Strengthening Democratic Parties and Civil Society Organisations in Ukraine

The project aims to advance democracy in Ukraine by enabling Ukrainians to more effectively participate in political life. It seeks to help new democratic political parties to gradually grow into national organizations that are collaborative and responsive to the views of citizens that practice transparent financing and that promote women’s leadership. The project also supports civil society organizations in promoting transparent inclusive policymaking and offering a sustainable and constructive avenue for civil society to participate in political reforms. Some project activities include: (1) developing a leadership academy to train approximately 60 young women leaders across the political spectrum based on the values of transparency and responsibility; (2) providing technical assistance to 1 300 civic leaders to develop an advocacy campaign for fair and transparent elections and to improve monitoring of the post-election political process; (3) providing training and technical assistance to 650 civic leaders to support citizen mobilization and the development of public forums with parliamentarians on reform issues; and (4) developing training for 1 500 members of new regional political parties on grassroots funding and decision-making.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) strengthened capacities of civil society organizations and political parties to better collaborate in order to respond to the democratic needs and expectations of the population; and (2) improved capacities of the new political parties in Ukraine to build grassroots membership manage party financing and through strengthened women’s leadership.