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Africa-Based Programs for US Participants
Africa-based Programs for US participants: The Trans-Saharan Elections program, in Africa consists of two rounds, one between June 26th and July 21st 2011, and one in June/July 2012 (dates TBD). The first US delegation to visit Africa included three participants: Mr. Neil Skene, Judge Nikki Clark and Mr. Roger Austin. The delegation participated in the May 2011 program, as representatives of the speakers and the U.S. partner organizations.
The 2011 delegation traveled to Africa between June 29th and July 21st, starting from Chad and finishing in Senegal. In Chad, the group visited the capital N’Djamena, where the participants met with national elections officials and participated in a workshop organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission of Chad (CENI). The group then traveled to Niamey, Niger. They visited LASEL, the local partner for TSEP in Niger, as well as the country’s CENI. The next stop was Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where the group visited the Centre Pour la Gouvernance Démocratique, the local partner in Burkina Faso. They also attended meetings with several civil society and human right organizations, such as Diakonia. In Bamako, Mali the participants visited APEM, the local partner, local NGOs, as well as the capital’s judicial institutions. After Bamako, the next step was Nouakchott, Mauritania. The group visited local NGOs and each participant, including Dr. Daniel Smith, gave talks about elections in U.S.A, which was one of the series that took place in every country. The last destination was Dakar, Senegal. The participants visited Mouvement Citoyen, the local partner, and participated in an elections roundtable at the West African Research Center. The TSEP delegation presented comparative perspectives on the issues that were raised in the roundtables of the previous countries. The meetings ended with a book presentation named “Women and the electoral politics in Senegal.”
Africa Delegation 2011
