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 The Secretariat of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) organized the third Election Management Capacity Building Program of 2019 with the topic of “Approaches to Encourage Political Participation of Prospective Voters.” Held in Incheon, South Korea, from October 22 to November 1, the program gathered 17 electoral officials from 7 countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Paraguay, and Tonga. The participants introduced the current status of their voter education initiatives as well as the challenges they face in the process of engaging young and future voters in the electoral process. Through case study presentations, they also learned about how voter education programs are being carried out by different countries and had an opportunity to discuss the best methods to provide voter information, voter education, and civic education to different prospective target groups.
On October 22, a short orientation for the participants was followed by an opening ceremony where Director General Daeil Kim gave his welcoming remarks.
 In the afternoon, Professor Kyung Bae Park from Korean Institute for Development Strategy (KDS) introduced the participants to the political system of South Korea. He then proceeded to present a guideline on drafting an Action Plan so that the participants can work on creating specific goals to encourage the political participation of prospective voters within the context of each country.
On October 23, Yvonne Goudie from International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) gave a series of lectures on the “Development of Focused Civic and Voter Education Programs.” During one of the activities, the participants broke down into small groups and were given some time to create educational materials, such as posters and jingles, to target specific audiences. Throughout the session, they shared some of the main concerns they have on designing voter education programs and listened to each other’s suggestions, comments, and insights on those issues.
On October 24, participants attended the 2019 Seoul International Forum on Elections, which was hosted by the Nation Election Commission of the Republic of Korea. The Forum allowed the participants to hear from experts in the field of elections and democracy about election management, election campaigns in the new media era, and previous cases of increased voting participation.
Aberra Degefa Negewo from the National Election Commission of Ethiopia shared his impression on the Forum saying, “Disinformation and role of social media in the electoral process is one of the problems that we have in Ethiopia. Also, the protection of privacy and freedom of expression are always disputable. We are going to conduct our own elections in 2020, so it is a good opportunity for me to know what kind of problems that we are going to encounter in the process of elections. Overall, the exercises and lectures help our elections in 2020 to be conducted successfully.”
On October 25, the participants visited the Korean Civic Education Institute for Democracy (KOCEI) to take part in the “Voter Political Festival.” Emna Bouladi from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) moderated the country report presentations, which were open for outside observers to attend. The country reports provided a unique opportunity for the participants to encounter voter education tools such as stickers, posters, magazines, and other publications used in real life by the participating countries. The participants also discussed the similarities and differences they have regarding their current trends of youths in voting and the role of EMB in imparting voter education.
During the trip to Seoul on October 26, the participants visited Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Namdaemun Traditional Market, where they gained cultural experience and learned some of the Korean history.
On October 28, Yoon Tae Kim from Korean Civic Education Institute for Democracy (KOCEI) presented a case study of the Republic of Korea and its school-based voter education programs. From this session, the participants took a closer look at the ongoing efforts in Korea to educate and familiarize the youth on the electoral process. Mr. Kim showed a variety of examples such as mock elections, student debates, and lecture contests, that are used to attract young people to take part in political activities. 
On the morning of October 29, Professor Kyung Bae Park visited with each country group to discuss their Action Plan drafts. The participants had a chance to ask any questions they have regarding the content of the presentation materials, and Professor Park gave feedback based on his observations. 
In the afternoon, Michelle Malunga from the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) led a case study on Zambia with the topic of “Using Media to Provide Voter Education to Youth.” During the session, the participants were encouraged to brainstorm ways to end voter apathy among young people in their own countries and discuss how to encourage them to participate in the political decision-making process based on lessons learned from ongoing projects in Zambia.
On October 30, Commissioner Tito F. Guia from the Commission on Elections Philippines (COMELEC) presented the final case study, which focused on “Electoral Education for First-Time Voters in Remote Communities & Linguistic Minorities.” From the lecture, the participants were introduced to the multiple initiatives carried out by the Philippines to reach first-time voters such as leadership camps, “Rock the Vote” concerts, and social media outreach.
On October 31, each participating country presented their Action Plan, which was moderated by Professor Kyung Bae Park. Starting with Tonga, each country addressed its strengths and weaknesses in encouraging the political participation of specific target groups and the opportunities and threats they face while meeting their goals. The participants actively listened and asked questions to one another to help each Action Plan to become more efficient, practical, and constructive. The participants from Jamaica, Paraguay, and Tonga stated their plans to create an official report based on the Action Plans formulated during the CBP for the improvement of election management and voter & civic education in their respective countries.
On November 1, a closing ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of the 3rd Election Management Capacity Building Program. Secretary General Jong Hyun Choe gave a farewell speech to the participants, and some of the participating countries presented gifts to the Secretariat. (*Click on the link below for more images.)
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