Promote Accountability in Electoral Processes in EaP Countries through Increased Participation and Capacity of Civic Actors (ProElect)
The Eastern Partnership countries have increasingly experienced diverse democratic paths: from consolidated or semi-consolidated authoritarian regimes to transitional regimes. These democratic trajectories have key implications for the upcoming elections in the region and require comprehensive yet differentiated support mechanisms for electoral integrity.
Complementary to international electoral observation missions, local civic actors play a key role in developing local networks for short- and long-term electoral monitoring. CSOs and independent media are key stakeholders in informing the public on electoral improprieties and empowering voters through information and mobilization campaigns to be more involved in their countries participatory processes. CSOs and independent media can also be key monitoring actors of the abuse of public resources in elections. As elections can be instrumentalized for the validation of incumbent authoritarian or anti-liberal regimes, civic actors can empower election observer groups to break through authoritarian efforts to block, muffle, and discredit credible election observation.
In response to these challenges, the Transatlantic Foundation (TF) and Equal Rights & Independent Media (ERIM) will implement the "Promote Accountability in Electoral Processes in EaP Countries through Increased Participation and Capacity of Civic Actors" (ProElect) project, funded by the European Commission, aiming to promote functioning pluralism, participatory, and representative democracy in the Eastern Partnership countries. It addresses the key challenges for CSOs in monitoring elections and promoting democratic accountability mechanisms.
The central objective of the ProElect project is to ensure that civil society actors and independent media in the Eastern Partnership countries, are engaged, capable and knowledgeable in monitoring elections and promoting democratic accountability mechanisms.
ProElect sets out to achieve the following three objectives:
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Increase understanding of current barriers for electoral monitoring and observation in the EaP countries.
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Strengthen the capacity of CSOs in the Eastern Partnership countries, to conduct independent and credible electoral observation and to conduct oversight activities during the full electoral cycle (pre-electoral period, election day and post-electoral period).
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Increase public awareness on different types of malpractices that have the potential to affect electoral legitimacy and the acceptance of the electoral outcome cross-country and across borders.
Open Call for Applications
Expand AllPromote Accountability in Electoral Processes in Moldova through Increased Participation and Capacity of Civic Actors
1. Call objective
The central objective of the ProElect project is to ensure that civil society actors and independent media in Moldova, are engaged, capable and knowledgeable in monitoring elections and promoting democratic accountability mechanisms, fighting propaganda and fake news, debunking fake news and propaganda, and exposing foreign malign interreference from outside of Moldova, but also inside the country.
2. Activities
Proposals will address one of the following objectives:
Activity 1 – Electoral observation and monitoring activities conducted by CSOs to deter electoral malpractices and promote greater transparency and fairness in electoral processes. Project proposals under this objective may include, for example, but are not limited to, offering support to:
- Organising call centers for support of citizens’ electoral missions on the day of the elections.
- Civic education about the importance of electoral observation and how it contributes to strengthening democracy.
- Organising Voter Education workshops at local level.
- Reporting electoral fraud and improprieties, misuse of public resources.
- Identify electoral reform needs.
- “Civic Tech”: Develop new engagement techniques involving tech companies, new apps such as voter information apps and tracking tools.
- Monitoring campaign financing.
- Information campaign on correspondence voting.
Activity 2 – Raising public awareness, countering disinformation, propaganda and hate speech during electoral processes. Project proposals under this objective may include, for example, but are not limited to, offering support to:
- Countering fake news related to the election, fact-checking.
- Raising awareness campaigns on the benefits of EU Integration.
- Promoting voting related information and dissemination of relevant information to voters that ensures accessibility even to vulnerable groups.
- Providing nonpartisan information about candidates, their platforms, and their positions on key issues.
- Collecting and reporting relevant data for the election period.
- Monitoring campaign financing.
- Information campaign on correspondence voting.
- Build trust in the election process.
- Informing voters on new voting procedures that involve correspondence voting, internet voting (i-voting), electronic voting machines (EVMs).
- Strengthen large diasporas and Internal Displaced People (IDPs).
- Encourage coordination of relevant stakeholders in the media to cover all the regions of the country.
Activity 3 – Capacity-building programs for independent media actors and civil society organizations covering/focusing on the electoral processes. Project proposals under this objective may include, for example, but are not limited to, offering support to:
- Improve the sustainability of CSOs and independent media, including recently created CSOs and Independent media organizations, focused on electoral monitoring enabling them to effectively fulfil their missions through capacity-building programs.
- Enhancing the capacity of local organizations to manage medium and large amounts of funding for medium and long-term projects, related to electoral processes.
3. Eligibility Criteria
Eligible to apply for funding under the ProElect project are: Independent media, officially registered civil society organizations, civic activists and leaders, citizen initiatives and informal groups from Moldova, but also from the Moldovan Diaspora.
The involvement of additional partners, whether local or transnational partners from new EU member states or the wider Black Sea region, is allowed.
4. Budget and duration
An award ceiling of up to €30,000 may only be exceeded by exceptional projects, or, to a lesser extent, regional projects that involve partners from several eligible countries.
The minimum duration of a project is 3 months, and the maximum duration is 12 months.
5. Selection Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Relevance to the objectives of the call.
- Potential impact of the project proposal activities aiming to address and quickly react to the multitude of challenges Moldova is currently facing (challenges originating from inside the country, but also from outside Moldova).
- Budget justification and cost-effectiveness.
6. Application and Budget forms
Interested organizations are invited to submit applications in response to this call for proposals by filling out in detail the following forms:
7. Submission Deadline
Project proposals are accepted on a rolling basis and should be sent to the following email address: [email protected]
This publication was funded/co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of The Transatlantic Foundation and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
