Election Processes Assessment Team Concludes Mission to Djibouti

Djibouti, Djibouti – Democracy International (DI) announces the completion of the first phase of its Electoral Processes Assessment Team (EPAT) mission to assess preparations for Djibouti’s 2011 presidential elections scheduled for 2011.  The EPAT mission is part of a long-term effort which will include pre-election, election and post-election observation, a comprehensive approach not characteristic of most electoral observation missions.  The EPAT mission visited Djibouti-ville and all regions of the country from November 1 to 9 and was led by Mr. Christian Hennemeyer, an expert in electoral processes with over 20 years of experience working in Africa, Dr. El Obaid Ahmed El Obaid, an international legal, electoral and human rights expert with considerable experience in Africa and the Middle East and Mr. Kevin Colbourne, an international expert in election observation.

Read more after the break.   

The EPAT mission was warmly received by a variety of stakeholders including the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Communications, senior government officials, district prefectures and regional councils, representatives from all registered political parties, civil society organizations and members of the media.

“We are encouraged by the great interest shown by all segments of Djibouti to engage with us and discuss the upcoming elections and we received very valuable input from a variety of sources”, noted Chris Hennemeyer, Head of Mission.   “We look forward to sharing our observations regarding this mission and to continued collaboration with all stakeholders throughout the electoral process.”  

The EPAT is now undertaking a review of all the information received during their mission and will come forward with observations aimed at promoting credible and transparent elections so Djiboutians can have increased confidence in their electoral process. 

DI’s observation mission is designed to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the Djiboutian electoral process from the planning stages through to vote certification with four more election visits scheduled during the period before, during and after the 2011 Presidential elections.  This represents the first time such a long-term systematic observation of Djibouti’s electoral process has been undertaken.  The work of the observer delegation was preceded by a political party round table discussion that discussed electoral observation.  All of Djibouti’s registered parties participated in the discussion.

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U.S.-based Democracy International designs, implements and evaluates election support and other democracy and governance assistance programs around the world. Since its founding in 2003, DI has worked in more than 35 countries. DI conducted the U.S. observation mission to elections in Pakistan in February 2008 and since then has carried out election-related projects in Albania, Ecuador, Ghana, Indonesia, Liberia and Sudan. For updated information on DI’s observation mission to Djibouti, please visit www.democracyinternational.com and DI’s Twitter feed: DemocracyIntl. For specific requests please contact Kevin Colbourne, Director of Observation Programs by phone:  +253- 34 46 52 or email: kcolbourne@democracyinternational.com