UNDP Sudan | The Southern Sudan Referendum Project

Background
The referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan was the final milestone of the interim period of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The Southern Sudan Referendum Act was enacted by the National Assembly in December 2009 and the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) was established on 8 July 2010.
The Southern Sudan Referendum was held on 9 January 2011 leaving the SSRC very little time to prepare for an event of tremendous importance and significance to Sudan and its people. The Southern Sudan Referendum Commission faced enormous challenges in conducting a well-organized and credible referendum with considerable support from the Government of National Unity, Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), the United Nations and the international community.

The UNDP Support to the Southern Sudan Referendum Project has three key objectives:
1. To support the CPA process in a manner to achieve the second milestone of conducting a free and transparent referendum
2. To support the referendum process in a manner to ensure that the people of South Sudan are able to exercise their right to select unity or separation
3. To strengthen civil society, media, judiciary and police in performing their oversight and security functions as per the referendum law

UNDP integrated its support to the referendum with that of UNMIS through the United Nations Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division.

Snapshots of the project's major achievements

Output 1: Support for Voter Information, Voter Education and Civic Education
• A media firm contracted by UNDP organized the broadcast of a total of 453 public service announcements (PSAs) on the referendum process on 4 commercial and state TV stations and 12,581 PSAs on 24 radio commercial and state stations across Sudan.
• South Sudan TV and South Sudan Radio broadcast a total of 32 English, 21 Arabic and 37 local language (7 different languages) referendum programmes plus daily PSAs on referendum procedures in English and 10 local languages
• UNIRED supported the SSRC to design, produce and distribute 2.2 million printed voter education materials (e.g. posters, T shirts)
• IOM administered a grants scheme which awarded funds for voter education activities to 15 civil society organizations in northern Sudan (covering all 15 states) and, in Southern Sudan to 46 organizations for the voter registration phase and 135 in the pre-polling phase (in this 2nd phase all 79 counties covered)
• UNIRED and IOM organized a van campaign targeting urban youth in the 10 Southern Sudan state capitals

Output 2: Strengthening of Media
• Sudan Media and Elections Consortium trained approximately 200 journalists on covering the referendum and post referendum period.
• Media monitoring units in Juba and Khartoum operated throughout the referendum and post referendum period following refresher training of staff
• 12 international media experts deployed as mentors to 15 media houses, 11 in Southern Sudan and 4 in northern Sudan for the period 6 - 20 January 2011 (which included the polling period).

Output 3: Introduction of Domestic Observation Principles
• 514 domestic observers deployed in Sudan for the voter registration phase by 5 civil society organizations (CSOs) trained and supported by UNIRED through The Carter Center
• Long term domestic observers carried out voter registration surveys in northern and Southern Sudan that covered more than 4,000 respondents
• 3,192 domestic observers (47% female) deployed for the polling phase in Sudan and three out of country voting locations by four CSOs.

Output 4: Capacity Development of Southern Sudan Referendum Commission
• Office and warehouse equipment (ranging from computers to tents) procured & transported to all Referendum State High Committees and County Sub Committees
• UNIRED procured and set up 100 BGAN communication devices for all above Committees
• UNIRED organized delivery (by air, road and water) of all referendum materials to state and county level as well as air drops to remote Referendum Centres (RCs)
• SSRC supported to train 8,385 RC staff for voter registration process and 9,870 for polling and counting process in Sudan
• The UNDP Basket Fund provided funds for training of 1,434 RC staff (by IOM) and delivery of referendum materials to eight out-of-country voting locations
• UNIRED organized 200 vehicles to be hired for transportation of referendum materials
• UNIRED supported SSRB to train state and county referendum staff in all 10 states of Southern Sudan on intake, aggregation and audit procedures

Output 5: Support to Other Stakeholders
• UNPOL trained 31,136 police trained to support referendum security (6 different types of courses, plus training of trainers)
• UNIRED supported the judiciary to organize conferences for 40 judges from Southern Sudan and 35 judges from northern Sudan plus a judicial clerks workshop. Conferences followed by issuance of judicial circulars and directives on referendum adjudication
• UN Women organized over 40 conferences, workshops and outreach events to promote the participation of women in the referendum and
• UN Women administered a grants scheme through which 24 civil society organizations as well as the SSRB (in which UN Women helped establish a gender focal point) and the Office of the President of GoSS were given funds to carry out activities in all 10 states of Southern Sudan, reaching over 300,000 women. In northern Sudan, a further 13 organizations were funded plus the SSRC Gender Unit.

Output 6: Project Management Unit
• UNIRED procured 7.5 million ballot papers, 8,500 ballot booths, 4,300 voter registration kits, 600 registration training kits, and other supporting materials such as 8,200 banners, 4,300 tarpaulins and 4,300 ropes for the Referendum Centres.
• UNIRED contracted two external monitoring and evaluation firms, one to conduct a progress survey on voter education and the other to monitor project activities in the field, including civil society voter education activities, training of referendum staff and police training.