Ballots reach polling stations across Democratic Republic of Congo

UN expresses cautious optimism in final push for Sunday's elections
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo - The 30 million ballots and election supplies required for Sunday's historic presidential and parliamentary contest in the Democratic Republic of Congo should all be delivered to polling places cross the country by Friday, 28 July, reported the United Nations logistical team working here in support of the country's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

"These are the first elections in Congo in over 40 years. The IEC, backed by the UN and the international community, has done a remarkable job - particularly considering the circumstances," said Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative to the Secretary-General and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the DRC.

"Inevitably, there has been and will be problems arising in this vast country. Yet the process is on track and we are confident that despite imperfect ions these will be very good elections," Mountain added.

The elections are being organised by the IEC with support from UNDP's Electoral Assistance Programme and MONUC, the largest UN peace-keeping mission in the world. UNDP is helping the Congolese to distribute ballots and essential equipment to around 50,000 polling stations in a country the size of Western Europe, with few functioning roads or other infrastructure. In Kinshasa alone, the IEC plans to open 8,518 polling stations to meet the hopes and aspirations of some 3 million voters.

"One need look no further than to the plethora of campaign posters, signs and banners that cover Kinshasa's diverse cityscape, in order to understand the level of expectation vested in these elections," said UNDP Country Director Babacar Cissé. "It is a big country and there will certainly be pockets of unrest as we approach the elections, but still, there is no doubt in my mind that the average Congolese is looking forward to these polls."

Meanwhile, at 210 regional training sites, UNDP and MONUC are concluding the training of 12,000 Polling Centre Supervisors who will assist local elections staff in organising fair and transparent elections. Maintaining the safety of the 25.7 million Congolese who have registered to vote on Sunday is a key challenge for the IEC and its partners.

So far, approximately 1,300 observers from the international community have arrived in the DRC to help oversee the elections. UNDP's support to the electoral process has been made possible by substantial contributions from individual donor countries and the European Union, the single biggest contributor to the elections. In total, the donors have put up more than US$400 million to support the presidential and parliamentary elections. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked donors for an additional US$46 million urgently needed to secure a second round of elections, scheduled for later this year.

"It certainly is a massive undertaking for us here," said Carlo De Filippi, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in the DRC. "Yet, hopefully - and over time - we will be able to see the return in terms of sound institutions and eventual stability in a country plagued by years of conflict and mismanagement of natural resources."