Mogadishu, 08 October 2015- Members of the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) attended on Thursday 8 October 2015 a one-day communications workshop, aimed at enhancing their skills in disseminating information regarding the commission’s work.
The workshop for the nine commissioners was conducted by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) in Mogadishu, and took the commissioners through key steps to achieving effective communication and implementing an effective communications strategy.
Halima Ismail Ibrahim, the chairperson of the NIEC, said the training would enable the Commission to more effectively reach out to ordinary Somalis, the majority of whom are unaware of the elections and the electoral process.
“We need to gain the confidence from the public since we are working for the Somali public. We want to be credible, we want to be fair, and we want to be very consistent so we can get the public’s confidence” she added.
The Director of UNSOM/UNDP Integrated Electoral Support Group, Gerald Mitchell, emphasized communications is a critical element for electoral bodies, as it helps promote the institution’s credibility, support transparency and public participation in the electoral process.
Mr. Mitchell said, “This is an opportunity for the commissioners to discuss effective communication as they have a very important mandate to administer elections in Somalia. So, they felt it was very important to have an equally effective communications strategy in order to communicate the messages as a public institution to the public.”
