Elections in eastern partnership countries: Enhancing civil society and IOs cooperation

About

Stronger Democratic Institutions in Eastern Partnership Countries is an ODIHR project supported and funded by the European Union, with the objective of strengthening democratic institutions and processes in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood region to be more inclusive, accountable, resilient, transparent, human rights- and rule-of-law-compliant. The project aims to strengthen democratic institutions and checks and balances in political processes in Eastern Partnership countries. 

This roundtable will be attended by representatives of civil society organizations, including citizen election observation groups, international organizations and technical assistance providers, activists and local and international experts. The participants will analyse how to strengthen the co-operation and partnerships of civil society organizations and international organizations with each other and with national institutions to upscale engagement in addressing electoral recommendations.

Participation in this event is by invitation only.

Background

All OSCE participating States have committed to ensuring conditions that enable voters to make an informed choice and contestants to enjoy a free and fair campaign environment and equitable opportunities to compete. Today, election campaigns are increasingly moving online, with social networks playing a major role, and States need to increase efforts to enhance preparedness to address these online threats. Campaign finance disclosure and oversight are also becoming more challenging, including third-party financing and spending, which is often less transparent than that of political parties and candidates. It is important that some form of regulation be extended to third parties that are involved in the campaign to ensure transparency and accountability. The role of civil society organizations in contributing to the electoral reforms is undeniable, despite the shrinking space and various restrictions and challenges that civil society is facing. All the above challenges require the cross-border exchange of practices to learn from each other and to provide support in these areas, and with effective approaches. 

Our role

The project supports the implementation of ODIHR’s core mandate to assist participating States in fulfilling their human dimension commitments related to democratic institutions. As part of the project, ODIHR is aiming to support civil society organizations and international technical assistance providers, as well as stakeholders in the region, in their efforts to assist States in follow-up on election observation recommendations.