CONTACT:
In Khartoum: Deborah Hakes, +249 909010573
or dhakes@emory.edu
Khartoum…The Carter Center announced today that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Algerian Foreign Minister and member of the Elders Lakhdar Brahimi, Judge Joseph Warioba, and Carter Center President and CEO Dr. John Hardman will lead the Center's international election observation delegation to observe Sudan's April 2010 elections.
The Carter Center mission of more than 60 international observers from over 20 countries will be deployed in each of Sudan's 25 states to assess the electoral environment surrounding polling, counting, and vote tabulation.
"The Center's presence demonstrates international interest in Sudan's electoral process while providing an impartial assessment of the overall quality of the elections," said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
The Carter Center conducts its observation missions in accordance with the Declaration of Principles of International Election Observation, which was adopted at the United Nations in 2005, and has been endorsed by 35 election observation groups.
In August 2009, The Carter Center finalized memoranda of understanding with the Government of National Unity (GONU) and the National Elections Commission (NEC), and the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), which state that the Center's mission has freedom of access throughout the country and to all stages and actors in the electoral process. Carter Center long-term observers have been deployed in Sudan since August 2009 to assess pre-election developments.
Separate but parallel to its international observation efforts, the Center also provides technical capacity building and training in support of Sudanese civil society organizations that are active in election observation. This work has been welcomed by the NEC and has also been included under the Center's memoranda of understanding with the GONU and GOSS.
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The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers to increase crop production. The Carter Center began working in Sudan in 1986 on the Sasakawa-Global 2000 agricultural project and for more than 20 years its health and peace programs have focused on improving health and preventing and resolving conflicts in Sudan. Please visit www.cartercenter.org to learn more about The Carter Center.
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