Lubango - Leaders of civil society organizations and journalists from the provinces of Huíla, Namibe and Cunene are since Monday being trained in electoral monitoring, in an initiative of the Democracy Works Foundation (DWF) Angola.
The two-day event aims to raise awareness of the society about the context in which the local elections will be held in Angola and to understand how electoral observation is carried out.
Augusto Santana, DWF - Angola representative, emphasized that during the training the participants will address issues related to "Basic Notions on Elections", "Electoral Cycle and Legal Environment", "Electoral Observation Tool" based on the rules governing electoral processes in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
He said that it is crucial that Angolans at different levels are aware of the process and can participate consciously and effectively.
Augusto Santana said local elections represent a remarkable step in the democracy consolidation process, as they bring the government closer to the citizens and will allow some of the problems that most affect the population to be resolved at local level with more participation and interaction.
DWF-South Africa based regional foundation at the SADC level, founded in 2014 with the aim of providing tools and knowledge to build resilient democracies.
It has offices in Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia. It has around 60 employees, 66 percent of whom are women.
It operates in various areas, namely monitoring, institutions, citizenship and leadership, climate, democracy and culture, as well as offering consultancy services on good governance and social impact. BP/MS/DAN/AMP
