Support to Electoral Reforms in the Western Balkans

In January 2021, ODIHR launched its second project to support the follow-up of electoral recommendations in the Western Balkans, building on the work carried out by the project Support to Elections in the Western Balkans implemented between 2017 and 2020.

This project supports election management bodies and related institutions in the region in their efforts to follow-up on election observation recommendations in areas associated with election management, voter registration, the conduct of the media during election campaigns, ability of parties and candidates to freely campaign and the capacity and independence of electoral dispute resolution bodies.

Within the framework of the project, ODIHR works closely with civil society organizations and providers of electoral assistance, as well as OSCE field operations. Until the 31 October 2024, the project had a total budget of 1.715 million euros and was co-funded by the EU (1.5 million euros) and the Austrian Development Agency (215,000 euros). Since 1 November 2024 the project also receives funding from Germany (205,257 euros), Norway (94,875 euros) and France (50,000 euros), bringing its total budget to 2.065 million euros.

ODIHR has a long history of efforts to support institutions in addressing electoral assessments and recommendations and, in 2016, published its Handbook on the Follow-up of Electoral Recommendations, available now in all project languages.

All OSCE participating States have committed themselves to follow up on ODIHR electoral assessments and recommendations, while the EU has noted the need to support the follow-up of electoral recommendations and to strengthen the link with wider democratic reforms in the Western Balkans.