As part of our ongoing work in the Kingdom of Bhutan, International IDEA is aiding in the development of a comprehensive civic/voter education programme, including a strategy for the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB).
With funding from Norway, International IDEA together with the Election Commission’s Electoral Education and Resource Centre will organize a two-day multi-stakeholder workshop in Paro. Starting 27 August, the workshop attendees will aim to develop a coherent approach to implementing a civic and voter education programme in Bhutan. Attending the workshop will be staff from the election commission as well as representatives from 20 district electoral offices, government institutions, civil society organizations (CSO) and international organizations.
The Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy, a CSO which is actively involved in civic education, will also take part in the workshop as facilitator. Although the ECB is the lead agency in implementing the electoral process, it is partnering with CSOs to design and implement a civic and voter education programme. This strategy would be used by ECB who will be partnering with specialized non-governmental organizations.
The ECB, its partners and international donors will strengthen links with other CSOs to develop and deepen the democratic culture of the general population. This would be achieved through the production area specialty research and information dissemination among stakeholders in democracy such as parliamentarians, secretariat staff, politicians, academicians, journalists and the public.
