UN election experts on Bougainville

Three senior electoral experts from the United Nations, have arrived in Papua New Guinea to assist the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner host the Bougainville elections, in May 2015.

The U-N joins other development partners including Australia and New Zealand in providing technical help to the Bougainville Electoral Commission.

Led by UN's Senior Electoral Advisor Ray Kennedy, the team is expected to remain in Bougainville for the duration of the elections.

Mr. Kennedy will also lead a "lessons-learnt" exercise after the elections.

The deployment is part of the U-N's wider support for the 2015 Bougainville General Elections initiative, launched in response to a request for assistance by the PNG and ABG Governments.

The UN team will support the Office of the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner and complement the support being provided by other development partners.

It will provide specific assistance in the areas oflopment of step by step prioritised electoral plans, provision of technical guidance on implementing the support plan, coordinating the deploment of international observers, training of election scrutinizers, develop training materials and provide hands on training for female candidates.

The project is implemented by UNDP and will run from March to July 2015.

ABG's Acting Chief Secretary, Paul Kebori, describes the UN assistance as very timely and much appreciated by the ABG.

Mr. Kebori says the people of Bougainville aspire for a free and fair elections, that will create a safe and an enabling environment for development.

The other two experts are Duarte Branco and Peter Lepsch (Lepsh).

Branco is an experienced technical expert and professional in media relations, electoral assistance and reporting across various international locations including UN projects in Afghanistan, Timor Leste, Angola, Malawi, Sudan, South Sudan and Kosovo.

Lepsch is an election dispute resolution expert, having worked as a lead consultant for the International Foundation on Electoral Systems, where he's provided advise to election commissioners in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Libya.