Freetown, Sierra Leone, 9 March 2007 --- The Government of Japan has announced a US$2.8 million contribution to the 2007 Elections in Sierra Leone. This contribution from the people of Japan will support the National Elections Commission (NEC) in their organisation of the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, scheduled to take place on 28 July, 2007.
The purchase of vital materials for the smooth operation of voting on polling day and the construction of a warehouse at the new NEC headquarters, are just two areas the Japanese contribution will fund.
The donation by the Government of Japan complements a larger ‘basket fund’ of contributions from the international donor community, which comprises of the European Union, United Kingdom (DFID), Ireland (Irish Aid) and the Danish Government. Together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resources, this basket of donors is supporting the electoral institutions of NEC, the Political Parties Registration Commission and the Electoral Offences Court, to ensure credible elections.

The assistance of these donors has paid off already in a number of ways, including arranging for timely cargo flights to provide NEC district offices with voter registration training kits and the delivery of essential equipment to all voter registration centers. The international community contributions have been coordinated by the UNDP, in close association with the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone, UNIOSIL.

Preparations for the elections are well underway with registration running from now until 18 March, at 2740 Registration Centres around the country. According to Victor Angelo, head of the UN system in Sierra Leone, ‘the contribution from the people of Japan arrives at a crucial time in the electoral process, and creates the conditions for better planning of the next phases of the electoral process.’

日本政府於3月9日宣佈捐助280萬美金給獅子山共和國，希望當地能夠順利完成總統大選(2007年7月28日)。日本政府不僅是捐助金錢，也捐助其他物資，像是NEC(National Elections Commission)的總部，以及幫助訓練選舉期間的人力、技術。除了日本政府之外，許多國際組織，像是European Union, United Kingdom (DFID), Ireland (Irish Aid)以及Danish Government，也幫助獅子山使其選舉能順利、可信。獅子山當地表示，日本的資源宛如即時雨，幫助當地能建立更好的選舉流程資料來源：http://www.uniosil.org/