The objectives of the program are,
- To maintain the voter turnout above 80%
- To increase public awareness about the responsibilities of the voters
- To break away the “vote sale” culture
- To inform the public about the alternative criterion that could be used to choose a candidate to vote
Activities
Activities involved in the program are
- Voters’ registration checks
- Distributing leaflets
- Pickup rides to attract public and voice out awareness messages
- Posters and canvas conveying awareness messages
The motivation of CHOCO team leaders and volunteers are high at this moment. Constant contact was made with everyone. As a result, despite the challenges that occurred in facing the public, this activity was a success. Several errors were rectified in the registry and handed over to the Elections Commission. CHOCO wishes to highlight the support of Elections Commission in carrying out this program, especially the Representative of Elections Commission in South Huvadhoo Atoll, Mohamed Shamin. The activity was generally well received by the public, though there are some verbal offences to our volunteers from members of public.
Leaflets
Originally it was planned to distribute leaflets along with the door-to-door campaign of the registry checks. However, due to delays faced in printing and receiving them from Sri Lanka, the leaflet plan has to be postponed. We received them several days after the promised delivery date and this prompted a week’s break in the activities of the campaign.
The leaflets discussed briefly about the role of a member of the parliament, why should one vote, and important things to consider when deciding the vote. It was completely against bribery and disapproved that kind of activities strongly. It also encouraged making own decisions and the idea of “responsible voting”. (See Appendix 3)
We printed 2000 leaflets to be distributed in two constituencies which consist of Thinadhoo, Madaveli, Hoadehdhoo and Nadella islands. Leaflets were distributed in all these islands. This activity was carried out in the last 10 days of April.
Pickup Rides
Pickup rides were planned to be a central part of the program with collaborations from a local traditional music band. However, with limited collaboration from the band due to their other commitments, they could not involve in our pickup rides. We managed to arrange one ride throughout the island on May 2nd, 2009. A pickup was decorated with banners of awareness messages and posters and awareness messages were voiced out using megaphones. Posters
Posters were the most important part of the awareness program. It was aimed to show a different picture when there are floods of pictures of candidates all over. The posters relied heavily on eye catching graphics together with awareness messages. 2800 posters were printed and there were 8 varieties of posters. Posters were pasted in scattered locations all around the island to increase the exposure. Several posters were also distributed to the other islands in Madaveli constituency. Many posters were also delivered to around 70% of the households of Thinadhoo. There was one online poster which was not released in prints. Furthermore, 2 canvass prints were hanged in 2 locations of the island, in order to get further exposure. There have been criticisms from the public regarding the readability of the messages written in the posters due to the heavy reliance on graphics.
Financial Report
This section involves the donations and expense details of the program. The donations primarily came from the members of CHOCO NGO and candidates running for Thinadhoo seat of the parliament. Some donations came in the form of resources while others came in financial form.
Donations primarily came from candidates as they are considered primary beneficiaries, if candidates choose the ethical road to get elected. CHOCO are thankful for all the candidates for the generous donations. Expenses primarily occurred for the activities of the campaign. Administrative expenses included printing costs for registration checks. Refreshments and food consists of cost of providing supper and other finger food for volunteers when they were active on the campaign.
Total financial donations have exceeded total expenses by MRf 4,899. This was due to some activities were funded by donations from members. The program was devised to carry out on donations from public and candidates. However, obtaining funds from them on time was a difficult task and hence delays and difficulties occurred. Timely delivery of the activities was ensured through donations from CHOCO members. No member claimed back their contribution when donations from candidates were finally received and hence a surplus occurred from funds. This surplus fund would be used to setup the office of CHOCO in Thinadhoo and strengthen other administrative matters.
Income Statement of Higahele Campaign | |
MRf | |
Donations | |
Financial Donations by CHOCO members | 3,571 |
Financial Donations by candidates | |
Ahmed Abdulla Afeef* | 7,500 |
Mohamed Hilal | 2,000 |
Saudulla Hilmy | 2,900 |
Mohamed Gasam | 3,000 |
Abdulla Jihad | 4,000 |
Total Donations | 22,971 |
Expenses | |
Posters* | 7,500 |
Voter Registration Expenses | 3,285 |
Administrative Expenses | 590 |
Refreshments and Food | 1,261 |
Leaflet Printing Costs | 4,000 |
Pickup Ride Expenses | 630 |
Canvas Printing Costs | 806 |
Total Expenses | 18,072 |
Surplus | 4,899 |
Outcome
The objectives of the campaign is to increase the voter turnout and encourage “responsible voting” by the public.
Voter turnout was impressive, with 80.20% in Thinadhoo constituency and 81.57% in Madaveli constituency . This has achieved the target level turnout. Higahele program’s registration checks and other awareness campaigns would have contributed to this relatively high turnout level. Comparable data is not available from previous elections hence improvements with regards to previous turnouts on elections are not known.
Regarding the objective to increase the public awareness about the responsibilities and alternative criterions that can be used to choose a candidate, the exact outcome is not measured. But CHOCO believes that the outcome would be positive as the posters received considerable attention from the public. However this is not a substantiated claim.
With regards to the objective to break away the “vote sale” culture, there is a contribution from the campaign towards it. The public impression this time was not persuaded by money or other economic terms despite some widespread use of that technique. Rather, we saw that political party spirit win the choices of the majority of the public. In Thinadhoo constituency, biggest two parties in the country led, while in Madaveli constituency again parties came strong. But this is not a definitive statement that money did not play a part in election wins of parties. But effect of money was definitely minimised.
Evaluation
There was a strong sense of unity among the members through the campaign, especially at the start. The momentum and the spirit of the members and the volunteers are remarkable when then campaign started with the registration checks. However this momentum could not be kept due to major influences to join political campaigns of the candidates and hence internal divisions occurred in the program. This was a detrimental to the program as the campaign relied on the implied promise that the program would be neutral and promote an unbiased message. The campaign had its integrity; although some members did not contribute to this integrity. However, CHOCO are thankful of the effort and energy put by the members and volunteers; and being an infant NGO, this program provided CHOCO with invaluable lessons and experience.
The campaign drew support from public and most of the candidates alike. Hence collaboration of candidates must be noted.
A designated program manager was not appointed, thinking of the spirit of the members at the start. However, this inactivity from top backfired at important moments as there was no person to lead at some points. The hierarchy of communication was not mentioned and hence there was mayhem in hunting for updates.
Higahele program has vast rooms for improvement and with above suggestions incorporated into future programs, effectiveness of future programs could be multiplied.
Conclusion
To sum up, Higahele program was a campaign with an average effectiveness. The campaign achieved its major objectives, however in terms o coordination and team spirit of members, there are rooms for improvement. Given it is the first program of the NGO, it did relatively well and the lessons from this program would be valuable and used in future programs. CHOCO is determined to continue serving for the community and be the catalyst for development in Thinadhoo and broadly Huvadhoo Province.
The objectives of the campaign is to increase the voter turnout and encourage “responsible voting” by the public.
Voter turnout was impressive, with 80.20% in Thinadhoo constituency and 81.57% in Madaveli constituency . This has achieved the target level turnout. Higahele program’s registration checks and other awareness campaigns would have contributed to this relatively high turnout level. Comparable data is not available from previous elections hence improvements with regards to previous turnouts on elections are not known.
Regarding the objective to increase the public awareness about the responsibilities and alternative criterions that can be used to choose a candidate, the exact outcome is not measured. But CHOCO believes that the outcome would be positive as the posters received considerable attention from the public. However this is not a substantiated claim.
With regards to the objective to break away the “vote sale” culture, there is a contribution from the campaign towards it. The public impression this time was not persuaded by money or other economic terms despite some widespread use of that technique. Rather, we saw that political party spirit win the choices of the majority of the public. In Thinadhoo constituency, biggest two parties in the country led, while in Madaveli constituency again parties came strong. But this is not a definitive statement that money did not play a part in election wins of parties. But effect of money was definitely minimised.
Evaluation
There was a strong sense of unity among the members through the campaign, especially at the start. The momentum and the spirit of the members and the volunteers are remarkable when then campaign started with the registration checks. However this momentum could not be kept due to major influences to join political campaigns of the candidates and hence internal divisions occurred in the program. This was a detrimental to the program as the campaign relied on the implied promise that the program would be neutral and promote an unbiased message. The campaign had its integrity; although some members did not contribute to this integrity. However, CHOCO are thankful of the effort and energy put by the members and volunteers; and being an infant NGO, this program provided CHOCO with invaluable lessons and experience.
The campaign drew support from public and most of the candidates alike. Hence collaboration of candidates must be noted.
A designated program manager was not appointed, thinking of the spirit of the members at the start. However, this inactivity from top backfired at important moments as there was no person to lead at some points. The hierarchy of communication was not mentioned and hence there was mayhem in hunting for updates.
Higahele program has vast rooms for improvement and with above suggestions incorporated into future programs, effectiveness of future programs could be multiplied.
Conclusion
To sum up, Higahele program was a campaign with an average effectiveness. The campaign achieved its major objectives, however in terms o coordination and team spirit of members, there are rooms for improvement. Given it is the first program of the NGO, it did relatively well and the lessons from this program would be valuable and used in future programs. CHOCO is determined to continue serving for the community and be the catalyst for development in Thinadhoo and broadly Huvadhoo Province.
Appendices
Appendix 1 - Materials
