Fifteen Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have formed a Consortium called The Civil Society Working Group on Elections and Human Rights in Sierra Leone.
The move is to complement the efforts of the government, National Electoral Commission, elections management bodies and other partners in conducting free, fair, inclusive, transparent and credible elections in the country.
The initiative to form a CSO Working Group on elections and Human Rights was first launched in 2020 with the official signing of an MoU by several active CSO’s in the country at the time.
Through the Working Group, many bye elections were successfully monitored and comprehensive reports on those bye elections published and submitted to the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone for action.
With the June 24th 2023 general elections at hand, the CSO Working Group has again been revived to help complement the efforts of government, ECSL and other elections management bodies for the peaceful and orderly conduct of the June 2023 general elections.
Some of the CSO’s present at the meeting include the following: Legal Link, Environmental Alert, Citizens Rights Network Initiative for Justice, Peace and National Cohesion, National Youth Coalition, Zero Corruption Campaign (ZCC), Partnership for Nation Building and Forum of Sierra Leonean Youth Network (FORSLYN) to name but a few.
The objectives and mandate of the Working Group are to monitor and ensure free, fair, transparent and credible elections in Sierra Leone; to raise awareness and sensitization on elections and the electioneering process in Sierra Leone; to lobby and advocate for increased support to EC-SL and other Elections Management Bodies for the efficient management of elections in Sierra Leone; to engage in observation report writing and documentation of findings on elections and human rights in Sierra Leone; and to make strong recommendations to the government, EC-SL, international partners and other stakeholders for legal, institutional and policy reforms regarding elections in Sierra Leone.
