Representatives from the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Moldova (CEC), Centre for Continuous Electoral Training (CCET), Central Election Commission of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (CEC ATU Gagauzia), as well as a Council of Europe representative and a consultant took part in a teleconference organised on 26 June 2020 to present the toolkit for Electoral Management Bodies on Awareness Raising with Young Voters. The toolkit was developed by the Elections and Civil Society Division of the Council of Europe in co-operation with 'People, Dialog and Change' and encompasses the best European practices on youth involvement in electoral exercise.
The representative of 'People, Dialog and Change' who participated in developing the toolkit, explained the methodology and benefits of the new training prospects and the communication campaign for young voters,within the upcoming Autumn Presidential campaign in the Republic of Moldova.
Participants were presented with the possibility of benefitting from the best European practices, showing that due to the out-of-the-box approach set out by the toolkit the ratio of young participants doubled in the last European Parliament elections.
It is worth mentioning that the toolkit uses the Council of Europe URSO approach (useful, relevant, sustainable and owned) which was already used in the Republic of Moldova when the strategic plans were developed for the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova, Centre for Continuous Electoral Training and Central Electoral Commission of Gagauzia in 2019. These strategic plans were approved and put into practice at the beginning of the 2020.
The participants welcomed the possibility of getting familiar with the new toolkit and promised to take the time to analyse the opportunities of implementing it in the upcoming electoral campaigns, as well as combining it with the existing practice in the Republic of Moldova concerning awareness raising and civil education campaigns towards the youth.
The activity is implemented by the Council of Europe within the on-going project “Improving electoral practice in the Republic of Moldova”.
