12 August 2016
CEPS hold first Voter Education Training for Trainers under EU Project
CEPS has over the past two days hosted a voter education training for trainers. The training was held between the 10th to the 11th of August 2016. A group of seven volunteers have benefited from this training, leading up to the parliamentary elections scheduled in September.
The training is the first to be held under the CEPS & EU project aimed at building capacity for citizen’s participation in the democratic process and good governance in Seychelles. The training enabled the trainers to understand the historical and legal aspects of elections as well as the various phases of the election process and identified how citizens can be engaged at ached phase.
The educators will be going out to post secondary schools as well as in the communities to deliver these training sessions. Facilitators therefore gave special attention to rights and responsibilities of citizens within elections, so as to enable the trainers to put focus on empowering citizens through an understanding of their rights.
The training sessions also included presentations on facilitation and planning of the training which are expected to be delivered in groups.
Leading up to the September National assembly Elections, the trainers will be going out to post secondary schools to reach out to the first time voters. The trainers also hope to go out to the communities for outreach.
Citizens have a right under Article 24 of the Seychelles Constitution to participate in elections. In the December 2015 presidential elections, 70,943 voters were eligible to vote in both rounds. A total of 63, 893 took part in the second round of voting.
Through the EU funded project, CEPS is hoping to educate voters on this right. This will be done over the coming year in post secondary schools, workplaces and communities, in the lead up to the Parliamentary elections scheduled for 8th – 10th of September.
