Panelists at the CSIS/NDI event on elections in the DRC.
Daniel Laurent, IFES Program Officer for Central Africa, participated in “Election Preparations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),” a panel discussion to assess the DRC’s readiness to hold its second-ever democratic elections scheduled for November 28, 2011. The event was co-hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
The event featured Rev. Daniel Mulunda-Nyanga, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), who spoke about the ongoing preparations and the difficult timetable for elections. NDI’s Barrie Freeman expressed concerns over the slow pace of voter registration and signs of renewed violence. Mark Schneider of the International Crisis Group recommended that political parties in the DRC agree on a contingency plan to avoid a constitutional crisis if the election timetable cannot be met, a suggestion that is covered at length in the latest Crisis Group report. Daniel Laurent described IFES' civic and voter education activities in the DRC under the USAID-funded Voter Opinion and Involvement through Civic Education (VOICE) Project. Mr. Laurent also covered elements of IFES' VOICE+ initiative, funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), with additional funding expected through the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
IFES has been working in the DRC for over a decade, most recently with programs aimed at tackling corruption and building the capacity of civil society. Through VOICE and VOICE+, IFES will conduct a range of activities aimed at enabling Congolese stakeholders to better understand and engage in democratic processes; motivating citizens, particularly excluded groups, to engage with the government and participate in elections; and fostering indigenous capacity to implement civic and voter education campaigns.
Building on the foundation of a solid set of activities and tools, as well as lessons learned from the 2006 elections, the VOICE project is introducing a number of innovative components, including a contest leading to the production and broadcast of three popular songs promoting political participation, production of a comic book and other media programming on decentralization, and civic education outreach through non-traditional civic education actors such as teachers and community leaders.