Sierra Leone: EU to observe Presidential and Parliamentary Elections

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, said: "The second post-conflict elections are crucial for sustaining peace and furthering democracy in Sierra Leone. In line with the UN Peace Building Commission, for which Sierra Leone is a priority country in its efforts to build sustainable peace in Africa, I believe that the country deserves every support contributing to genuine elections. I have therefore decided to deploy an EU EOM led by the Member of the European Parliament Marie Anne Isler Béguin."

The EOM Core Team of seven people and 28 Long Term Observers (LTOs) will be deployed during July to assess the campaign period and pre-election preparations around the country and, in addition, 42 Short Term Observers (STOs) will be deployed over the election-day period to observe voting, counting and the tabulation of results. It is planned that the EU EOM will remain in country in case of a second round of the Presidential election. The EU EOM will continue its operations for a number of weeks after the election-day in order to assess the post-election period.

EU Election Observation Missions are an important instrument for building confidence in the democratic processes of a country and are deployed in line with the EU's commitment to promote democracy, human rights and the respect for the rule of law. The EU has made available some €3 million from the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) for this mission.

The European Commission is one of Sierra Leone's most important development cooperation partners and is providing funds to assist the country in implementing its development and socio-economic reform agenda. The European Commission supports the organisation of Sierra Leone's elections with €7.5 million.

For additional information, see also:
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/eidhr/index_en.htm

The EU's Human rights and Democratisation Policy - EU Election Assistance & Observation

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• Sierra Leone: EU Presidency Declaration on Presidential elections (21/9/2007)
• EU Presidency Declaration on Sierra Leone elections (17/8/2007)
• Sierra Leone: EUHR Solana on success of 11 August elections (13/8/2007)