SIPA Panel - Local Elections in Sierra Leone
Monday, April 20, 2009
On April 15th, the Democratization and Governance Working Group at SIPA hosted its first panel to discuss the 2004 local elections in Sierra Leone. Beginning with a short video from Sierra Leone shot by SIPA alumni Steve Vigil, the purpose of the event was to illustrate the complexity of implementing elections in a post-conflict context, both from an operational and political perspective. Steve Vigil was the Logistics Coordination Officer for United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone. His video detailed the day-to-day activities of electoral officers in the field.
The panelists included Adrian Morrice, the United Nation Mission in Sierra Leone’s Senior Electoral Officer for the 2004 local elections. Mr. Morrice provided a background of the Electoral Assistance Division’s work in the country, along with a candid portrayal of the unique challenges faced while implementing the elections. Mr. Morrice is currently part of the Policy Planning Unit of the UN Department of Political Affairs working on peacebuilding issues.
Final comments were provided by Lincoln Mitchell, Arnold A. Saltzman Assistant Professor in the Practice of International Politics at Columbia University. A practitioner of political development, Dr. Mitchell focused on the role elections play in the broader process of democratic transition. Dr. Mitchell has worked in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, along with advising and managing domestic political campaigns.
