Sidi Diawara
Chief of Party, Mali
Sidi Diawara currently serves as Chief of Party for IFES in Mali. Diawara first joined IFES in September 2009 as an electoral assistance specialist for IFES in Senegal.
Prior to IFES, Diawara worked for Oxfam in Senegal as the regional media and advocacy coordinator. He designed multimedia regional advocacy campaigns which prompted positive changes in policies related to poverty reduction. He also worked as Oxfam’s Regional Policy Adviser working on humanitarian assistance.
Diawara also worked for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) as country director for Liberia early in 2004 and then resident director for Cote d’Ivoire in 2006 where he worked with political parties. As country director in Liberia, Diawara worked with various civil society groups focused on advocacy programs on anti-corruption and civic education for the Comprehensive Peace Accord. He was involved with building and maintaining relationships with the National Transitional Government. In Cote d’Ivoire, Diawara focused on capacity building programs for political parties. He opened a resource center and developed training programs for parties and coalitions on the political process.
Before joining NDI, Diawara co-founded AMICAJ, a human rights group in Mali. He was also a founding member of the Reseau APEM, a network of civil society groups specializing in domestic monitoring of electoral processes. Diawara was involved in what is known in Mali as the democratic movement that championed change for the country in 1991, turning Mali into an electoral democracy from a 23-year long military dictatorship.
He possesses a master’s degree from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and a law degree from National Institute of Law Studies in Mali.