General Yakubu Gowon to Lead Carter Center Delegation to Observe Liberia's Oct. 11 Elections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: In Monrovia beginning Oct. 8, Deborah Hakes: +231 800 326 379 or dhakes@emory.edu

Monrovia...The Carter Center announced today that His Excellency General Dr. Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria's former head of state, will lead the Center's international election observation delegation to Liberia.

General Gowon and the Carter Center leadership team will meet with key political stakeholders including the National Elections Commission (NEC), political parties, independent candidates, civil society organizations, government officials, and the international community, and will observe polling, counting, and tabulation on election day.

"As a neutral witness to Liberia's historic election, The Carter Center urges candidates and their supporters to remain peaceful and the election commission to continue thorough preparation and readiness to ensure that the will of the Liberian people can be freely expressed on Oct. 11," said General Gowon.

The Carter Center will coordinate briefings and deployment with observers from the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), based in South Africa. The joint delegation will include more than 50 observers representing 25 different nations. These observers will be deployed to all 15 Liberian counties.

The Carter Center launched its electoral observation mission in early-September. Four teams of long-term observers have been reporting from across Liberia; they are now joined by short-term observers who are being briefed in Monrovia prior to their deployment.

The Carter Center's election observation mission is working in Liberia by invitation of the NEC, consistent with the NEC's Code of Conduct for Observers and with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct, which were adopted at the United Nations in 2005 and have been endorsed by 37 election observation groups.

The Carter Center releases periodic reports of its findings in Liberia, available at www.cartercenter.org

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A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers in developing nations to increase crop production. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.