Coalition created to strengthen voter education

In Kajo-Keji in Southern Sudan, the MS Sudan supported Kajo-Keji Resource Centre has taken the initiative in creating a voter education coalition.

By Janne Bruvoll, information officer, MS Sudan

24. October 2009

Five months from the scheduled elections in Sudan, the organisations involved in voter education in Kajo-Keji County have formed a coalition with the purpose of coordinating their efforts and reaching a wider audience.

The initiative in creating the voter education coalition was taken by Kajo-Keji Resource Centre at a voter education training conducted by MS Sudan. The purpose of the training was to prepare Kajo-Keji Resource Centre for the voter education activities that they will engage in up to the elections in April 2010. However, Kajo-Keji Resource Centre had invited a wider group of representatives from other civil society groups, international and faith based organisations as well as local education officials to take part in the workshop.

“We saw an urgent need for civic and voter education in the whole of Kajo-Keji County. Therefore, we invited the other organisations and groups to join us so that we can coordinate our efforts. It is important that we have a joint attempt to represent the entire civil society in our county,” says project officer Milla Amos Peter from Kajo-Keji Resource Centre.

As a result of the training session, a coalition was formed and it is now working on co-ordinating the efforts of all the organisations involved in voter education in Kajo-Keji County.

Enormous task
The purpose of the voter education coalition is to secure the widest possible coverage of Kajo Keji County and the focus of the activities will be on ensuring accountability and meeting local development concerns. In addition, it is important for the members of the coalition that everyone and not only the “traditional” elite are involved in the activities. Therefore, they want to ensure a variety of educational methods including debates, games, theatre and interactive radio programmes.

Milla Amos Peter has great expectations for the voter education coalition.

“It is my hope that the public will see the importance of the elections now that all the local organisations and groups are pushing for people to participate in the elections.”

According to Kajo-Keji Resource Centre, the voter education coalition is seen as a forerunner of a broader network of organisations working with civic education.

MS Sudan is happy to see that its partners are taking the lead in coordinating efforts in their areas of operation.

“They have realised the importance as well as the enormity of the task of educating people about the elections. It is about more than just explaining the technicalities of the elections because people must realise the opportunities the elections will provide in terms of political accountability and of channelling local concerns into the state and national decision making processes. To fulfil this enormous task, the organisations in Kajo-Keji must work together,” Lars Anderskouv, director of MS Sudan, says.

Lars Anderskouv conducted the voter education training in Kajo-Keji together with Peter Tholstrup, advocacy and democracy advisor at MS Sudan.