Raphael Ouattara is NDI's resident senior program director in Mali, where he manages Institute programs related to elections, legislative oversight, women's participation and political parties. He also serves as Senior Program Director in Guinea, where he manages NDI's program to assist Guinean political parties and women political and civic leaders to prepare for future elections. NDI also calls on Mr. Ouattara to provide technical and strategic support to NDI offices in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger and Senegal.
Previously, Mr. Ouattara worked as a senior elections consultant for NDI in Haiti. From 2000 to 2002, he served as the vice chairman of the first electoral commission in his native Côte d'Ivoire. From 1997 to 2002, Mr. Ouattara was the president of the Côte d'Ivoire branch of the International Association for Democracy in Africa, an NGO promoting democratic values, and is well-known for its conflict management and civic education work in Cote d'Ivoire. He is also one of the founders of the National Elections Observatory in Côte d’Ivoire.
Mr. Ouattara is a psychologist by training, having earned his doctorate from the University of Paris Sorbonne after which he taught methodology and social sciences at the University of Abidjan from 1984 to 2002. He also holds a degree in political science.
