Orientation of 116 District Returning Officers
2) Orientation of 1680 Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers
3) Training of 75,000 Presiding Officers and 500,000 Polling Officials
6. For this purpose, the UNDP Project has designed and developed the comprehensive and very useful Handbooks for Returning Officers and Polling Personnel in consultation with ECP namely:
1) Handbook for District Returning Officers (in English)
2) Handbook for Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers (in English)
3) Handbook for Presiding Officers (in Urdu)
4) Handbook for Polling Staff (in Urdu)
7. These training manuals have been professionally prepared, meeting the quality parameters as per the Election Commission of Pakistan requirements. The participants of the Workshop, Lead Trainers were asked to read these manuals thoroughly and clarify their doubts, if any on the electoral processes.