Coordinator: European Partnership for Democracy

AHEAD Africa

Written by EPD Communications on 18/01/2024.

This pan-African project focuses on multiple facets of the electoral cycle in the continent. It aims to empower civil society across Africa, including citizen observers, in strengthening electoral systems and processes, so as to contribute to higher levels of electoral integrity in African Union member states.

The underlying methodology of the Action is the AHEAD approach – Action for a Holistic Electoral Approach for Democracy – which emphasises that follow-up to election observation recommendations can be a key driver for more inclusive electoral systems, building public trust and preventing conflicts. By focusing on ‘electoral follow-up’, civil society can effectively advocate for democratic accountability and play a significant role in fostering transparent and accountable electoral processes.

This will be done by:

strengthening the capacities of CSOs to collaborate in regional and continental networks on matters of democratic governance, particularly on election observation and follow-up;
reinforcing the capacity of domestic citizen observer groups to meaningfully observe electoral and democratic processes;
increasing the evidence base on the state of democratic governance and civic space in the African Union member states;
reinvigorating spaces for dialogue, coordination and collaboration on electoral observation and follow-up, between CSOs, citizen observers and other stakeholders;
launching, accelerating and upscaling civic initiatives on monitoring, observation, dialogue and/or advocacy, incorporating tested civic tech solutions as needed.

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AHEAD Liberia

Written by EPD Communications on 16/01/2024.

This project aims at fostering a more inclusive and transparent democracy in Liberia. Based on EPD’s specific AHEAD approach – Action for a Holistic Electoral Approach for Democracy – to work holistically on electoral components to promote wider democratic reforms, it focuses on supporting the institutional capacity of the Liberian National Election Commission (NEC) in engaging with all stakeholders engaged in the country’s 2023 elections. The project is carried out in complementarity with the UNDP-led support to the NEC.

It mainly aims to:

Enhance the overall NEC capacity of implementing more regular and transparent communication mechanisms for political parties, CSOs, key electoral actors and strategic partners; and
Facilitate a steady information flow for the wider stakeholder community through regular information mechanisms.

Information and Integrity (Morocco)

Written by EPD Communications on 01/01/2024.

This project aimed at strengthening the role of civil society in promoting transparency in Morocco. By providing digital tools and creating spaces for dialogue, this project supported civil society organisations in advocating, monitoring and evaluating transparency and anti-corruption policies in cooperation with public authorities and independent institutions. In addition, it sought to raise awareness among citizens of the benefits they can gain from more effective implementation of transparency policies. The main activities included monitoring and evaluating public policy, creating civic tech solutions, facilitating dialogue and cooperation, and awareness-raising. For more information, visit the project website.

African Union Civic Tech Fund

Written by EPD Communications on 28/08/2023.

This project aimed to foster and support initiatives seeking to strengthen citizen engagement through innovative tools and digital technologies in African Union Member States. Through the use of the African Union Civic Tech Fund it showcased effective models of citizen-led transformative action across the African continent. The Fund focused on providing small grants to NGOs providing services in civic spaces and on initiatives led by small and medium businesses with a deep civic participation objective.

Combating Disinformation in the Western Balkans

CDWB | Combatting Disinformation in the Western Balkans

Written by Adriana DAuria on 22/08/2023.

Following the aftermath of COVID-19 and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, disinformation, already considered endemic throughout the Western Balkans, experienced a sharp increase. While originating from various systemic issues within these countries, specific key common factors have been identified such as polarisation, skepticism towards EU integration, lack of pluralism, and state-owned media.

While foreign actors feature prominently, a significant share of disinformation in the Western Balkans is produced and disseminated by domestic and regional actors to undermine or delegitimise their political opponents. This fuels greater polarisation, hinders cross-communal cooperation, and undermines people’s confidence in democratic processes.

The ‘Combatting Disinformation in the Western Balkans (CDWB)’ is a project focusing, precisely, on tackling foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro and Serbia. The project seeks to mitigate disinformation influence in the region by:

Actively involving citizens in raising awareness campaigns, media education, assemblies deliberation, consensus-making and decision-making.
Analysing disinformation patterns, the media ecosystem in which mass media operate, as well as the respect of ethical professional standards by media to inform advocacy and dialogue sessions and subsequently implement activities tailored to disinformation tactics and strategies.
Contributing to the improvement of regulation both at national and regional level, without hampering freedom of expression.,
Fostering capacity-building in fact-checking skills, increasing accountability and reliability of potential print media, broadcast media and internet media.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

WYDE Civic Engagement

Written by EPD Communications on 22/08/2023.

The WYDE Civic Engagement project is a component of the Women and Youth in Democracy Initiative (WYDE) by the European Commission. The project seeks to enhance the involvement of youth in democratic processes at national, regional, and global levels:

Advocacy and Research, focusing on youth-led research to advance global conversations on democratic participation.
Capacity building of civil society and youth leaders, with five clusters supporting various youth-led initiatives worldwide;
and Quick Impact Actions, offering country-level support for urgent needs in youth political inclusion and participation.

The project aims to empower Youth voices, foster international cooperation, and address the gaps in evidence on youth political engagement.

More info on the Youth Democracy Cohort website

Contact the team

Jeremy Apert, Programme Manager | [email protected]

Santiago Barrail, Policy Officer | s [email protected]

Gwennaëlle Joret, Communications & Events Coordinator | [email protected]

Andrea Mangiagalli, Finance and Admin Manager | [email protected]

Laura Penot, Grants Officer | [email protected]

Alexia Regas, Programme Assistant | [email protected]

Domenico Tuccinardi, Political & Electoral Participation Coordinator | [email protected]

WYDE Civic Engagement is part of a wider programme (*WYDE) powered by the European Union that seeks to empower and strengthen the rights, and participation in public and political life of youth and women as key actors of development and change. The initiative promotes political pluralism and the inclusiveness of democratic processes. *WYDE : Women and Youth in Democracy Initiative.

EU4Accountability

Written by EPD Communications on 22/08/2023.

Empowered Civil Society for Increased Social Accountability in Moldova – Supporting Moldovan CSOs as actors of governance to improve social accountability

This project empowers Moldovan civil society organisations’ (CSOs) to better perform their role as actors of governance to improve social accountability of the local and central government of Moldova. It does so by strengthening the capacity of more than grassroot organisations from 10 districts to participate in, monitor and advocate for greater public accountability and to take part in policy dialogue with the Local Public Authorities (LPAs) and the central government. A learning-by-doing approach will allow the capacitated CSOs to establish meaningful local partnerships and alliances with LPAs that will result in change-making coalitions to close the accountability gap and respond to the needs of communities. For more information, visit the project webpage.

Tooltkit

- A Guide on best practices for participatory budgeting developed by Caroma Nord, to support local CSOs and LPAs in setting up frameworks for participatory budgeting at the local level. It is available here in Romanian language.

- A Guide on access to information of public interest developed by CPR Moldova to support citizens and CSOs’ requesting information to public authorities, following the procedures of the Law no. 148 regarding access to information of public interest. It is available here in Romanian language.

- Primării Transparente – a Civic tech tool to easily access LPAs documents and data developed by Implicare Plus. It is available here.

Djuntu pa igualdadi! A participatory response to gender-based violence

Djuntu pa igualdadi! (Cape Verde)

Written by EPD Communications on 23/07/2023.

A participatory response to gender-based violence

This project aimed to contribute to the fostering of a favourable legal, institutional and social environment in Cape Verde for the promotion of women’s rights, more specifically of those of GBV victims. The project sought to promote a climate in which public authorities paid respect to their obligations and women’s socio economic inclusion and participation in public life was increased. It was implemented by a consortium of four organisations: EPD, the Associação Caboverdiana de Luta Contra Violência Baseada no Género (ACLCVBG), the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) and Club de Madrid (CdM) and was funded by the European Union. For more information click here.

The Charter Project Africa

Written by EPD Communications on 22/07/2023.

Strengthening systems of democratic governance in African Union member states

This project is a pan-African initiative that aims to strengthen systems of democratic governance in African Union member states, supported by the African Governance Architecture (AGA) and enshrined in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance (ACDEG). At the core of this project is a focus on providing multi-level support to civic initiatives that advance digital means for enhanced collaboration between citizens and AU policymakers, empowering civil society and facilitating the monitoring and implementation of the ACDEG. Activities will include creating a digital resource hub, launching Democratic Governance Initiatives (DGIs), and conducting context analysis and policy research on the AU governance infrastructures and continental, regional, and national drivers of cooperation. For more information, visit the project website.

Media Dialogue (Kyrgyzstan)

Written by EPD Communications on 19/07/2023.

This project aimed to solidify the national media environment and to engage media representatives, public decision makers and civil society in a dialogue about the challenges affecting the media sector. This dialogue was to be led in the hope of jointly developing a roadmap to amend the existing media policy and legal framework. To achieve this three pathways were privileged: multi-stakeholder dialogue, enhanced media professionalisation and reinforcement of the media’s economic independence. To this effect workshops, dialogue meetings and technical assistance were set up and studies, reports, monitoring of media were conducted. Furthermore sub-grants and legal reforms were put on the table.