SUDAN / REFERENDUM

Members of the ten state referendum high committees that will help organize the historic January 2011 referendum in Southern Sudan are sworn at a ceremony in Juba. The referendum gives the south the option to secede which was part of a 2005 peace deal that ended 22 years of civil war between the north and south. UNMIS

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:38
• Production Date: 24 August 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN SUDAN - UNMIS
• Subject Topical: POLITICAL AFFAIRS; LAW; INTERNATIONAL LAW; POLITICAL CONDITIONS; POLITICAL CONDITIONS; POLITICAL MOVEMENTS
• Geographic Subject: SUDAN
• MAMS Id: U100824a

Description

STORY: SUDAN/ REFERENDUM
TRT: 1.38
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DATELINE: 23 AUGUST 2010, JUBA, SUDAN

Shotlist

1. Tracking shot, Special Representative of the Secretary General Haile Menkerios entering conference hall
2. Wide shot, State High Referendum Committee
3. Wide shot, Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, Chairman-Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, and Haile Menkerios
4. Wide shot, State High Referendum Committee taking oath
5. Med shot, State High Referendum Committee taking oath
6. Close up, hand
7. Zoom out, applause
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Haile Menkerios, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Sudan:
“We have the full mandate from the Security Council to support the efforts of the referendum commission, Southern Sudan Referendum Commission and of Abyei when it is formed to fully carry on the conduct of the referenda in a fair and transparent manner and I would assure you we will spare no effort to support that process in every way.”
9. Med shot, head table
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil Chairman-Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC):
“The sooner we begin the better and everybody is determined to begin as soon as possible, if the Presidency decides to give us sometime from the three months sometime, a month or two or something like that, we have to make full use of it, and we can make full use of it by beginning straight away.“
11. Wide shot, Southern Sudan Referendum Commission and State high Referendum Committee

Storyline

The newly appointed members of the State High Referendum Committees (SHRC) were sworn in today (23 August) in Juba in front of the chairperson of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), Professor Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil.

The members of the 10 state referendum high committees will help organize the historic January 2011 referendum in Southern.
Dignitaries attending the ceremony included Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan Haile Menkerios, members of the resident diplomatic corps, and representatives of UN agencies as well as various international organizations.

Consisting of five members each, the state-level high committees will be responsible for appointing subsidiary bodies at the state and county levels and overall administration of the referendum process.

Menkerios assured the assembled referendum officials and invited guests that the SSRC and its state-level committees would enjoy the full support of the United Nations.

SOUNDBITE (English) Haile Menkerios, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Sudan:
“We have the full mandate from the Security Council to support the efforts of the referendum commission, Southern Sudan Referendum Commission and of Abyei when it is formed to fully carry on the conduct of the referenda in a fair and transparent manner and I would assure you we will spare no effort to support that process in every way.”

Preparations for the referenda, which will determine whether Southern Sudan remains united with the north or separates and if Abyei wishes to be a part of north or south, are well behind schedule. Voter registration should have taken place in July of this year and the materials for that exercise have not yet been approved.

The SSRC chairperson urged the newly installed state high committee members to take their responsibilities seriously.

SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil Chairman-Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC):
“The sooner we begin the better and everybody is determined to begin as soon as possible, if the Presidency decides to give us sometime from the three months sometime, a month or two or something like that, we have to make full use of it, and we can make full use of it by beginning straight away.“

A two-day workshop for committee members that was held prior to the swearing-in ceremony discussed referendum activities, international organizations, lessons learned from the general elections of last April and anticipated challenges associated with the upcoming vote.

The people of Southern Sudan, per the 2005 North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement, have less than five months to conduct a referendum on 9th January 2011 to either choose to confirm the current unity of Sudan or create their own independent country.