Dispatch of a Japanese Referendum Observation Mission to Sudan

December 10, 2010
Japanese

On December 10, the Cabinet made a decision on dispatch of a Japanese Referendum Observation Mission to Sudan to assist the conduct of a free and fair Referendum, which allows the people of Southern Sudan to vote for unity or to vote for secession. The Southern Sudan Referendum is scheduled to be held from Sunday, 9 January 2011 and the Observation Mission consisting of 15 members will be dispatched from the end of December 2010 to the middle of January 2011 under the International Peace Cooperation Law.
Based on the recognition that stability of Sudan is an indispensable element in achieving peace and stability in the region, Japan has conducted bilateral cooperation with ODA as well as cooperation through international organizations for the purpose of promoting democracy and consolidating peace in Sudan*. The conduct of the Referendum in a fair manner is an essential task for the success of the implementation process of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and for consolidation of peace in Sudan, which is also important for peace and stability in the whole of Africa.

*The Government of Japan has: 1) extended assistance to Sudan in the amount of approximately 440 million US dollars since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005, 2) dispatched 2 members of the Self-Defense Forces to the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) since October 2008, 3) provided through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) an emergency grant in the amount of approximately 8.17 million US dollars to support the procurement of voting materials, voter education programs and media training in order to assist the conduct of the Referenda in a fair manner.
The Japanese Referendum Observation Mission includes 2 officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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