As Sierra Leone prepares for its Presidential and Parliamentary elections in June 24th 2023, the Directorate of Political Affairs (DPA) in the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the ECOWAS Commission, in partnership with the country’s Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, is holding a training and interactive workshop with political actors and stakeholders on peaceful elections.

The workshop which is part of the Commission’s strategic and operational support to Member States holding elections, is said to be a follow up to the Joint ECOWAS-African Union pre-election fact-finding Mission deployed to the country from the 12th to 14th of April 2023, to assess the level of preparedness for the elections by the Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) and other political actors and institutions.

The workshop is aimed at contributing to the enhancement of participants’ dialogue and mediation skills, creating space for interactive engagements and opportunity to sensitize the population on the ECOWAS normative principles and frameworks on democracy and good governance.

It is also examining inclusive participatory processes, which would enable the holding of free, fair, transparent and credible elections.

The Workshop Participants are drawn from political parties, the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL), the Political Parties Regulatory Commission (PPRC), the Office of National Security (ONS) and the Sierra Leone Police, the Inter-Religious Council and Traditional authorities, the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (ICPNC), Civil Society Organisation and the media.

Similar workshops were organized around the electoral processes of several Member States including Nigeria on its recently held 2023 general elections.