Supporting democratic post-war elections in Ukraine – Phase II
Why do we implement electoral assistance projects in Ukraine?
The Council of Europe has been implementing electoral cooperation projects in Ukraine since 2015. Particularly, there were:
- project on “Reform of the electoral practice in Ukraine” implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for 2015 – 2017;
- project on “Supporting transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine” implemented in three phases within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for 2018 – 2022.
The current Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026, as other previous similar documents is a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the Ukrainian authorities. It aims to provide all necessary support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the process of reconstruction and recovery during and after the war, as well as to further strengthen and enhance the resilience of Ukrainian democratic institutions and processes, democratic governance and the rule of law, as well as the protection of fundamental human rights.
In the framework of current Action Plan, among other things, it provides support to the authorities and Ukrainian society in preparing for the post-war national and local elections to ensure that they are democratic and comply with international and European standards. In this context, the Council of Europe has provided and continues to provide relevant support through the following electoral cooperation projects:
- project on “Supporting democratic post-war elections in Ukraine” (period of implementation: January 2023 – March 2025);
- project on “Supporting democratic post-war elections in Ukraine – Phase II" (period of implementation: April 2025 – December 2026).
What are the goals of the current project?
Council of Europe project “Supporting democratic post-war elections in Ukraine – Phase II” is implemented by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023 – 2026.
The overall objective of the project :
Post-war national and local elections and referenda in Ukraine are democratic and held in line with international and European electoral standards and good practices.
The Project activities are intended to enhance and contribute to:
- elaboration and incorporation by Central Election Commission and other national authorities concerned into the national legal framework of criteria and measurable indicators to assess democratic pre-conditions necessary for the organisation and conduct of post-war elections at national and local levels in Ukraine in line with European electoral standards and good practices;
- development and implementation of the up-to-date solutions to ensure that first post-war elections in Ukraine are held in line with international electoral standards and good practices;
- strengthening the CEC's capacity to perform and coordinate efficient, gender-sensitive and inclusive communication during the preparation and all the way to the conduct of the first post-war elections to ensure timely information for Ukrainian voters both within Ukraine and abroad regarding election and voting procedures;
- organisation and conduct of a free and safe election process during the first post-war elections, as well as protection of the electoral rights of Ukrainian voters in line with European electoral standards and good practices.
Our partners
Throughout the implementation of the electoral cooperation projects in Ukraine, the Council of Europe cooperated with many different organisations and institutions.
The main partner and beneficiary of the ongoing electoral assistance and support project is the Central Election Commission.
Herewith, for the purpose and within the framework of the Project implementation, the Council of Europe cooperates and is open for cooperation with various organisations and institutions, public authorities at various levels, including the legislative, executive and judicial branches of power, higher education institutions, civil society organisations, international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, political parties and media.
Main areas of activities:
- supporting multilateral dialogue to reach the consensus on elaboration of necessary legal framework and improvement of current national legislation on issues related to ensuring of active and passive suffrage in post-war period;
- contributing to the reconstruction and renewal of democratic pre-requisites for organisation and conduct of post-war elections;
- supporting organisation and administration of post-war national and local elections in accordance with European electoral standards and good practices;
- facilitating peer-to-peer exchanges and practice sharing with regard to organisation and conduct of elections in the Council of Europe member States;
- supporting electoral justice with the purpose of improving the effectiveness of mechanisms for citizens’ electoral rights protection;
- supporting public oversight and independent monitoring of the various cycles and aspects of electoral process, in particular, through the development of monitoring methodology and support of its implementation;
- promoting gender equality and enhancing balanced representation of women and men in politics, being one of the priorities of the Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2024 - 2029, by means of supporting legislative action, enhancing women’s capacity to participate in post-war political and electoral processes, as well as holding awareness raising activities among the representatives of the authorities and the public;
- raising legal and political culture and awareness of electoral process participations about war-related challenges for the first post-war elections, respective electoral procedures and electoral process in order to ensure democratic post-war elections and to strengthen citizens’ trust towards election results.
Council of Europe Office in Ukraine
8 Illinska Street, Entrance 7, 04070 Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel.: + 380 44 425 60 01
Fax: +380 44 425 02 62