Angeline Ambogo Kidiga, Ahmed Abdillah, and Hounton Scholastique Prisca are UN Volunteers who serve with the electoral division at the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Their volunteer assignments center on transparency and inclusivity of elections, along with the logistical and security challenges that are part of the processes.
Angeline Kidiga is a 39-year-old woman from Kenya. She is a UN Volunteer Electoral Officer and joined MINUSCA in 2022 to support electoral operations. Angeline has overseen the distribution of electoral materials to some of the most remote areas in the country—Ouham Fafa and Nana Gribizi, which are affected by a lack of infrastructure and security.
In her volunteer assignment, Angeline supported the recruitment of 600 voter registration enumerators, making sure there was female representation. Fourteen percent of the enumerators were women. The voter awareness campaigns reached over 3,500 people—of which, the main focus was people left behind due to economic and social progress, including Fulani Muslim women, considered one of the largest ethnic minorities in the world.
Volunteering with MINUSCA strengthened my technical and interpersonal skills. It also confirmed my commitment to peace, and inclusive elections.” Angeline Kidiga, UN Volunteer Electoral Officer.
In Haute-Kotto, Ahmed Abdillah from Comoros serves as a UN Volunteer Electoral Advisor. He works on the election process in conflict-affected areas.
Ahmed supports local electoral offices and ensures the safe delivery of election materials despite security challenges. He is knows as 'Monsieur Élection' by the local population and his peers. Ahmed trained teams who directly work in voting centers to encourage the participation of women and youth, often excluded from political processes.
Despite armed violence, the 2020–2021 elections were a success, demonstrating the local population’s commitment to peace and stability." Ahmed Abdillah, UN Volunteer Electoral Advisor.
Similarly, Hounton Scholastique Prisca is a UN Volunteer Electoral Adviser for civic education and training. She is from Benin and educates voters on equal participation across the board. She organized over 1,000 community awareness sessions. In addition, she worked on 24 radio programmes where more than 20,000 people were informed about the electoral process. Inclusion of women remained the crux of this outreach.
Hounton also collaborated with UN personnel from the United Nations Development Programme and the World Health Organization to make sure the awareness on voting and elections reached even the most remote and conflict-affected areas.
Supporting MINUSCA allowed me to contribute to peace and democracy while contributing my expertise in electoral processes.” Hounton Scholastique Prisca, UN Volunteer Electoral Adviser.
Hounton Scholastique Prisca (second from left) UN Volunteer Electoral Adviser conducts a community awareness session on voter registration, local elections, and the gender parity law to encourage participation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities. @ UNV, 2024.
Forty-two UN Volunteers serve with the electoral division in MINUSCA. The Central African Republic continues to navigate challenges in peace and democracy. In this context, volunteering is a way to include communities so challenges that often seem insurmountable can be resolved by working together.
Calling UN Volunteers—' the backbone of our electoral assistance efforts'—Arsene Gbaguidi, Director for the electoral assistance division at MINUSCA shares, "UN Volunteers have been key to the success of the electoral process, offering crucial support in logistics, civic education, advocacy, and expert guidance to foster a favourable environment for our electoral assistance mandate. Since the transitional elections of 2015/2016, they have worked under incredibly challenging conditions, demonstrating unwavering dedication."