24 October 2010 - Sixty boxes of referendum registration training materials as well as about 500,000 voter registration booklets arrived in Khartoum today, and were handed over to the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) for storage until they are used for training of referendum staff.

The training materials, which were printed in Shanghai, China, came via Entebbe, Uganda, to the UN airport in Khartoum and were transported to the SSRC warehouse in the south of the city to be stored.

The 60 boxes of referendum registration training kits would be used by the SSRC for training of trainers in Khartoum by 1 November, according to Jose Dergan, UN Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division (UNIRED) logistics officer.

The kits contained samples of registration materials that SSRC staff would use for voters, said UNIRED Training Advisor Isabel Otero. They would be used to familiarize commission staff with the forms and registration process of the referendum.

The voter registration booklets were shipped to Khartoum from South Africa by commercial flight, and would be dispatched by the SSRC to the 15 northern Sudanese states by 3 November, noted Mr. Dergan.

Southern Sudan is set to vote in a referendum in January 2011 on whether the region will remain united with the north or secede.