Cvu annual report 2015

1. ANNUAL REPORT
All-Ukrainian non-governmental organization
“Committee of Voters of Ukraine” (CVU)
2015

2. Foreword
For Ukraine, the year 2015 was a period of active reforms, social and political transitions. The
Committee of Voters of Ukraine is sharing the results of work on promotion of democratic
changes with appreciation and proud. These results were achieved through joint efforts of
many people and organizations – CVU staff and volunteers in all regions of Ukraine, partner
NGOs and governmental institutions, law enforcement bodies, Central election commission,
international organizations.
On behalf of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine I enclose gratitude for the trust and support
we received. I am glad to admit that citizens of Ukraine are active in spheres of self-
governance and legal development. At CVU-organized public discussions, citizens became
involved in discussion of the new legislation on local elections. Another discussions of
decentralization peculiarities proved that citizens care about strategic issues of communities’
development. A lot was done – a number of changes to laws and by-laws was developed
and introduced to reinforce democracy and human rights; more citizens received awareness
raising and legal information or consultations; training provided to thousands of election
commission members, representatives of law-enforcement bodies, election observers; NGOs’
representatives; more citizens got involved in public monitoring. More challenges are ahead.
The Committee of Voters of Ukraine invites all conscious and active citizens to cooperation.
Oleksii Koshel
Director General

3. Our mission is to promote human rights and direct democracy
implementation through:
 Awareness raising and activation of citizens, civil society institutions;
 Participation in formation and implementation of policy in the relevant areas;
 Public monitoring and control of policy implementation;
 Interaction with parties concerned.
Our values:
 Service to the public
 Independence
 Recognition of democratic values and respect for human rights
 Equality
 Transparency
 Accountability
 Responsibility
 Righteousness
 Cooperation with all parties concerned
 Non-profit nature of activities
 Voluntariness

4. CVU activities in 2015
Election observation:
MP by-elections in election district 2015 (Chernihiv city),
June 26, 2015;
Local elections: October 25, 2015 and November 15, 2015
155
long-term
observers
4,600 short-term
observers during voting
and vote tabulation
60
mobile observers’
groups
5 reports and 15
statements based on
monitoring results

5. Promotion of free, fair and transparent elections
Protection of voters rights:
2,000 consultations provided
to citizens by lawyers of CVU
telephone hot line
Training of election observers:
2 webinars, 2,000 participants.
Guidebooks for observers developed,
2,500 copies disseminated
Consultative support
of election commissions:
4,500 consultations provided by
lawyers of CVU telephone hot line
Training of law-enforcement bodies
on their role in election process:
120 training sessions, 15,000 participants, 35,000
guidebooks disseminated
Training of election commissions:
CVU experts trained 41,000
territorial election commission
members

6. Focus on equal rights and opportunities:
monitoring of women participation in elections,
5 statements, analytical report, 2 round tables
28,900 citizens (unique visitors)
raised their awareness at CVU
website and 45,000 – on website
“Elections in Ukraine”
Awareness rising:
CVU held 11 press conferences in Kyiv and 24 – in
the regions in order to inforce transparency of the
election process, prevent vote-buying, inform citizens
CVU organized International media-center in
Kyiv to cover elections and held 13 public and
training events. TV audience of 3,300,000
citizens was reached

7. Improvement of legislation
CVU developed an analytical
report: “How a new law on local
elections should look like: public
perception”
Campaign in support
of the new law on local elections:
21 public discussions in regions of Ukraine, focus groups
and modelling of new election procedures
CVU organized 6 expert round tables and
international conferences on development
and discussion of recommendations on
improvement of election legislation
CVU experts participated in
development of a new draft
law on local elections
CVU developed recommendations on improvement
of local elections legislation and prepared on
analytical report “Lessons learned from local
elections and ways to improve election legislation”

8. Democratization of parties
and reform of political finance
CVU organized a round table based on results of
election finance monitoring at local elections
and 5 press conferences in cities, covered by
the monitoring
CVU held monitoring of candidates’ in mayor
election campaign finance at 2015 local
elections in Kherson, Cherkasy, Rivne and
Mukachevo. CVU developed an analytical
report with recommendations
CVU organized 2 expert round tables
to discuss party system in Ukraine,
ways to reform it

9. Monitoring of authorities and elected officials
and promotion of good governance
CVU monitored implementation of
reforms, provided by Coalition
agreement and developed
recommendations on improvement of
the Agreement implementation
efficiency and transparency
CVU developed 3 analytical reports: for
the 1st quarter of 2015, second quarter of
2015, year 2015 results
CVU participated in advisory bodies: Council on national unity under the
President of Ukraine; initiative “Open Government”: working group on
promotion of democratic institutes’ activities and their influence on formation
and implementation of state policy, working group on introduction of
electronic governance and development of e-democracy

10. CVU held 24 training sessions for capacity building of local NGOs
interested in monitoring of lustration and vetting processes.
337 participants from all oblasts of Ukraine were trained, 204
consultations provided after the training sessions
CVU started implementation of a program for support of decentralization
reform in Ukraine. CVU held 30 round tables in 17 oblasts of Ukraine to
discuss decentralization reform implementation on local level, the first
results, and propositions to improve the reform implementation.
1,100 participants took part in the events
CVU held awareness raising campaign on lustration and vetting
processes of state servants and judges: disseminated printed materials
and social ads on radio and in printed mass media. The awareness
raising campaign reached audience of 380,000 citizens

11. Protection of citizens’ rights
CVU lawyers provided 1,300 citizens
with free-of charge legal advice at
permanent and mobile liaison offices
CVU lawyers provided 600
consultations on-line on
“Protect your right!” website
and by phone
140,700 citizens raised their
awareness at the website
“Protect your right!”
CVU developed 2 draft laws – “On restoration of
access to justice for vulnerable groups of the
population” and “On ensuring access to justice and
respect for the judiciary”
CVU held 4 discussions in Verkhovna
Rada and an all-Ukrainian conference
devoted to improvement of
administrative justice

12. International cooperation and experience
exchange
CVU actively participated in activities of European Network of
Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) and European
Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) – participated in annual
conferences, exchanged experience; supported ENEMO
election observation and EPDE expert missions in Ukraine
CVU representatives participated in international conferences and
seminars: Parliamentary conference on implementation of the right to
free election, France; International conference of election
transparency, Turkey; Programmatic Cooperation Framework meeting,
Council of Europe, France; OSCE/ODIHR seminar on elections, Austria;
OSCE Annual conference, Poland; OSCE/ODIHR expert seminar on
election finance, Poland

13. 6 CVU representatives participated in election
monitoring abroad in framework of Open Estonia
Foundation program – they observed March 2015
parliamentary elections
CVU representatives took training:
OSCE/ODEHR training for short-term observers in Serbia; EPDE training
on media and PR for NGOs in Germany; training program of a USAID
project “Educational programs of professional advancement” –
“Monitoring of political processes’ financing for transparency and
promotion of reforms” in Czech Republic; IFES election law school for
gender activists in Ukraine; summer camp of Romania CEC and UNDP
on election systems in Romania

14. Institutional development
CVU performed its activities in accordance with a
strategic plan and internal policies of the
organization. In December 2015, CVU held a round
table on strategic planning
CVU updated its Procedure on
procurement and procedure
on bonus payments,
developed and adopted Rules
of Ethics Committee.
CVU implemented an Action
plan on incorporating gender
approach in the organization
CVU held 2 training
seminars for 57
representatives of CVU
regional organizations
CVU representatives participated in 18
seminars and training programs: on
electronic petitions promotion, PR, report
writing, gender analysis and budgeting,
election systems and legislation,
fundraising, strategic planning etc

15. Financial indicators of CVU
activities in 2015
At the Committee of
Voters of Ukraine,
proper financial
management is
provided by good
governance at NGO
standards, applied at
the organization –
internal Code of
Conduct, Anti-
Corruption Policy,
Budgeting Guidelines,
Monitoring &
Evaluation Guidelines,
Authorization
Guidelines,
Procurement policy
etc. CVU is subject to
annual financial audit

17. Support CVU
If you share our values and our approach to the ways promote human rights and direct
democracy implemtation, you may support the Committee of voters of Ukraine as a volunteer
or a donor.
As for the work of volunteers – election observers or programs’ participants – please contact CVU
central office or directly CVU regional branches. If you wish to provide financial support, please
use the information below:
Bank details
Отримувач: ВГО «КОМІТЕТ ВИБОРЦІВ УКРАЇНИ»
П/Р 2600435766101
ПАТ "Банк Петрокоммерц-Україна"
МФО 300120
Код 00012003
Призначення платежу – добровільна пожертва без ПДВ
All-Ukrainian non-governmental organization
"Committee of Voters of Ukraine"
(+38044) 425 21 66
http://cvu.org.ua/
cvu@cvu.kiev.ua