A project sponsored by the U.S Embassy (Sierra Leone Chapter) for Democracy Sierra Leone to conduct voter and civic education in 12 districts; comprising 15 communities, in order to enhance the participation of vulnerable groups in the electoral process. The aim was to enable marginalized groups; especially women, youths, and persons with disability, to effectively participate in the National Elections in March 2018.
Being the project officer of the project, I’m humbled to report that it was completed based on the activities were carried as stipulated in the grant agreement. We successfully implemented all 15 programs.
Prior to the outreach, we conducted a training of trainers in collaboration with the National Electoral Commission (NEC).We then conducted voter and civic education in 12 districts, comprising 15 communities to reach out and educate approximately 979 persons with disabilities, women and other vulnerable groups. 435 women benefited directly from the program and 544 men also benefited directly.
As part of the program, we developed and printed 2000 booklets on the roles and responsibilities of Member of Parliament and councilors. We also developed materials on the electoral process and printed 750 copies. We did 180 sets of Braille for the blind so that they could read and understand the process apart from listening.
We also tried to hire sign-language interpreter where ever they were available in the 12 districts. However, we succeeded with only 6 sign-language interpreters as part of the program.