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ODIHR in Ukraine

Date:: 26 November 2025
Source:: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

What we do

ODIHR has played an important role in strengthening democratic institutions and respect for human rights in Ukraine, particularly since launching a dedicated and ongoing project in the country in 2015.

Much of the work undertaken by ODIHR in Ukraine focuses on human rights monitoring, democratic governance and law making, as well as issues of tolerance and non-discrimination, with a special emphasis on the protection and integration of Roma communities. ODIHR has observed 14 elections in Ukraine, most recently in 2020.

ODIHR was established three decades ago on the understanding that human rights and genuine democracy are key to lasting safety and security, and this remains the basis of our work. Our many years of impartial monitoring across the OSCE region mean that an objective assessment of the situation in Ukraine is assured, and our support is tailored to the specific needs of the country and its people.
Maria Telalian, ODIHR Director

Resources

Factsheet

Factsheet: ODIHR in Ukraine

11 September 2015

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Document collection

Interim reports on reported violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in Ukraine

10 February 2023 OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Document collection

ODIHR Survey on the Safety and Security of Women Refugees from Ukraine

23 January 2023 OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Attachment

Ukraine: Latest news and statements from ODIHR

24 February 2025

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Buildings in Borodianka during a visit by ODIHR monitors to conduct interviews. 1 July 2022.

© OSCE/Marine Constant Photo details
Voters consult candidate information during Ukraine's early parliamentary elections. Kyiv, 21 July 2019.

© OSCE/Urdur Gunnarsdottir Photo details
Ukrainian civil society representatives working on human rights issues participate in a training course organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to improve the capacity of human rights defenders to conduct human rights monitoring and increase their own safety and security. Zaporizhzhia, 13 November 2018.

© OSCE Photo details
Participants in a meeting hosted by the Equal Opportunities Caucus of Ukraine’s parliament discuss a new ODIHR report examining the effectiveness of regional gender equality mechanisms in Ukraine. Kyiv, 12 October 2018.

© The Equal Opportunities Caucus in the Verkhovna Rada Photo details
Ama Kraja (left) and Iris Petrela (right) from the OSCE Presence in Albania contribute to the OSCE's annual trial monitoring meeting. Kyiv, 12 June.

© OSCE Photo details
Ukrainian police educators and officers participate in a group exercise during a capacity building event on preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence. The event was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Kyiv on 22 and 23 November 2017.

© OSCE/Ewa Sapiezynska Photo details
Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Former Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), speaking during the first Ukrainian Women's Congress held in Kyiv on 22 and 23 November 2017, as Ivanna Klympusz-Tsintsadze, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration (left) and Iryna Herashchenko, First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada, listen. 22 November 2017.

© OSCE/Lana Ackar Photo details
Zola Kondur, Vice-president of the Roma Women Fund "Chiricli" and Deputy Chair of an inter-ministerial working group on the protection and integration of Roma into Ukrainian society, speaking at an ODIHR-organized event on Roma security issues in Ukraine. The event was held in Warsaw on 18 September 2017, during the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting.

© OSCE/Ewa Jasińska Photo details
Participants of the ODIHR supported dialogue platform in the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, 8 July, 2016.

© Oleksandr Kovalenko Photo details
Participants at ODIHR-organized Second National Confidence and Capacity Building event in Kyiv, 26 April 2016

© OSCE/Andriy Muzychenko Photo details
Mikolaj Wrzecionkowski, Assistant Programme Officer at OSCE/ODIHR, during a training in Kyiv, on right to freedom of religion or belief for lawyers in Ukraine, 11 February 2016

© OSCE/Tetyana Korshykova Photo details
Participants at a training-of-trainers event on ODIHR's "Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement", in Odesa, Ukraine, 20 January 2016

© OSCE/Tetyana Korshykova Photo details
Elizabeth Kitanovic, Executive Secretary for Human Rights of the Conference of European Churches speaking at a roundtable discussion organized by OSCE/ODIHR on the role of dialogue in the security of religious and belief communities, in Odessa, 3 November 2015.

© OSCE/Tetyana Korshykova Photo details
Ales Hanek, ODIHR Hate Crime Officer, discussing international standards on freedom of religion or belief and responses to hate crime with Police and prosecutors from Ukraine during a seminar organized by the OSCE ODIHR in Vinnytsia, Ukraine on 14 July 2015.

© OSCE/Tetyana Korshykova Photo details