2024 Legislative and Regional Elections: HCRRUN Strengthens the Capacities of Local Peace Committees for Peaceful Voting

Members of the Local Peace Committees (LPCs) from the Savanes, Kara, and Centrale Regions participated, from February 19 to 27, 2024, in capacity-building sessions on report writing, conflict prevention and resolution, and support to the High Commission for Reconciliation and Strengthening of National Unity (HCRRUN) in promoting peaceful elections.

Initiated by the HCRRUN, this series of regional workshops aims to strengthen the capacities of LPC members and enable them to effectively fulfil their assigned mission. The sessions equipped LPC members with administrative writing techniques, particularly in drafting reports and minutes, and enabled them to understand and apply conflict prevention and peaceful conflict resolution techniques. Through these workshops, LPC members also learned how to raise awareness among local communities and promote peaceful elections across the country.

The First Rapporteur of the HCRRUN, Mr. Evalo Wiyao, explained that, as part of its mission, the institution had decided to work in collaboration with the LPCs, which are community-based structures established in 2016 as part of the development of a sub-regional peace infrastructure. To strengthen this collaboration, he said, it was necessary to provide these committees, which operate at the grassroots level in the field of peacebuilding, with the appropriate tools to enable them to better support the HCRRUN.

Mr. Wiyao noted that, in addition to peacebuilding-related topics, electoral issues were also addressed during the sessions. “As we approach the elections, we considered it important to engage with these committees on issues that will enable the Togolese population to participate in the electoral process in a peaceful environment,” he added.

The First Rapporteur emphasized that, with the exception of the period from 2007 to the present, elections held in Togo had been marked by episodes of violence. Hence, the need to consolidate the progress achieved by the country since 2007 by drawing on best practices that can contribute to the organization of peaceful elections.

Mr. Wiyao concluded by recalling the role of the LPCs, which is primarily to raise awareness among political party activists about the freedom that must be guaranteed to all political parties to conduct their activities freely and normally during electoral periods.

Following the workshops held in Dapaong, Kara, and Sokodé, these regional capacity-building sessions for LPC members will continue in the other regions of the country.