Participants during the opening of the workshop

Transcription

1 Report on Election learning and planning workshop, October 2008, Juba, Southern Sudan. Introduction, Background and Context: The five day workshop in Election learning and planning was facilitated by the DanChurchAid to promote a greater understanding of how the church in Sudan can contribute to ensuring a free and fair, inclusive and peaceful election process in Sudan in 2009 and to develop a clear joint strategy and action plan. Participants during the opening of the workshop The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 stipulates that democratic transition should take place and that an important step in the process is the multi-level elections which are scheduled for For the first time in many Sudanese lives, they will have a decisive say in what government will represent them. This includes a lot of challenges, especially because of the lack of experiences the population, government and civil society face. There is a significant risk of failure and that will have a highly negative impact on the further peace process. Therefore, the workshop aimed to contribute to an active, effective and coordinated involvement of the Sudanese Church in the upcoming elections through an agreed plan of action. Key issues have been civic and voter education, election monitoring and raise of awareness to potential risks to the democratic process as well as the role of the Church to cope with this threats. The workshop built on experiences of the Kenyan Episcopal Conference (KEC)-Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) and the National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK) through their involvement in elections in Kenya as well as on experiences by Research Centre for Civic and Human 1

2 rights Education (RCCHE) which was involved in the election process in Ethiopia. Workshop sessions: The workshop started on day one, the 13 th October 2008, with the official opening and began with a welcome and prayers by the DanChurchAid. Participants then introduced themselves. Participants during the introduction session On day two, the 14 th October 2008, the General Secretary Rev. Peter Tibi of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) gave a brief overview of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA): the background on the CPA, the status and the role of the elections in the CPA implementation. He stressed that the elections in 2009 are supposed to be the beginning of a democratic process, but he also raised awareness for the huge challenges in Sudan, especially in the areas of voter education and civic education. After this presentation, the participants shared their workshop expectations in small groups and presented then the results to the plenum. The Kenya election experience. The workshop went on with introductory remarks by the KEC-CJPC Chairman He talked about the role of the Churches in a democratization process and its authority to declare the peoples voice. Therefore he stressed the importance for the Church to establish democratic principles (e.g. democratic structures, accountability, and integrity) to be an example. The Church should also move away from tribal stereotypes (e.g. to clarify that individuals, and not tribes, vote), empower the congregation in civic education (e.g. to inform them about the election process), invest in research (e.g. provide technical support) and monitor the elections (e.g. to control that there is no corruption and/or manipulation). He also pointed out the key issue of unity: The Church needs to speak with one voice to be clearly heard. Also the importance of networking with other Faith based groups need to be considered. All in all, the role of the 2

3 Church in the election process should be to: Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. KEC Secretary General during his presentation on KEC experience on elections. The Ethiopia Election experience The RCCHE representative explained their strategies in the election process in Ethiopia. Their four major programmes were: Voter education, Discussion forums, Preparing Newsletters and Observing the elections. The RCCHE did voter education to encourage the voting age citizens by raising their consciousness on democratic rights and responsibilities. They tried to link democracy, rights, good governance and elections. Strategies for it have been to conduct voter education teaching projects and to work together with the National Election Board (NEB), local government offices, Women and Youth Associations, Social Service institutions (e.g. schools, clinics) and community structures (e.g. Churches, Mosques, traditional leadership). By organizing discussion forums, the RCCHE s intention was to create a platform for the candidates to introduce themselves and their programme and to raise and strengthen the civic awareness of voters about the candidates. They developed a Newsletter called ( Voice of the Voters ) to provide education and information on election as well as knowledge about the role and responsibilities of voters. The observing of the elections was installed to witness whether or not the election was free and fair. Therefore the RCCHE selected and trained observers and decided which polling stations need to be observed and assigned the elections observers. 3

4 RCCHE Director during presentation on Ethiopia experience on elections. He also explained the three different phases during the election process: 1. The Pre-Implementation, while the project is on progress 2. The on going project 3. The Post-Implementation The first phase is the Pre-Implementation in which the project proposal needs to be written and the secretariat needs to be established as well as the activities need to be scheduled (e.g. Preparation of training material; selecting trainers, areas and observers; offering voter education). The second phase is the ongoing project in which the progress needs to be monitored (e.g. field visits). The third phase is the Post-Implementation in which the project needs to be evaluated to identify success and failure and to assess the outcome. The representative of the RCCHE closed his presentation by their lessons learnt during the electoral process. He stressed the importance to involve government and community officials in the process, to use existing traditional community structures to promote voter and civic education, to hire local people for the civic and voter education and that voter education should be part of civic education and be given continuously. The NCCK representative gave an overview of the experience in the national democratic election processes from 1992 to 2008 in Kenya (incl. voter education and elections observation). He explained that Kenya suffers from deep hatred among its 42 ethnic groups and that the hatred is used by politicians to mobilize support for them. Most parties were formed along ethnic lines or are an alliance of various tribes. The five largest tribes controlled all the three main parties and that led to an outbreak of violence in the last election in

5 Kamau-the NCCK representative Therefore Sudan Churches should be aware of potential violence and develop strategies how to minimize risks and prepare themselves how they can deal with escalations. After this presentation, also the KEC-CJPC representative gave an overview of their experience in the national democratic election processes from 1992 to 2008 (incl. voter education and elections observation) in Kenya. The lessons learnt by them are the following: civic and voter education should be a continuous process; the Church has to notice their potential; the candidates should also be trained with voter education; the planning should be done as early as possible; the methodologies have to be sensitive to the audience; the civil society, the Church and Faith based organizations need to take care of voter education because the government usually does not; foreign observers are important, but the citizens must be in the forefront and that volunteers for election observers are needed to minimize costs. On day three, the 15 th October 2008, Ernest Murimi, the Executive Secretary of the CJPC, hold a presentation about the Role and methodologies adapted by the Catholic Church in voter education and election observation, with perspectives of the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru. He explained that the Kenyan African National Union (KANU) had been one party between 1962 and So the introduction of multi-party elections called for an urgent and intensive civic education to enhance awareness and skills in a population which had very little experiences and knowledge of how democratic multi-party electoral processes operate. The CJPC programme was divided into two major phases: the election process and the monitoring of the elections. The election process was carried out six month prior to the Election Day. It included networking with other Churches and like minded organizations as well as cooperating with Diocesan administrative structures. Workshops were held to motivate people to turn up, vote wisely, faithfully, and freely train others about it. 5

6 RECONCILE Executive Director leading participants during energizing exercise. The election monitoring concentrated on the recruitment of poll watcher and training of count certifiers and campaign observers. The Achievements were the following: an increment of voters since 1992; the general election of 2002 was relatively free from politically instigated violence; the civil society is more aware of their rights and responsibilities and Poll watchers and Count certifiers have been trained to promote free and fair elections by observing the electoral process. The Registration of voters is still a big challenge in Kenya (e.g. incidents of multiple registration or registration of people below 18 years). Another challenge is that communities are divided according to ethnicity during campaign periods. This promotes hatred and violence. In such cases, the Diocese initiated activities for emergency and rehabilitation projects. Also illegal voting and other election malpractices are a huge challenge. In the further discussion it was stressed again that a post-war country can t turn into democracy over night. Election can t answer all problems, but it is a vision to a better future. The Sudanese need to make the best out of it and to find the best solution for Sudan. The Church needs to ensure that people at least have their basic documents and needs to encourage everyone to register. They should use all means available to motivate everyone to vote, but also to raise awareness of the costs of democracy (e.g. to be competed by other parties and to face it without violence). John Ebenyo, the conflict transformation officer for KEC-CJPC, stressed in his presentation the importance to address different levels of society for voter education and election monitoring. He gave an overview of the Clergy and the Staff Role at National and Regional Level. Other networks which were sustained by the KEC-CJPC are: religious and other faith based organizations, 6

7 the government of Kenya, related Civil Society Organizations, Financial partners and the International community. The following lessons were learnt: Linking grassroots and national initiatives; effective and efficient coordination John Ebenyo-KEC-CJPC Conflict Transformation officer His recommendation for Sudan was to start with what you have around you. Take your responsibility and from there you can change the world. Following, John Ebenyo presented the management of election tension and violence in Kenya with special focus on the role of the Youth. His conclusion was that the Church, government and the international community can identify tension, violence and conflict actors through researches. Researches must therefore continually be done to establish the best strategy for the Sudanese based approach to the problem of the Youth. This input by John Ebenyo opened a plenary discussion on risks of crisis and violence to be trigged by election process in Sudan. Some are listed here: no acceptance of the results, manipulation of results, key people are not represented in the parties, representatives are failing, people are not prepared for the election, there is no unity in the SPLM, the population is still armed.it became very obvious through the discussion that Sudan has to face huge challenges and risks by the election process. The Representatives of the United Nations (UN) introduced basic principles of elections and the electoral process as well as Election preparations. Further on, detailed information about the National Election Act in Sudan was given. It was explained that there will be six different elections: the President of the Republic of Sudan; the President of GOSS; the State Governors; the National Assembly; the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly and the State Assemblies. The Electoral system will be a mixed one: The elections of the President of the Republic of Sudan, the President of GOSS and the State Governors will be Executive Elections. The elections of the National Assembly, the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly and the State Assemblies will be Legislative elections. 7

8 According to the law a voter shall be Sudanese, 18 years of age (and above), registered in the Electoral register and sound of mind. The Role of the Civil Society in the electoral process is civic and voter education, domestic observation and advocacy. Civic education should focus on explanations about democracy, what the elections are about, what the rights and responsibilities of citizens are, what the roles of elected representatives are and to encourage women to participate. The key messages of voter education should be: Your vote is secret! You need to register to be able to vote! Women have a right to vote! Vote for who you want your vote is secret! The possible role of Churches in this process could be to help allay fears, to help correct any misconceptions and misinformation, to urge tolerance for different viewpoints and to urge acceptance that a voter s preferred candidate or party may not win. After the shared experiences from the Church of Kenya and Ethiopia as well as the representation about the Election law and process in Sudan by the UN, the Sudanese Church was asked to develop action plans how their involvement in the upcoming elections may look like. The participants were divided into four small groups: 1) voter education 2) election monitoring 3) National advocacy for free and fair elections (including voter education of policy makers) 4) Management of election unrest On day four, the 16 th October 2008, the workshop started with the representation of the Action plans Action plans: Following Reflections and Comments to the action plans were given by the CJPC, NCCK and RCCHE: Plans, tasks and roles need to be more specific (e.g. Where do you get the funds?, With whom do you partner?, How many people do you need?, Who is responsible? etc.)! Inform your staff about the workshop and the strategies! 8

9 Look for strategic and like-minded partners to be more effective! Figure out what your major activities in the process are you can t do everything! Think strategic (e.g. What is the first step?, What materials can be converted from other organizations? etc.)! Train yourself and the observers early about the electoral process! Update yourself about staff, structures, timeframe, budget, activities and partners! Make the right contribution to the right time! Form a domestic observation programme through networking! Resolutions Based on the developed Action Plans and the given recommendations, the following resolutions came up: Resolutions: Sudan Council of Churches Resolutions During the Electoral Learning and Planning Workshop held in Juba from 13 to 17 of October 2008, organized by the Sudan Council of Churches with support from DanChurchAid, and drawing from the experience of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), Kenya Episcopal Conference Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (KEC - CJPC), Research Center for Civic and Human Rights Education (RCCHE) from Ethiopia, the leaders of the SCC discussed issues relating to the forthcoming National General Elections (NGE) 2009 as provided for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) resolved as follows: 1. The Sudanese Church leaders will maintain unity and speak with one voice. 2. Any action undertaken by the Sudan Council of Churches in relation to the electoral process will be based on professional research and factual evidence. 3. The Sudan Council of Churches will develop national civic, voter education and election observation programs in collaboration with partners. 9

10 4. The SCC will strengthen its existing Inter-Church Committee structures, particularly at Payam and Boma levels, to enable quick identification and response to potential challenges. 5. The SCC will develop capacity building on democratic governance, voter education, and the electoral process for the following target groups: a. Church leadership; b. Voter educators; and c. Election observers. 6. The Council will promote the Inter-Religious network in relation to the electoral process. 7. The Sudan Council of Churches will network with the following partners in developing and disseminating information on the electoral process: a. National Election Commission (NEC) b. International Non-Governmental Organizations c. UN Agencies d. Indigenous NGOs and civil society e. Traditional Leaders, and f. Media 8. The SCC will follow-up on the democratic process and always maintain neutrality. 9. The Sudan Council of Churches will encourage members of the public to acquire national identity and voter cards. 10. The Council will make use of the already existing traditional, community and government structures to ensure the voice of the Sudanese people is fairly heard. 11. The Sudan Council of Churches will facilitate the formation of a high committee at the national level to monitor the electoral process. 12. The Sudan Council of Churches will establish sub-committees at the regional level to ensure grassroots monitoring. 13. The Sudan Council of Churches will advocate for representation in the Independent National Election Commission. 14. The Council will encourage transparent debates through open media forums. 10

11 15. The SCC will issue pastoral letters which highlight concerns over the electoral process. Signed this 17 th day of October 2008 at Juba Raha Hotel in Juba by: Rev Musa Kodi Jura Chairman Rev Peter L. Tibi General Secretary Report-compiled by, Simon Chol, Peace Building Officer RECONCILE 11