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| Thursday, 18 March 2004 |
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| US gives $ 600,000 in election assistance US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jeffrey J. Lunstead said yesterday that America will give US$ 600,000 assistance for election monitoring during the April election process. Addressing a news briefing at the US centre in Colombo, he said the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was giving nearly $ 600,000 to Sri Lankan election - monitoring organisations and to the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), a US based nonprofit organisation working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. "Of this, approximately $ 400,000 will be given to the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) and the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL)", he said. In announcing the grants, Lunstead said USAID has supported civil society development in Sri Lanka for decades. "The election assistance we are offering this year is part of over 10 years of support to domestic election monitoring organisations. The US Government believes that free and fair elections are critical for democracies. We believe that Sri Lankan organisations do a good job in election monitoring and we want to help them continue to develop expertise in this area. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of these organisations, in the broader context of sustainable development", he said. USAID works to improve democratic institutions and processes, promotes respect for human rights and enhance economic growth and financial stability through market-oriented reforms. USAID's election assistance will support pre-election activities, election day observation and monitoring programs, and post-election strategies. They will include to provide monitoring organisations with handbooks and other materials needed to promote uniform and high quality monitoring, strengthening, collection and reporting processes and providing key representatives of monitoring organisations training and technical assistance in their efforts to provide information to the media. |
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