The United Kingdom has provided three million pounds (£3m) grant to a Consortium of Civil Society groups for the project “standing together for free, fair and peaceful elections 2018.”
The Consortium members include Search for Common Ground, which is the lead organisation, WestMinster Foundation for Democracy, National Election Watch (NEW), Independent Radio Network (IRN), Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR) and 50/50 Group.
At the launching of the project at the Kona Lodge, the British High Commissioner Guy Warrington said this project is for Civil Society engagement with the country’s population in the 2018 elections.
He stated that UK is “very pleased to launch this new program to strengthen the role of Civil Society in delivering free, fair and peaceful elections in February 2018. We have seen the valuable role that Civil Society has played in previous elections in Sierra Leone.”
Commissioner Warrington hoped that to see “that this program can contribute to delivering a robust and transparent electoral process with strong engagement from citizens.”
The Country Director of Search for Common Grounds Jimmy Sankaituah said his organisation “believes that working together in promoting democratic governance is not only one of the best ways to transform processes, but the surest way to sustain peace, stability and progress in a democracy and this UKAid supported project is contributing to achieving just that.”
According to a press release from the Consortium the grant is intended to enhance the capacity of Civil Society and citizens to work collaboratively with the government of Sierra Leone and the Elections Management Bodies (EMBs) in making the 2018 elections free, fair and peaceful.
They welcomed the involvement of all citizens and Civil Society Organisations in achieving the objectives of the project and it includes a series of capacity-building, outreach and violence prevention activities “which will enhance the knowledge and awareness of citizens and will help foster collaboration and mutual trust between Civil Society, citizens, media institutions and decision-makers”.
The project will also help consolidate the capabilities of all stakeholders, including women, youth and people with disabilities to engage constructively in a more policy- based electoral process, they will also monitor the voter registration exercise, polling and tallying and will help facilitate media synergy on election day
By Betty Milton
Tuesday January 24, 2017