juni 2005

On september 18 there will be provincial and parliamentary elections in Afghanistan.

On the 29th of June I will leave for Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan I will be a Provincial Election Coordinator.
The Provincial Election Coordinator (PEC) is an electoral official appointed by the Joint Election Management Body to conduct genuine elections in accordance with guidelines issued by the JEMB. The PEC is a management position heading the election unit and coordinating all election activities at provincial level.

The Bonn Agreement provided for the conduct of elections as an important and concluding component of the transition era. One critical step was taken successfully with the Presidential Election 2004. Afghan National Assembly and Provincial Council Elections will take place in 2005. The Joint Election Management Body (JEMB) and its Secretariat are the two institutions created by the Afghan government and the United Nations to organize the 2004 and 2005 elections.

To give you an idea what I am going to do, here are my main duties and resposibilities:

Final election results will now be announced on 8 July - a month later than planned, the National Election Board Ethiopia says.

This will allow election authorities to investigate hundreds of alleged episodes of fraud and vote rigging.

Opposition parties have vowed to stage mass protests if the provisional results are validated.

The opposition have, however, won almost 200 seats - a huge gain from the 12 they had in the previous parliament.

EU observers have voiced concern over irregular vote counting and biased reports by the state-owned media.

In the middle of nowhere, Marc Driessen from the Netherlands, set up his flower farm Maranque Plants PLC in Ethiopia. It is an amazing view. Last year there was nothing and this year one can see two greenhouses of 10.000 square meter and all required infrastructure like water irrigation facilities, climate control equipment, a working hall with a cold storage, offices and even a beautiful house where Marc and Niels Prinssen, his (Dutch) manager, will live.

 
Niels Prinssen and Marc Driessen in their office.

I paid a visit to Fashion Design A AIP in Addis Abeba. As you can see in the photo's below I was their top-model for one day.

A.AIP is a creation of Mekdes and her friends. She makes beautiful clothes and is, at this moment, busy setting up a business in Addis.
Mekdes can be contacted through the Safari Lodge in Nazret, tel 02-122011.