A half-day validation workshop, which discussed the draft Civics and Voters Education Manual prepared by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), was conducted today.
NEBE organized the workshop to gather inputs and finalize the manual aimed at enhancing knowledge, capacity and information about voter’s right and voting process, among others.
During the workshop, NEBE Chairperson Birtukan Midekssa said the manual is part of the preparation the electoral board is undertaking for the upcoming national election.
Having such kind of workshops with the civic societies that represent huge number of people is crucial for the board to know the limitation of the draft and grasp ideas that will be added on the manual for its fulfillment, she noted.
“We consider that civic societies are very helpful for our efforts to have free and democratic election. That is why we prepared this workshop. You can teach lots of people under you about civics and voters education through the manual,” the chairperson added.
Birtukan added that it is the responsibility of civic societies to use the manual and capacitate the public about their rights and responsibilities.
Originator of the manual, Getachew Assefa said the manual will narrow the gap observed on the content of the previous manual.
“The previous manual has some gaps in its content as it did not include chapters about the role of representative institutions, and it also does not match with our current electoral law,” he pointed out.
Some participants on the occasion commented that the manual should be prepared in many languages and be inclusive of people with disabilities.
They further stressed the need for completion of the manual soon.
The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia has been carrying out various activities to conduct free, neutral and democratic election in the country.