A 5-days BRIDGE Workshop started today at the Issyk-Kul oblast, aimed at sharing the best international examples in conducting civic education and voter information among Kyrgyzstan’s electoral stakeholders to help develop and implement voter information and education campaigns for target audiences throughout Kyrgyzstan.

The workshop is being held with the support of UNDP Kyrgyzstan. It explores different concepts and approaches to civic education, electoral education and voter information to assist informed public policy decisions as well as the merits of a long-term, strategic approach to a voter and civic education.

The event is facilitated by Accrediting Level BRIDGE facilitators Yuliya Shypilova, UNDP Chief Technical Advisor on Electoral Support, and Tetyana Bibik, UNDP International Expert, and an honorable Guest Speaker – Mr Arnis Cimdars, who was leading the Central Election Commission of Latvia for more than 22 years.

The workshop engages the Chairperson and members of the Central Election Commission, representatives of civil society organizations and universities working in civic and voter education. The diverse backgrounds of the participants allow to consider the issues from multiple angles and to build partnerships for further successful cooperation on civic and voter education in the coming months and beyond.

BRIDGE is unique international curriculum in the electoral area which was successfully conducted worldwide. It represents a unique initiative where five leading organizations in the democracy and governance field (United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD), International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), International IDEA, Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)) have jointly committed to developing, implementing and maintaining the most comprehensive curriculum and workshop package available, designed to be used as a tool within a broader capacity development framework.

Choosing a democratic path of development, Kyrgyzstan has taken a high bar that requires a high level of civic and legal consciousness, adherence to democratic ideals and values, an understanding of the processes of organizing state power, taking into account the historical experience that our country has gone through, using the entire range of legal mechanisms of civil participation. Such values are formed, and knowledge and skills are acquired as a result of systemic civic education.