Strengthening Multiparty Democracy in Ukraine

This project aims to support civil society elected officials and political parties to strengthen multi-party democracy in Ukraine. It supports political and civil society representatives to fulfill their roles in political processes in a collaborative manner. Through seminars roundtables and study tours the project assists political party members to develop and implement issue-based election campaigns. It also enhances the knowledge and ability of young local elected officials from different regions including Eastern and Southern Ukraine to effectively play their roles in the political processes. The project also seeks to strengthen linkages and relationships among mayors across the country to increase awareness of best practices in local governance. The project also improves the ability of citizens and political parties to use exit polling data and the voter list to increase transparency and oversight of the State Voter Registry. Some project activities include: (1) conducting a series of 120 election campaign training sessions nation-wide; (2) conducting 36 training sessions for local political party branches on how to effectively cooperate with civil society organizations; (3) conducting 15 joint leadership trainings for young local elected officials from Eastern and Western Ukraine with a focus on civic engagement; and (4) conducting 12 training sessions for Ukrainian city councils on issues of transparency and communication.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) enhanced skills of Ukrainian political parties and elected officials to respond to citizens’ needs particularly during elections; (2) enhanced capacities of young political officials to fulfill their roles and responsibilities in critical political and democratic processes; and (3) improved capacities of citizens and political parties to increase transparency and oversight of the State Voter Registry.