Baseline survey on citizens’ awareness of the electoral process and access to in

1.Background and Context

As South Sudan prepares for the first General Elections in accordance with the Revitalized Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), information delivery plays a key role in building enabling environment for a free, fair and credible electoral process. As the majority of the citizens express their willingness to participate in the elections[1], Electoral Management Bodies and civil society have an important role to play to communicate relevant information on the election, the rights and responsibilities of citizens to participate in the electoral process.

While democracy is declared as one of the fundamental universal values, what it means varies over time and place. South Sudan is a country blessed with cultural and geographical diversities, and its democracy should be defined and constructed in its own unique social, cultural and historical landscape. The experience of the Southern Sudan Referendum in 2011 also informs that effective civic and voter education has to be locally contextualized and delivered in a way that is appropriate to the target population[2]. For instance, the role of elections, parliament and politicians, knowledge and response to perceptions and social norms that may contribute to the exclusion of various groups from participation, and voter information such as voting schedule and process must be communicated in a language and method that is appropriate to the gender, age, and social and cultural backgrounds of the target populations. Today, various communication tools are available. While some information can be delivered in solid forms such as posters and leaflets/flyers some may be better communicated through performances such as dramas and songs, student debates or participatory events such as mock elections or drawing contests to some people. Various traditional and social media platforms such as radio, TV, websites, WhatsApp, YouTube and TikTok that can be utilized for civic and voter education. Face to face campaigns at churches, mosques and other religious institutes, schools, community events, by traditional leaders, or doors of the households may better work in some cases. Youth in urban areas, women in rural areas, and people with disabilities all have different needs and ways of communication. Thus, it is very important to design civic and voter education strategies, plans and materials that respond to the diverse needs of the citizens while communicating the common values attributed to the electoral process.

In this regard, the National Elections Commissions (NEC) in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNWOMEN would like to conduct a baseline survey to draw quantitative and narrative analysis on effective ways of communicating and sensitizing on the electoral information including the rights and responsibilities of participating in the electoral process to South Sudanese citizens. The survey will identify information gaps about the various electoral processes and the importance of participating in the elections. What and how messages can be communicated to promote inclusive electoral process that gains public confidence and builds trust? What are some of the challenges that are or could be hindering the access to civic and voter information? What civic and voter education tools can be used to better reach out to women, youth, the elderly and persons with special needs?  The findings and recommendations made by the survey will be used by NEC to develop.

2.Overall Objective:

In close consultation with NEC, UNDP and other stakeholders, the supplier shall collect data and information and draw research analysis on the effective ways of conducting civic and voter education to promote inclusive electoral process.