OSCE/ODIHR workshop focuses on international and Ukrainian political party regulation reform

Measures to make political parties in Ukraine and in the wider OSCE region more transparent and accountable were the focus of an expert workshop jointly organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the partners. They included the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the Ukrainian civil society organizations Agency for Legislative Initiatives (ALI) as well as the Civil Network “OPORA”. The event was hosted by the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv,on 14 and 15 July 2015.

More than 50 experts, including representatives of the Ukrainian Parliament, academia and civil society organizations, discussed trends and challenges in political party regulation across the OSCE region in relation to the registration of political parties, gender equality, public accountability and party funding. Following the debate workshop participants focused on Ukrainian political party legislation and possible avenues for further reform.

“Political parties are critical to ensure people’s participation in political and public life, guarantee the expression of their will and hold the government accountable,” said Marcin Walecki, Chief of ODIHR’s Democratic Governance and Gender Unit. “In this regard, all legal frameworks should comply with OSCE commitments and other international standards to facilitate the proper functioning of political parties and ensure political pluralism.”

Dr. Andriy Meleshevych, President of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, said: “The political party legislation reform in Ukraine is an urgent priority as public trust in political parties is in decline and important reforms have stagnated. This workshop is a welcome occasion to discuss the proposals to reform political party legislation with our international and local experts.”

Following the workshop, some 20 leading representatives from Ukrainian civil society organizations, youth leaders and political party experts participated in a one-day capacity-building training, where they discussed the findings of the workshop and concrete cases related to the practical aspects of political party regulation.

The workshop and the training were organized within the framework of ODIHR’s project on “Strengthening Dialogue among Civil Society and with Key Government Stakeholders in Ukraine”.  In 2015 alone, the project will bring together more than 600 representatives of civil society and different Ukrainian state institutions to debate key human dimension issues in Ukraine, in line with OSCE commitments and international standards.