Brief Description

Designed to support peace and democratic institution building in the Kingdom of Lesotho, the project will assist the Independent Electoral Commission, and political stakeholders, in nurturing a conducive environment towards peaceful , free and fair general elections in 2007 , which will lead to a broad-based, gender-balanced, inclusive and, therefore, fully representative National Assembly. Through a comprehensive approach to deepen democracy in Lesotho, the project will provide technical support in four main areas. First, the project will focus on strengthening the Independent Electoral Commission through technical advice, training, and increased regional cooperation. Second, UNDP will help develop conflict transformation capacities within the IEC and among stakeholders, in particular political parties. Third, UNDP will help enhance civic responsibility by developing a countrywide voter and civic education programme. The fourth area of support will focus on donor coordination, including facilitation of international observation to ensure fairness and transparency in the electoral process.

 

Project Time line	Oct 2006 - 31 Mar 2009
Status	Ongoing
Location	Maseru
UNDP Programme Officer	Mr N. S. Bereng
UNDAF Outcome(s)/Indicator(s):	Strengthened democratic institutions, civil society organisations, transformed leadership and, Increased civil liberties and human rights.
Expected Outcome(s)/Indicator (s):	Outcome: Deepening peace and democratic institution building by supporting the process of establishing an appeased parliamentarian democracy in Lesotho with a legitimate Government.
Expected Output(s)/Indicator(s):	Output 1:    Strengthening the IEC Indicator 1: Enhanced IEC capacity to plan, prepare and conduct polling with minimized potential managerial and logistics hindrances.  Output 2: Conflict Transformation Indicator 2: Improved Conflict Transformation mechanisms to reduce political confrontation and antagonism while fostering dialogue. Output 3: Enhanced Civic Responsibility Indicator 3: Increased sensitization of Lesotho’s population to actively engage on Democracy building. Output 4: Coordination of international support Indicator 4: Established coordination mechanism to maximize the effective use of donor financial and technical support, including international electoral monitoring.
Implementing partner:	Independent Electoral Commission/UNDP
Responsible Parties:	Independent Electoral Commission, Ministry of Justice, Human rights and Rehabilitation, UNDP
Budget and major sources of funding:	BCPR $350,000 Irish Aid $496,954 DFID $1,011,484
Delivery:	2006 $239,873.32 2007 $1,077,905.99 2008 financial year not closed yet