PUBLIC OUTREACH AND ADVOCACY WORKSHOP FOR DOMESTIC OBSERVERS

Our expert conducted a workshop for domestic observation groups from Eastern Partnership Countries on public outreach and advocacy.

From 25 to 27 May 2016, representatives of civil society organizations from Eastern Partnership countries experienced in conducting observation of elections at national and regional levels had an opportunity to attend a workshop on “Public outreach and advocacy” which took place in Odessa, Ukraine. During the three-day event, the participants received an in-depth training on communication and advocacy techniques. They familiarized themselves with different types of communication with regard to different stages of the electoral cycle, learned how to align messages depending on the target audience and which communication channel and which advocacy tools are more suitable for promoting change.

Domestic election observers may encounter a series of difficulties with regard to communication such as scarce and inaccurate information; limited access to the media for reporting their findings, limited time to process the information, public pressure, criticism and intimidation.

Advocacy activities are sometimes difficult to carry out inter alia due to the lack of access to relevant authorities and international structures and the absence of a systematic approach for the implementation of recommendations formulated by international and domestic observers. The activity was organized within the framework of the Council of Europe programmatic co-operation framework (2015 – 2017).