European donors and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo committed themselves on Tuesday to provide an additional €85 million ($100 million) for democratic elections in the central African country, but officials say more money is still needed.
"The money for the actual elections is now there," Domenico Rosa, the European Commission’s desk officer for the DRC, told IRIN on Tuesday from Brussels. "But there is still a problem to find the money needed for the logistical support to hold the elections."
The commitments were made during a two-day meeting at the European Union in Brussels, co-chaired by European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel, and the UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General in the DRC, William Swing.
Rosa said although MONUC had the aircraft and technical capacity to put the electoral workers and material in place, and could do so "cheaply and efficiently", it was already overstretched. He said according to MONUC’s calculations it needed an additional €85.8 million ($103 million) to do the job.
"The [UN] Security Council should now consider increasing MONUC’s budget," he said.
The donors who committed funds on Tuesday were Belgium, German, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The DRC government pledged €16.6 million (about $20 million). Others that also expressed their intentions to provide more money are Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Spain and the United States.
The polls would usher in the first democratic government in 40 years. It would replace the current transitional power-sharing administration agreed to by the armed groups in the country’s civil war. The elections were initially planned for June 2005 but the national assembly has postponed them for at least six months.
The Independent Electoral Commission began registering the first voters in Kinshasa on 20 June and 1.5 million voters have already been registered in the city. The voter cards issued will also serve as temporary identity papers.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.
Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.
Recevez les dernières nouvelles humanitaires directement dans votre boîte de messagerie
Inscrivez-vous pour recevoir des informations originales provenant directement du terrain. Nos articles s’adressent aux décideurs, aux travailleurs humanitaires, aux bailleurs de fonds et à tous ceux et celles qui veulent faire du monde un endroit plus humain.
Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.