The 15th of February 2023 marked the official launch of the ‘Support to Chadian Citizen Actors and Elections’ (Appui aux Acteurs Citoyens Tchadiens et aux Elections – ACTE) project in N’Djamena, Chad. The project is funded through the generous support of the European Union. Ambassador Kurt Cornelis, Head of the European Union Delegation to Chad, along with Mr. Baidessou Soukolgue, Executive Director of EISA, attended the launch.

The event attracted several local officials including the Minister of the Economy and Development Planning and International Cooperation represented by Mr. Nadjib Amine, General Director of External Resources Mobilization, Mr. Issa Adjidei, General Director of the Permanent Bureau of Elections, General Khamis Rapo, former UN Police in charge of elections.

The launch was also attended by representatives of the diplomatic community and international electoral assistance providers including the South African Embassy; the United Kingdom Embassy, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), International IDEA, the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES); FHI360, as well as representatives of national civil society organizations and their members selected for the BRIDGE training.

The project launch was combined with the opening of a ‘BRIDGE Train the Facilitator workshop (BRIDGE TtF). The purpose of the workshop is to allow Chadian civil society and media actors to sharpen their expertise in order to address capacity-building needs within the partner networks of the ACTE project. The training is an important step for these groups that will be involved in monitoring electoral processes as well as civic and electoral education as part of the implementation of the ACTE project.