STORY: We are on the right track Somalias

electoral body
TRT: 03:54
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LANGUAGE: ARABIC/SOMALI/NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 12/JULY/2017, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
SHOT LIST

1. Wide shot of participants attending the last day of the workshop on

Strengthening Institutional Capacity of Somalias National Independent
Electoral Commission.
2. Wide shot of some of the participants during the workshop.
3. Close up shot of an NIEC official during the training.
4. Wide shot of Gerald Mitchel, Director of the Integrated Electoral
Support Group in Somalia and another participant.
5. Close up shot on the face of Gerald Mitchel, Director of the Integrated
Electoral Support Group in Somalia.
6. SOUNDBITE (ARABIC): BADRIEH AL- BALBISI - SECRETARY
GENERAL FOR ARAB-EMBs.
We have given various experiences on procedures and reforms,
and highlighted experiences from these countries and electoral
bodies. We also looked at challenges and possible solutions.

7. Wide shot of participants listening to a facilitator

8. Wide shot of some of the participants at the workshop.
9. Medium shot of two NIEC officials in the workshop.
10. Close up shot of a participant at the workshop.
11. SOUNDBITE (ARABIC): ANIS ABU AL- SBAA - HEAD OF
POLITICAL PARTIES DEPARTMENT, PALESTINE.
We agreed [in the workshop] to have continuous assistance to
the NIEC anytime they require us.

12. Wide shot of participants attending the last day of the workshop.
13. Medium shot of Badrieh Al- Balbisi, the secretary general of ArabEMBs
with another participant during the workshop.
14. Close up shot of one of the participants in the workshop.
 15. Wide shot of the workshop room with participants listening to a
facilitator during the last day of the workshop on strengthening
institutional capacity of Somalias National Independent Electoral
Commission.
16. SOUNDBITE (ARABIC): SAAD AL ABDALI - HEAD OF PARTIES
REGISTRATION DEPARTMENT, IRAQ.
The Somalia electoral and political laws are similar to those of
Iraq. We have a good experience in Iraq and this is what I came to
share with our people in Somalia.

17. Medium shot of one of NIEC officials receiving certificates of

participation from Gerald Mitchel, the Director of the Integrated
Electoral Support Group in Somalia.
18. Medium shot of another participant, posing for a photo with Ms. Halima
Ibrahim, the Chairperson of the NIEC.
19. Medium shot of a participant receiving a certificate of participation from
Gerald Mitchel, the Director of the Integrated Electoral Support Group
in Somalia, after the end of the workshop.
20. Medium shot of another participant posing for a photo with Ms. Halima
Ibrahim, the Chairperson of the NIEC after receiving a certificate of
participation.
21. SOUNDBITE (SOMALI): SAID ALI SHEIKH - DEPUTY
CHAIRPERSON OF THE SOMALI NATIONAL INDEPENDENT
ELECTORAL COMMISSION.
We have learnt theory from the training and we are hoping to put
the knowledge into practice and share with colleagues whom we
left behind, so that we implement the ideas we got from the
training. It was a useful training and this is going to be helpful in
the tasks ahead.

22. Medium shot of several participants posing for a group photo, during
the closure of the workshop.
23. Medium shot of several participants posing for a group photo, during
the closure of the workshop.
24. Wide shot of all participants posing for a group photo.

STORY

We are on right track, says Somalias electoral body after capacity

building training

Nairobi, 13 July 2017 Somalias electoral body the National Independent

Electoral Commission (NIEC) - has described as very fruitful and beneficial a
three-day capacity building workshop which closed yesterday in the Kenyan
capital, in which matters related to the registration, regulation, funding and
monitoring of political parties in their country were discussed.

Twenty-seven participants who attended the training expressed optimism that

the lessons, experiences and knowledge gained, would help the countrys
electoral body deliver its one-person-one-vote mandate in the 2020/2021
elections.

Yes, we are on good track in meeting our mandate. Its a good start, Said
Ali Sheikh, the NIEC deputy chairperson said, in response to whether the
workshop had strengthened the capacity of the body to hold democratic
elections in Somalia.
Mohamed Omar, the commissions head of political parties registration, said
the workshop drew from experiences and lessons in Africa and the Arab
world. Step by step and we will get there as regards universal suffrage.

The meeting gathered electoral experts from Kenya, Nigeria, Iraq, Palestine,
Tunisia, Sudan and the UN Development Programme- United Nations
Assistance Mission in Somalias Integrated Electoral Support Group (IESG).
Through group work, presentations and discussions, the participants were
trained in matters related to the registration of parties, monitoring campaign
financing and observing international standards for candidate nomination.

Facilitators included, among others; Aminu Idris, the deputy director of the
Nigeria Independent Electoral Commission; Saad Al Abdali, head of political
parties registration department in Iraq; Mouldi Ayari, the adviser of the
Tunisian Parliament and former head of the countrys Electoral Campaign
Department; and Anis Al-Sbaa, the head of political parties department of the
Palestine Central Elections Commission.
According to my own perspective, [the meeting] was successful and it
achieved its objectives of exchanging and sharing knowledge, experiences
and lessons in the management of electoral processes, said Badrieh M.A. Al-
Balbisi, Secretary General of the ArabEMBS (an association of electoral
management bodies of ten Arab countries, including Somalia), which
organized the training.

We have given various experiences on procedures and reforms, and

highlighted experiences from these countries and electoral bodies. We also
looked at challenges and possible solutions, Ms. Al-Balbisi added. She said
her organization was willing to continue assisting the NIEC deliver its mandate
in Somalia.
In her remarks at the close of the workshop, the NIEC Chairperson, Halima
Ismail Ibrahim, thanked the ArabEMBS organization and the IESG for
organizing and funding the training.

Gerald Mitchell, the IESG Director, described the training as a landmark

meeting, a peer-to-peer exchange of ideas, experiences and lessons. Rich
experiences have been drawn from Arab and African countries. Political
parties registration is a key step to universal suffrage of one-person-one-
vote, he noted, saying he looked forward to similar trainings in future.

Saad Al Abdali, the head of political parties registration department in Iraq,

said the workshop had achieved its objective of helping Somalias electoral
body strengthen its capacity to oversee the registration and monitoring of the
countrys political parties, and their ultimate funding. The Somalia electoral
and political laws are similar to those of Iraq. We have a good experience in
Iraq and this is what I came to share with our people in Somalia.

The workshop provided a good opportunity for the exchange of ideas,

experiences and lessons. We agreed [in the workshop] to have continuous
assistance to the NIEC anytime they require us, Mr. Al Abdali added.
Participants commended their facilitators for the insights they shared at the
workshop, saying the training would go a long way in strengthening
democratic institutions in Somalia.

END