SUDAN / REFERENDUM MATERIALS WRAP

The Southern Sudan Referendum Commission receives kits, books and other supporting materials required to conduct voter registration ahead of Sudan's self-determination referendum early next year. UNMIS

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:04
• Production Date: 1 November 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN SUDAN - UNMIS
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT; REFERENDUM
• Geographic Subject: SUDAN
• MAMS Id: U101101c

Description

STORY: SUDAN / REFERENDUM MATERIALS WRAP
TRT: 2:04
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 28-29 OCTOBER 2010, JUBA / 30 OCTOBER 2010, KHARTOUM, SUDAN

Shotlist

30 OCTOBER 2010, KHARTOUM, SUDAN

1. Med shot, international community officials handing over to Sudanese authorities
2. Med shot, opened kit with referendum materials inside
3. Close up, materials inside plastic bag
4. Med shot, journalists at the ceremony
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC):
“We have a very, very tight time frame and we are actually racing against time. We are trying to accomplish a very important and complex task in about one- tenth of the time originally envisaged for it, so you can just imagine the important and the difficult task that we are trying to shoulder.”
6. Med shot, members of the SSRC
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Scott Gration, US Special Envoy to Sudan:
“This represents a team effort, a team effort that would not be possible without the Sudanese, the international partnership working together on a daily basis. It’s this team effort that will be the embodiment of the future here. This represents what Sudan is all about and what out efforts here are about. Its about working together in team work to produce an environment where the people of Sudan can leave in peace and prosperity and stability, that’s what we are all trying to achieve.”
8. Wide shot, pan (right to left) referendum kits in boxes

28-29 OCTOBER 2010, JUBA, SUDAN

9. Wide shot, unloading referendum materials from plane
10. Med shot, lining up materials
11. Med shot, packing materials
12. Wide shot, referendum boxes
13. Med shot, Justice Chan Reec Madut signing document
14. Med shot, sign of list of donor agencies

STORY:

The international community officially handed over voter registration kits, registration training books and other materials to Sudanese referendum authorities in both Juba and Khartoum other the weekend.
Addressing the ceremony in Khartoum, the Chairman of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) described the handing over of the voter registration materials as important, without which the referendum could not be undertaken. He, however, mentioned the time constraints that the commission is dealing with.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC):
“We have a very, very tight time frame and we are actually racing against time. We are trying to accomplish a very important and complex task in about one- tenth of the time originally envisaged for it, so you can just imagine the important and the difficult task that we are trying to shoulder.”
Voter registration for the referendum is due to start on the 15 November and will run for 17 days across northern and southern states of Sudan.
United States Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration talked about the upcoming milestone in Sudan’s history and the ability to witness one of the steps in enabling southern Sudan to hold the referendum on time.

SOUNDBITE (English) Scott Gration, Special Envoy to Sudan, United States:
“This represents a team effort, a team effort that would not be possible without the Sudanese, the international partnership working together on a daily basis. It’s this team effort that will be the embodiment of the future here. This represents what Sudan is all about and what out efforts here are about. Its about working together in team work to produce an environment where the people of Sudan can leave in peace and prosperity and stability, that’s what we are all trying to achieve.”

The materials were printed in South Africa and contain security features to avoid forgery. Each voter registration booklet contains 200 voter registration cards, which will be given to registrants during the voter registration exercise. Registrants are required to present the card during polling, set to begin on 9 January.

The United Nations (UN) Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) is providing advisory and logistical support to the commission. Training of SSRC staff who will register eligible voters started on 26 October. An estimated 8,000 will be trained in the south and 2,000 in the north. The training will conclude on 5 November.

The materials are now the responsibility of the SSRC and are being dispatched to referendum State High Committees across the country. UNMIS would be delivering by air registration materials to 130 locations that were inaccessible by road.

In Juba, the UN Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division (UNIRED) formally presented the materials to the Referendum Bureau’s chairperson Justice Chan Reec Madut. The chairperson expressed his thanks to the UN and the international community for what he called the indispensable support they have given to the referendum process in Southern Sudan thus far.