On 29 January 2021, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine published its annual report on the activities carried out in 2020. The report presents the main areas of activities: elections, capacity building of the Commission, cooperation of the Commission with government agencies, inclusivity, international cooperation, awareness raising, communication and the financial component of the Commission's work.
The report contains the lessons learned upon the results of 2020 local elections organised under the new legislation. The Central Election Commission work on preparation of the election commissioners and voters to the new realities of organising and holding local elections, specifically in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report also covers the CEC Strategic Plan for 2020-2025. According to Oleh Didenko, the CEC Chair: “This year, for the first time in the history of the Commission, we adopted the Strategic Plan of the Central Election Commission for 2020-2025. With this document, we have confirmed that the Commission is motivated to develop dynamically and to modernise itself for the organisation of elections in line with international standards”.
Herewith, the report notes the importance of the CEC's cooperation with international partners, particularly, with the Council of Europe project "Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine" and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. With the Council of Europe support, an online awareness-raising and educational platform “CEC: prosvita” and information materials about the 2020 local elections were developed in order to raise the electoral culture of citizens and to provide information support on the electoral process to voters.
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine also shared their plans for 2021 on strengthening the institutional capacity of the Commission, establishing regional and territorial CEC offices, modernisation of information systems, improving the professionalism of the CEC Secretariat staff and commissioners at all levels, active cooperation with the civil society, government authorities and international partners.
* The cooperation with the Central Election Commission of Ukraine is carried out within the framework of the Council of Europe project "Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine", implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan 2018-2022.
