Election: Sudan
Sudan elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five year term by the people. Elections for the unicameral, 3SDG.gif60-member National Assembly were last held in December 2000. To read further on the politics in Sudan please visit ACE Electoral Knowledge Network.
The first round of Presidential elections will take place on April 11, 2010. The Sudan National Election Commission released the following manuals to assist citizens understand the voting process:
- Polling and Counting Guide
- An Election Reporting Handbook
- Civic and Voter Education Guidebook.
We invite individuals and other organizations from Sudan working in the area of promoting women in politics to share their views, agenda for the political parties and campaigns on iKNOW Politics.
Handbook for Women Candidates
We thought it would be useful to check this resource:
This Handbook for Women Candidates is the result of a series of workshops and meetings with women candidates and women active in political parties in Khartoum. It contains a toolkit on election campaigning and public speaking and is drafted specifically to meet the needs of candidates in emerging democracies
To check it please visit this link
Sudan Election: UNIFEM factsheet
COUNTRY
REPUBLIC OF THE SUDAN
ELECTION DATES
April 11-15, 2010
ELECTION DATA
Elections being contested
National Level
1. President of the Republic
2. Members of the National Assembly/Parliament (450 directly elected seats; 50 seats nominated from the 25 States)
[60% from the geographical constituencies; 25% of all seats are set aside for women 15% from party lists –proportional representation)
Sub-National Executive-
1. President of the Government of South Sudan (GoSS)
2. Members of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (170 seats)
3. Members of the 25 State Legislative Assemblies
4. Governors of States (25 states in Sudan)
Registered voters
Over 15,778,154
BACKGROUND
The elections are a key part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Sudan’s 22-year long civil war. The CPA resulted in the formation of a Government of National Unity with the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). As part of the CPA, elections were to take place in 2009, later postphoned to 2010. These are the first multi party elections in 24 years.
Election campaigns began on February 13. The key parties are the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). Smaller parties registered for the elections number over 40.
There are 820 women candidates in national and sub-national level elections in South Sudan out of a list of 2859 according to South Sudan Elections High Committee.
The NCP’s power base is largely in the North, while the SPLM dominates politics in the South of the country.
Elections are governed by the National Elections Act 2008; the Sudan Interim Constitution 2005 and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Sudan Government and Sudan People's Liberation Movement signed in Nairobi in 2005.
International observer missions on the ground include the African Union; European Union and the Carter Centre. Local observers have organized under the banner of the Sudan Network for Democratic Elections (SUNDE).
UN MANDATE
The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) is mandated under Security Council Resolution 1590 to “provide guidance and technical assistance to the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in cooperation with other international actors, to support the preparations for and conduct of elections and referenda provided for by the CPA” countrywide (including Darfur).This is done via the Electoral Assistance Division based in UNMIS.
The mandate of the EAD in UNMIS is to ensure implementation of the election mandate as set out in SCR 1590; technical assistance to the National Elections Commission (NEC) and to monitor implementation of CPA electoral provisions by its parties. Main activities: operational (logistics, field coordination, training) and technical (civic education; public information; stakeholder relations with parties, NGOs, donors etc.)
UNDP has a multi-donor elections project, providing technical support to the NEC, the Southern Sudan Elections High Committee and state high committees and the Political Parties Affairs Council (PPAC). It also engages with key stakeholders including political parties, media, observers, women, youth and special needs groups.
UNIFEM ACTIVITIES
1. Gender sensitive training for party officials in collaboration with the PPAC
2. Development of a common Women’s Agenda in consultation with 100 women from various regions supported by the Southern Sudan Women in Political Parties (SSWPP) and with women in other states e.g. Gezira women candidates launched a common agenda in preparation for the elections
3. UNIFEM chaired the Southern Sudan Gender Elections Working Group (SSGEWG) attended by UN agencies, donors, and international and Sudanese NGOs.
4. Deployment of a gender advisor to the NEC
5. Pre-deployment briefing on gender equality for AU observers
http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=1071
http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=1073
CONTACTS
In Sudan
Hodan Addou, Country Programme Manager
In New York
Rose Rwabuhihi Africa Geographic Section
SOURCES
http://unmis.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4295
http://www.sudanvotes.com/topics/?id=7&l=0
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6601&l=1
http://blog.cartercenter.org/category/countries/sudan/
http://reliefweb.int/rw/srch.nsf/doc304SearchResults?OpenForm&query=Sud…
http://reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/VVOS-84FKJL?OpenDocument&query=... elections
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=88&Body=Sudan&Body…
http://www.iss.co.za/iss_today.php?ID=92
Gender Briefing for Election Observers
Date: 12 April 2010
Juba — On the eve of Sudan’s first multiparty national elections in 24 years, UNIFEM in collaboration with the African Union (AU) Liaison Office in Southern Sudan held a briefing in Juba on 10 April for 40 election observers and monitors, including members of observation missions from the AU, the League of Arab States, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Sudan Network for Democratic Elections (SUNDE).
Members of the observation missions included former and current African diplomats, judges, academics, military officials and civil society activists. UNIFEM invited representatives of Southern Sudanese partner organizations, including women civil society activists and community leaders, who conveyed some of the challenges to equitable representation and participation of women in the election process.
The UNIFEM Country Programme Director for Sudan, Hodan Addou, noted that when assessing gender aspects of the elections, it was essential to consider the overall context of the status of women in Sudan, including the alarmingly high levels of illiteracy among the female electorate, as well as the cultural and social barriers impeding women’s political participation and rights, such as sexual and gender-based violence, insecurity, displacement and poverty.
Among the issues raised in discussions was the need to watch out for potential family voting, which could deprive women of their right to cast a secret and independent ballot. As participants noted, that risk was real, as over 90 percent of Southern Sudanese women were illiterate and would require assistance in casting their ballot.
The head of the AU Liaison Office in Southern Sudan, Ambassador Stanislas Nakaha, stressed that Sudanese women were more than ready to take up decision-making positions and practice their political rights as enshrined in the AU charter and protocols. “We will ensure that our monitoring and observation team will take gender perspectives into account. The recommendations that the observer mission will make on the improvements in the electoral process will help to inform future processes and we hope to highlight challenges and lessons learned for increasing political awareness and participation of women,” said the Ambassador.
For more information, please contact Hodan Addou, Country Programme Director, UNIFEM Sudan.
Handbook for Women Candidates
We thought it would be useful to check this resource:
This Handbook for Women Candidates is the result of a series of workshops and meetings with women candidates and women active in political parties in Khartoum. It contains a toolkit on election campaigning and public speaking and is drafted specifically to meet the needs of candidates in emerging democracies
To check it please visit this link
Sudan Election: UNIFEM factsheet
COUNTRY
REPUBLIC OF THE SUDAN
ELECTION DATES
April 11-15, 2010
ELECTION DATA
Elections being contested
National Level
1. President of the Republic
2. Members of the National Assembly/Parliament (450 directly elected seats; 50 seats nominated from the 25 States)
[60% from the geographical constituencies; 25% of all seats are set aside for women 15% from party lists –proportional representation)
Sub-National Executive-
1. President of the Government of South Sudan (GoSS)
2. Members of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (170 seats)
3. Members of the 25 State Legislative Assemblies
4. Governors of States (25 states in Sudan)
Registered voters
Over 15,778,154
BACKGROUND
The elections are a key part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Sudan’s 22-year long civil war. The CPA resulted in the formation of a Government of National Unity with the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). As part of the CPA, elections were to take place in 2009, later postphoned to 2010. These are the first multi party elections in 24 years.
Election campaigns began on February 13. The key parties are the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). Smaller parties registered for the elections number over 40.
There are 820 women candidates in national and sub-national level elections in South Sudan out of a list of 2859 according to South Sudan Elections High Committee.
The NCP’s power base is largely in the North, while the SPLM dominates politics in the South of the country.
Elections are governed by the National Elections Act 2008; the Sudan Interim Constitution 2005 and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Sudan Government and Sudan People's Liberation Movement signed in Nairobi in 2005.
International observer missions on the ground include the African Union; European Union and the Carter Centre. Local observers have organized under the banner of the Sudan Network for Democratic Elections (SUNDE).
UN MANDATE
The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) is mandated under Security Council Resolution 1590 to “provide guidance and technical assistance to the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in cooperation with other international actors, to support the preparations for and conduct of elections and referenda provided for by the CPA” countrywide (including Darfur).This is done via the Electoral Assistance Division based in UNMIS.
The mandate of the EAD in UNMIS is to ensure implementation of the election mandate as set out in SCR 1590; technical assistance to the National Elections Commission (NEC) and to monitor implementation of CPA electoral provisions by its parties. Main activities: operational (logistics, field coordination, training) and technical (civic education; public information; stakeholder relations with parties, NGOs, donors etc.)
UNDP has a multi-donor elections project, providing technical support to the NEC, the Southern Sudan Elections High Committee and state high committees and the Political Parties Affairs Council (PPAC). It also engages with key stakeholders including political parties, media, observers, women, youth and special needs groups.
UNIFEM ACTIVITIES
1. Gender sensitive training for party officials in collaboration with the PPAC
2. Development of a common Women’s Agenda in consultation with 100 women from various regions supported by the Southern Sudan Women in Political Parties (SSWPP) and with women in other states e.g. Gezira women candidates launched a common agenda in preparation for the elections
3. UNIFEM chaired the Southern Sudan Gender Elections Working Group (SSGEWG) attended by UN agencies, donors, and international and Sudanese NGOs.
4. Deployment of a gender advisor to the NEC
5. Pre-deployment briefing on gender equality for AU observers
http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=1071
http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=1073
CONTACTS
In Sudan
Hodan Addou, Country Programme Manager
In New York
Rose Rwabuhihi Africa Geographic Section
SOURCES
http://unmis.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4295
http://www.sudanvotes.com/topics/?id=7&l=0
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6601&l=1
http://blog.cartercenter.org/category/countries/sudan/
http://reliefweb.int/rw/srch.nsf/doc304SearchResults?OpenForm&query=Sud…
http://reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/VVOS-84FKJL?OpenDocument&query=... elections
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=88&Body=Sudan&Body…
http://www.iss.co.za/iss_today.php?ID=92
Gender Briefing for Election Observers
Date: 12 April 2010
Juba — On the eve of Sudan’s first multiparty national elections in 24 years, UNIFEM in collaboration with the African Union (AU) Liaison Office in Southern Sudan held a briefing in Juba on 10 April for 40 election observers and monitors, including members of observation missions from the AU, the League of Arab States, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Sudan Network for Democratic Elections (SUNDE).
Members of the observation missions included former and current African diplomats, judges, academics, military officials and civil society activists. UNIFEM invited representatives of Southern Sudanese partner organizations, including women civil society activists and community leaders, who conveyed some of the challenges to equitable representation and participation of women in the election process.
The UNIFEM Country Programme Director for Sudan, Hodan Addou, noted that when assessing gender aspects of the elections, it was essential to consider the overall context of the status of women in Sudan, including the alarmingly high levels of illiteracy among the female electorate, as well as the cultural and social barriers impeding women’s political participation and rights, such as sexual and gender-based violence, insecurity, displacement and poverty.
Among the issues raised in discussions was the need to watch out for potential family voting, which could deprive women of their right to cast a secret and independent ballot. As participants noted, that risk was real, as over 90 percent of Southern Sudanese women were illiterate and would require assistance in casting their ballot.
The head of the AU Liaison Office in Southern Sudan, Ambassador Stanislas Nakaha, stressed that Sudanese women were more than ready to take up decision-making positions and practice their political rights as enshrined in the AU charter and protocols. “We will ensure that our monitoring and observation team will take gender perspectives into account. The recommendations that the observer mission will make on the improvements in the electoral process will help to inform future processes and we hope to highlight challenges and lessons learned for increasing political awareness and participation of women,” said the Ambassador.
For more information, please contact Hodan Addou, Country Programme Director, UNIFEM Sudan.