This joint project aimed to contribute to protecting electoral rights of citizens in Ukraine, among other goals.
The EU funded project “Support to Civil Society, Local Authorities and Human Rights in Ukraine” was implemented by the Civil Network OPORA in partnership with ECES and Ukrainian Catholic University.
OPORA is a community network, which operates throughout Ukraine, with competences in matters such as: governmental and parliamentary activities, monitoring over local self-governing authorities, election observation, advocacy for reforms and open data policy etc. OPORA was present during the unfolding of the first national elections and became, in 2012, the co-founder of the European network of nonpartisan observation “European Platform for Democratic Elections” (EPDE).
This joint project aimed to contribute to protect electoral rights and interests of citizens as well as to significantly increase the level of publicity of election administration in Ukraine.
With regards to this project, ECES and OPORA developed an inclusive implementing methodology (structured on analytical, communication, training and lobbying components) specifically targeting groups at national and regional levels in order to contribute to dialogue, transparency and accountability with regards to the 2019 and 2020 electoral processes.
One of the key target groups of the project were state authorities and law enforcement bodies, such as the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, National Police of Ukraine, General Prosecutor’s Office, Central Election Commission and other election commissions of different levels.
Through this project, voters, who were the key beneficiaries, gained access to high-quality explanatory information about electoral institutions in Ukraine, received legal opportunities to protect their voting rights and articulated a sound position in the public dialogue on electoral reform.
Within this project, ECES’ competences on democracy and electoral support contributed to the development of:
- effective research on the needs and challenges of electoral process in specific areas,
- adequate methodological and educational materials for civic observers,
- effective planning of methodology for development of provisions of electoral reform.
In particular, through the Electoral Political Economy Analysis (EPEA) methodology designed by ECES, a unique context analysis was developed.
Based on the EPEA results, the pioneering training programme in Leadership and Electoral Conflict Management for Electoral Stakeholders (LEAD) was customised on the identified needs in order to strengthen the long-term leadership capacities of electoral stakeholders.
The training programme contributed to increasing participants’ confidence, providing them with expertise in strategic decision-making, as well as extensive insights into conflict management throughout the electoral cycle.
