Citizen election observation plays a vital role in ensuring integrity and credibility in the context of elections across Southern Africa. The presence of trained, nonpartisan observers boosts voters’ confidence and provides a comprehensive national picture of elections, acting as the eyes and ears for all citizens on Election Day.
As part of the AHEAD Africa project, we joined forces with ZESN to host the Election Academy Workshop in Johannesburg. This workshop aimed to enhance the skills of local CSOs in crucial electoral areas such as campaign finance, media and social media monitoring, and electoral observation through peer learning sessions.
Workshop Highlights:
- Participants: 24 representatives from 13 Southern African countries, including Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.
- Focus Areas: Electoral Observation, Campaign Finance, and Social Media Media Monitoring.
- Training: Hands-on peer learning sessions designed to empower local CSOs and improve their capacity to train domestic observers.
- Social Media Monitoring Training: Virtually presented by Democracy Reporting International Social Media Analyst, Wafaa Heikel. The online session emphasised the unique roles of various platforms, civic education, and voter engagement, equipping participants with essential social media monitoring skills.
- Network’s Election Observation Manual: A guide for election observers.
Network’s Election Observation Manual
Democracy Reporting International contributed to the manual by drafting the chapter “Introduction to Social Media Monitoring in the Context of Elections Observation.” This document serves as a comprehensive guide for election observers, offering detailed mechanisms and tools for elections, stakeholders’ listings, and practical cases. Our contribution included methodologies for social media monitoring, tools for analysing speeches and engagement, and measuring election impacts.
This publication is part of the AHEAD Africa project, which aims to support the strengthening of pan-African civil society’s capacities in electoral-related issues. The AHEAD Africa project is co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ZESN (Electoral Support Network of Southern Africa and the host organisation Zimbabwe Election Support Network) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
