SENEGAL-POLITICS-SENSITIZATION / Ziguinchor: UASZ students trained in electoral conflict prevention

A four-day training workshop for some sixty students from the Université Assane Seck de Ziguinchor (UASZ) got underway on Sunday, with the aim of equipping participants to prevent electoral violence.

The meeting is organized by the Gorée Institute, in collaboration with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), as part of the "Synergie citoyenne pour la prévention de la violence électorale et la consolidation de la paix avec les jeunes" (Jamm ak ndaw ñi) initiative.

"The Gorée Institute wants to contribute its electoral expertise to the prevention of electoral violence, especially that linked to the elections.lectoral violence, especially that associated with young people, particularly students", explained Gorée Institute general manager Abdou Rahmane Sow.

"We want to contribute to sparing the Senegalese public university from political and electoral violence, by equipping and significantly involving students in the prevention of electoral violence.of violence and social cohesion in their communities," he added.

Given that some Senegalese universities have remained closed for months due to the violence, "[...] we felt it was necessary to set up this project.we deemed it necessary to set up this project, considering students as actors, in order to mitigate violence both at university level and in local communities", said Mr. Sow. Sow.

He pointed out that at the end of the training, funding will be made available to beneficiaries, to enable them to implement initiatives to prevent electoral violence.

"The upcoming presidential election is important for Senegal. With this in mind, we have decided to step up our collaboration with Senegalese academic institutions and universities, in order to address the issue of electoral violence.galaises, to deal with electoral violence", explained Aïssata Ahmedou Tidiani Baal, Program Manager at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

"We want messages of peace to be passed on in the cultural, sporting and educational sectors. Our aim is to ensure that students know how to express their anger and political positions in a peaceful manner," added Ms. Baal.

At the end of the course, students will also receive certificates that should enable them to advance in their careers.

Source: aps.sn/