On the week of August 13-16, our Angola team conducted two critical workshops, one aimed at CSOs and the other at media practitioners. These workshops were conducted under the CSO Capacity Building For Credible Local Elections project, a two-year project implemented in Angola by DWF with partners Rede Terra and Centro Nacional de Aconselhamento (National Counselling Centre--NCC).
The project's primary focus is to empower and capacitate CSOs to play an influential role in conducting civic and voter education, advocate for local electoral processes for credible local government elections and contribute towards the electoral reforms agenda in Angola. The project will work with CSOs but at different levels to achieve this.
Consultative Workshop on Local Government Law
On Tuesday, 13 August, a civil society consultative workshop was held at the InterContinental Hotel in Luanda under the CAB4CLE Project. The workshop offered civil society organisations (CSOs) a platform to provide input on the proposed local government implementation law, a crucial yet missing piece of the legislative framework.
The workshop actively engaged representatives from CSOs, academia, the media, and religious institutions. It was facilitated by Margareth Nangacovie, an external consultant who conducted the legal study under the project and facilitated the workshop. By the end of the session, a consolidated document reflecting the CSO's contributions was produced, which will be submitted to the National Assembly as part of the ongoing legislative process.
Capacity Building for Journalists on Local Governance
On August 15th and 16th, the DWF Angola team, led by Country Director Augusto Santana, conducted a two-day regional capacity-building workshop on local democratic governance and Local Elections for journalists and social media professionals in Malanje Province. Participants came from Uíge, Lunda Sul, and Cuanza Norte Provinces.
The workshop highlighted the pivotal role that both traditional and social media play in disseminating information and raising public awareness. Given Angola's rural demographics, where radio is often the primary source of information, the training emphasised the importance of civic education on local governance and elections being spread through media channels.
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Participants expressed their gratitude for this rare opportunity to receive such specialised training. At the end of the workshop, certificates were awarded to all participants, acknowledging their newfound skills and commitment to fostering civic engagement.
