News & Publications

Democracy Program- Stories From the Field

Jan. 26, 2010
Meet Olawale Fapohunda: Committed to Proposed African Charter
Olawale Fapohunda believes that the proposed African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) will enable African citizens to more fully participate in the electoral process and advance protection of human rights by African governments.  And, in places like his home country of Nigeria, he feels the need for its ratification is vital.

June 25,  2009
Voter Encouraged by Carter Center Presence During Lebanon Elections, Hopeful About Country's Political Future
Lama Naja represents hope for Lebanon's political future. A politically independent young person in a country full of strong political passions and fierce party loyalties, she instead voted on June 7 for the people she thought may keep their campaign promises.

Dec. 27, 2008
Ghana Voter Committed to Peaceful Election Process; Encourages Peers to Vote
As the sun rose on Ghana's second election day in two weeks, Alice Appoh had already stood in line for hours to wait for voting to begin, her two-year-old child sound asleep on her back.

Oct. 9, 2007
Long-Term Election Observer Reflects on Being Part of Nepal "Roaming Team"
Jason Katz is a long-term observer (LTO) for the Carter Center's election observation mission in Nepal.
Unlike other LTOs, I am not stationed in a particular region, although my base city is Kathmandu. My British colleague, John Clayton; our Nepali interpreter, Kamal Adhikari; and myself form what is internally labeled as the roaming team, or as I jokingly tell others, "Carter's Special Forces." Due to Nepal's mountainous terrain and limited road infrastructure, most of our observation work is done on foot.

Oct. 9, 2007
Nepal Elections:  By Foot, Car, and Plane, Observer Assesses Country's Readiness
Stefanie Gross is a long-term observer (LTO) for the Carter Center's election observation mission in Nepal.
I arrived in Nepal in March 2007, and after a briefing at the Carter Center's field office in Kathmandu, was deployed with my team partner to Biratnagar—hub of one of Nepal's five development regions. The main towns of the other four regions host similar teams of two international LTOs, while a roaming team tackles the most remote areas of the country.

May 1, 2007
David Carroll: Director Finds Satisfaction in Helping Struggling Democracies
When Liberia's first female president won in 2005, her opponent charged that the election results were tainted. But Carter Center Democracy Program Director David Carroll knew otherwise.

Aug. 31, 2006
Election Renews Hope for Family in War-Torn Democratic Republic of the Congo
The afternoon sun catches Yayu Zonveni's face near the door of her otherwise shadowy home in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She sits in a blue plastic chair waiting for customers to buy the soda and beer she sells from her house; 200 Congolese francs for a Coke, 400 for a beer. It takes her a day and a half to sell a case of 24 bottles, for which she receives a profit of 400 FC, or almost $1US.

Aug. 31, 2004
Stories From the Field: Jacob Lablah
Looking across the many rows of wood-and-mud shacks that house more than 12,000 people in a camp for displaced persons in Margibi County, Liberia, Jacob Lablah knows he still has work to do.