The Honorable Debra M. Sofield of Greenville, SC has been chosen to participate by the International Republican Institute of Washington, DC in the parliamentary election observation mission to Bangladesh.

Since 1984, IRI has worked to advance democracy around the world, and has been active in more than 100 countries training citizens in political party building, election monitoring, organizing and developing civil society and grassroots efforts, outreach to women and youth, and conducting legal, legislative and electoral reform work. Today, IRI is active in 69 countries around the world.

Since 2003, IRI has played a role promoting Bangladesh's democratic transition. IRI is working to strengthen and empower private industry, non-governmental organizations, youth, women, and the media to challenge political parties to create a more responsive government.

International Republican Institute's observations of the December parliamentary election in Bangladesh will be the culmination of programming that has included training of domestic elections observers, election specific training for journalist, three pre-election assessments, and two long term international election observation missions. The goal of the election observation mission is to help determine whether Bangladesh's parliamentary election meets recognized standards of democratic elections and gives Bangladeshis the opportunity to choose their leaders freely, fairly, and peacefully.

Deb Sofield has conducted Public Speaking Skills and Presentation training in Sri Lanka and has worked in Indonesia with The Woman's Democracy Network, a division of the International Republican Institute, Leadership Training.