Gender aware EMBs require
staff that is committed to equality between men and women and with capacities
to implement gender-mainstreaming strategies in election management. Training
initiatives can contribute to both sensitize and strengthen the capacities of
electoral staff in the field of gender equality. EMBs can use a wide range of
training strategies. Some of them make it compulsory for all staff to receive
gender training. UNDP’s 2012 EMB survey shows that 11 percent out of the 35
analyzed EMBs make gender training mandatory for all staff at all levels. Also,
gender content can be mainstreamed in all trainings, since there are gender
implications in all stages of the electoral process and electoral staff should
be able to deal with this issue in their daily work. Strengthening the
capacities of staff with specific responsibilities, such as gender focal points
and polling officers, can help them perform their responsibilities related to
gender mainstreaming. EMBs can also offer women staff training and mentoring
opportunities to help them advance their professional careers. The EMB survey
showed that 59 percent of analyzed EMBs have a policy of equal opportunities
for men and women in career development and training, and in 20 percent of the
cases there were mentoring schemes for female staff.[1]
In some countries, EMBs
address the issue of LGBTI participation in training activities and
sensitization sessions for electoral staff and polling officers in order to
avoid discriminatory attitudes and practices, often with a particular focus on
identification procedures for transgender voters during Election Day.
Example: In the lead-up to the 2010 Afghan elections, the Gender Unit
organized gender awareness training for female staff, gender focal points and
commissioners, addressing attitudes, skills and knowledge. Furthermore, the
Independent Election Commission’s (IEC) female staff hold regular meetings to
discuss needs and challenges in the workplace, including presentations on
specific topics related to elections or gender to strengthen their capacities.
The meetings’ recommendations are shared with senior management.[2]
Example: In Mexico, the Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) launched in 2010
the initiative “Gender Equality, Political Rights and Electoral Justice in
Mexico: Towards Strengthening the Exercise of Women’s Human Rights”, in
partnership with UNDP, UN Women and the Secretariat for External Relations of
the Government of Mexico. This project included training for judges at the
Tribunal to help them integrate a gender approach into their work. According to
TEPJF staff, this training contributed to the adoption of key legislative
initiatives and progressive sentences, addressing the implementation of quotas,
among other issues.[3]
Example: The BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and
Elections) module on gender and elections offers a comprehensive five-day
course on women’s participation in the electoral process. Up to 2017, a total
of 187 BRIDGE workshops on gender and elections have been organized around the
world.[4]
Example: In Ghana, UNDP offered training for the Gender and
Disability Desk Office of the Electoral Commission in 2009, aiming to
facilitate its work of promoting full participation of women and other
under-represented groups in the electoral process.[5]
Example: In Liberia, UNDP gender experts collaborated with the EMB
to support capacity development of electoral staff, which resulted in the
creation of a Gender Coordinator’s Office within the National Elections
Commission (NEC).[6]
Example: In Mexico, the National Electoral Institute’s Protocol to
ensure the right to vote for trans people, implemented for the first time in
the 2018 federal elections, establishes that all trainings addressed to polling
officers should integrate its content. In these elections, considered the
biggest in the country’s history so far, around 1.4 million polling officers
received training to sensitize them about the importance of trans people
participation and inform them about the related procedures foreseen for Election
Day.[7]
Example: During the 2014 presidential election in El Salvador,
identification procedures for transgender voters during Election Day were
discussed in trainings addressed to the decentralized branches of the Electoral
Management Body, known as Juntas Electorales Departamentales (JED) and Juntas
Electorales Municipales (JEM). Later on, ahead of the 2018 legislative and
local elections in El Salvador, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s training
strategy integrated LGBTI participation. Four people representing the LGBTI
community, including two transgender women, were included in the Tribunal’s
recruitment plan for electoral trainers.[8]
Its handbook for polling officers also made reference to the participation of
LGBTI persons. According to this handbook, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and
intersex people should be able to exercise their right to vote in an
environment free from discrimination.
Example: In Ecuador, the National Electoral Council (Consejo Nacional
Electoral) organized trainings in 2016 to sensitize electoral staff on the vote
of transgender citizens and LGBTI participation, under the lead of its
Transgender Project.[9]
Example: In the lead-up to the Guatemalan 2015 general elections, the
Handbook for polling station members (Manual
de Juntas Receptoras de Votos) developed by the TSE included a section on the vote of
transgender people, in order to sensitize polling officers about inclusive
identification procedures. This approach was further strengthened by the
trainings provided to polling station members by the Civic, Political and
Electoral Training and Capacity Building Institute (Instituto
de Formación y Capacitación Cívica, Política y Electoral).[10]
[1] UNDP and UN Women
(2016): op. cit., p. 41-44.
[2].UNDP
and UN Women (2016): op. cit., p. 42.
[3] UNDP and UN Women
(2016): op. cit., p. 42.
[5] UNDP and UN Women
(2016): op. cit., p. 43.
[6].UNDP and UN Women (2016): op. cit., p. 43.
[8] European Union’s
Election Observation Mission to El Salvador (2018): Final Report.
[10] Information provided by
Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) in February 2019.
