Develop and Conduct a Training for Saudi Community Leaders on Elections

Detailed description of project:

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has held municipal elections since 2005, allowing male voters and candidates to partake in the formation of local municipal councils. In 2011, King Abdulla Ben Abdul Aziz announced that for the first-time women would be allowed to run and vote in the 2015 local elections scheduled to take place in October of that year. The 2015 elections comprised a critical milestone for Saudi Arabia’s socio-political context insofar as voters took to the ballot boxes and insofar that both women and men were actively engaged in the process.

This program was based on the notion that the electoral process is equally, if not more, important than the electoral results. Therefore this program tackled voters’ education in the three phases of the electoral cycle:

Pre-electoral phase: this phase of the project helped participants understand the principles of electoral campaigning and candidacy, and allowed them to be engaged in their community to prepare for voting.

Electoral phase: this phase of the project required that voters know their rights and their duties on Election Day and that they felt that their voice can make enough of a difference to get them to go to the polling stations.

Post-electoral phase: this phase of the project invited participants to reflect on the results of the elections and to set local plans for initiatives that would keep them engaged with the municipal council after the elections.

The program embodied the following principles of participating in the three phases of the electoral cycle:

Informed participation: encouraging voters to be informed and equipped with the knowledge needed to make their participation meaningful,

Active participation: helping voters be actively engaged in the elections process and not only on the elections day.

Inclusive participation: ensuring the participation of both men and women, as well as youth in the electoral process.

The overall objective of the program was to inform and encourage Saudi citizens to vote and take an active role in the local elections. As a mechanism, the program targeted and trained a cadre of 150 trainers (Ra’edat) who implemented training sessions and small workshops in their own localities. The program achieved the following objectives:

Build the capacity of a cadre of men and women trainers on the electoral cycle, civic engagement skills, and voting skills,

Train thousands of citizens across all Muhafazat on the electoral process as a means of civic engagement,

Promote a culture of civic engagement in elections and in the local community more broadly.

Type of services provided by the legal entity:

The program was implemented in three stages in all governorates:

Training of Trainers

A five-day Training of Trainers conducted for 150 potential trainers addressing the following topics:

Active citizenship, rights and responsibilities

Municipal councils and active engagement

Voting process and skills

A Code of Conduct for Trainers requiring trainers to maintain ethical standards throughout the project

Trainers equipped with flyers and brochures to share with voters

Training of Voters

Each team of two trainers was required to conduct a minimum of 15 training sessions (2 day each at the local level)

Each training session brought 30-40 voters

Voters including men, women and youth reached up to a minimum of 32,000 citizens

Follow-up and planning

Al Nahda issued a report on the training process and the perceptions of citizens towards the municipal elections,

Trainers were asked to visit a sample of voters after the election day to help them set a plan on how to engage with the new municipal council.