IOM is organizing the out-of-country registration and voting (OCRV) for a referendum on 9 January 2011 to decide whether Southern Sudan remains part of a unified Sudan or secedes. The referendum, which will allow the people of Southern Sudan to exercise the right to self determination, is part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 that ended more than two decades of conflict in Africa's largest nation. The decision follows the signing of an agreement between IOM and the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) consistent with the specific role assigned to IOM in the Referendum Act for enfranchising Southern Sudanese abroad. The Act, which spells out the modalities of the referendum within and outside of Sudan, states IOM's responsibilities as "assist[ing] in the organization and supervision of the procedures of registration, polling, sorting, counting and declaration of the results". "BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(51,102,204) 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(51,102,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; BACKGROUND: rgb(153,204,255) 0% 50%; FLOAT: right; CLEAR: right; BORDER-TOP: rgb(51,102,204) 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(51,102,204) 1px solid"> "PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; BACKGROUND: rgb(51,102,204) 0% 50%; PADDING-TOP: 3px">Related Link alt="" border="0" height="12" hspace="0" src= "/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/graphics/interface/icons_buttons/blue_link_box.gif"> "http://www.moj.gov.sd/" target="_blank" title="">Ministry of Justice, Sudan The eight countries where the OCRV will take place – Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States of America – have been identified by those who drafted the Act as areas outside of Sudan with significantly large numbers of Southern Sudanese people. Nevertheless, Southern Sudanese in other countries who meet eligibility criteria can also participate by registering and voting in one of the named countries. Those eligible to register and vote according to the Referendum Act are Sudanese who can prove residential, indigenous or ancestral links to Southern Sudan. Registration and voting will be carried out in neutral centres in the eight capital cities, and subject to confirmation by the SSRC, elsewhere in those countries where there are concentrations of more than 20,000 eligible voters. Although exact numbers of eligible voters are unknown, Kenya and Uganda host the largest numbers of Southern Sudanese. Registration will begin on 14 November and end on 21 November. Voting in the referendum will begin on 9 January and last seven days. "The out-of-country voting constitutes a huge responsibility," says IOM Chief of Mission in Sudan Jill Helke. "The Referendum is a key step in completing the tasks set out for the six years following the signing of the peace agreement in 2005, and a historic moment in Sudan's history.  IOM will be working closely with the SSRC, the UN and the eight host governments to enfranchise as many eligible Southern Sudanese as possible in the given timeframe." IOM requires an estimated USD 25 million for carrying out the OCRV. The Organization, which has long supported the inclusion of migrant communities including refugees and the displaced in democratic electoral processes in their countries of origin, has unprecedented experience in out-of-country voting. Since 1996, IOM has assisted eligible nationals in 74 countries to exercise their right to vote. More than 1.832 million votes have been cast in IOM-organized out-of-country elections in mainly post-conflict situations such as for Bosnia Herzegovina, East Timor, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. The English and Arabic versions of the Sudan Referendum Act are available on the website of Sudan's Ministry of Justice, "paragraph-link-no-underline" href="https://sudan.iom.int/%3Ca%20href%3D"http://www.moj.gov.sd/">http://www.moj.gov.sd/" target= "_blank">http://www.moj.gov.sd/. For further information, please contact: Jill Helke IOM Sudan Tel: +249 922 406 661 Jean-Philippe Chauzy IOM Geneva Tel: + 41 22 717 9316 E-mail: "mailto:pchauzy@iom.int">pchauzy@iom.int Jemini Pandya IOM Geneva Tel: + 41 22 717 9486, +41 79 217 3374 E-mail: "mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int Niurka Pineiro IOM Washington, D.C. Tel: +1201 862 1826, ext 225 E-mail: "mailto:npineiro@iom.int">npineiro@iom.int