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]