The UK continues to support inclusive and transparent elections in Moldova and awards a new funding of $910,900. The funds are allocated to UNDP for the project "Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections" and will enable large-scale campaigns to promote democratic education and participation of underrepresented groups in elections.

The British Embassy in Chișinău made the announcement at the conference "Strengthening the inclusive electoral system by promoting electoral democracy culture", organized on 17 November 17, event which brought together over 100 people, including development partners, representatives of civil society, academia etc.

"The support of the United Kingdom within this project is directed to the transparency of the financing of political parties and electoral education, as well as to the modernisation of the process of organising elections. It is extremely important to boost knowledge about democratic and electoral processes and thereby increase the rate of participation in elections,” said the UK Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, Steven Fisher.

With the support of the United Kingdom, UNDP will contribute to the:

• The implementation of the university curriculum on electoral education;
• Carrying out informational campaigns on the importance of women's political and electoral participation in all levels of government;
• Supporting local civil society organizations in applying a human rights-based approach in the process of public budgeting and consultation;
• Capacity development of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in the field of public communication during elections;
• Conducting research to assess he level of civic involvement of vulnerable groups and carrying out information campaigns at national level.

"The Central Electoral Commission encourages young people to actively participate in the elections not only as voters, but also as candidates, members of electoral bodies or observers. A new financing of the project will increase CEC's capacities for carrying out these campaigns. We are convinced that in this way we will be able to reach as many people as possible,” said CEC President, Angelica Caraman.

The UK has been supporting the project "Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections" since 2017.  With its support, several campaigns of inclusive electoral education and information were organized, as well as the state automated information system named "Elections" was enhanced.

The United Kingdom contributed to the extensive study on the accessibility of polling stations (the first assessment of this kind in Republic of Moldova), taking into account that these stations are usually hosted by public institutions.

Also, with the support of the United Kingdom, a curriculum on electoral education for universities in the Republic of Moldova was developed.

“Understanding the importance of the electoral programme implemented in Moldova, UNDP will continue to support equal access to public space and strengthen our strategic partnership with CEC and the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training to support inclusive, accessible, and transparent electoral processes in Moldova,” said the UNDP Resident Representative to the Republic of Moldova, Dima Al-Khatib.

At the conference, it was discussed how CSOs can help stimulate the participation of under-represented groups in elections, how women can become agents of change in electoral processes, how electoral education can increase civic participation etc.

UK's additional budget will be implemented by March 2024. The project "Enhancing democracy in Moldova through inclusive and transparent elections" also benefits from the financial support of USAID Moldova.