The Gender Section of the National Elections Commission, (NEC) has commenced the first in a series of Internal Gender Trainings focusing on understanding the specifics of Gender Concept and Mechanism in elections.
Nearly 75 NEC staff, including Commissioners and senior technicians are expected to be trained as Core NEC Gender Staff under the theme, “Unpacking Gender in Elections.”
The Internal NEC Gender Section trainings are in partnership with the United Nations Women, UN Women, and the government of Canada.
Giving the overview of the program at the Headquarters of the Commission, NEC Gender Director, Leisel Y. Talery said, the training forms part of the Section’s strategic plan to train employees, particularly on the current gender policy of the Commission.
For her part, the United Nations Women or UN Women, Senior Expert on Women Political Participation, WPP, Lisa Kindervater said, it was important to mainstream gender, for both men and women.
The UN Women Senior Expert spoke about the need to address the issue of violence against women in elections. Madam Kindervater said violence is one of the barriers that affect the equal participation of women in elections.