29 January 2002

Dili, East Timor: Seventy-five of the 150 district electoral officers (DEOs) recruited by the Bonn-based UN Volunteers programme (UNV) arrived in East Timor this week to prepare and conduct presidential elections scheduled for 14 April.

Following three days of training in Dili, they will join 150 National DEOs who have been recruited by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and who are administered by UNV. They will serve in all of East Timor's 13 districts. The full complement of UNV DEOs, representing 56 nationalities, will be in East Timor by early next week.

"This is the first time that the UNV programme administers national DEOs," says Kevin Gilroy, coordinator of the UNV programme in East Timor. "Not only is it in line with the IEC's capacity-building objectives but it is also a ground test for potential future national UN Volunteer schemes in East Timor."

The upcoming presidential elections represent the last major step of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) before the official hand-over of authority to the new East Timor Government on Independence Day, 20 May 2002.

Most of the UNV DEOs have participated in last August's Constituent Assembly Elections and feel confident about their new task. "Although the rainy season will make logistical preparations more difficult, we know our respective areas and any problems will be resolved with our Timorese colleagues," says Matthieu Valot, a DEO from France.

Increased Participation of East Timorese

"The first part of our objective for these elections was to increase the active participation of East Timorese electoral officers," said Carlos Valenzuela, the IEC's Chief Electoral Officer. "We already integrated 21 new electoral officers into our headquarters and all District Offices are under the management of East Timorese electoral officers."

While in August 2001, each polling centre was managed by one International DEO, this time half of the nearly 300 anticipated sites will see Timorese DEOs in charge.

"We feel that it is one of the most important steps yet to have 150 Timorese working hand in hand with 150 internationals as DEOs. We are hoping they will work harmoniously," added Mr. Valenzuela.

In the weeks leading up to the poll, they will form joint district teams and will focus on voter education and logistic preparations for polling day.

" We are all happy to fully participate in the electoral process," said one of the newly recruited East Timorese DEOs, Daniel Da Costa. "It is important that the East Timorese take part in every aspect of life as Independence Day approaches."