Roadmap for ensuring organization of postwar elections in Ukraine 

Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2014, has led to an increase in the number of people with disabilities among both civilians and the military. According to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the number of persons with disabilities increased by 300,000 over the two years of full-scale war and amounted to more than 3 million in June 2024. It should be understood that this number will only grow over time. As a result, Ukraine faces new challenges that have emerged in the area of political participation of the disabled. To identify these problems and find ways of solving them, Civil Network OPORA conducted more than 20 in-depth interviews with leading experts in the field of elections and inclusiveness, and commissioned a sociological survey which was carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. 

On Tuesday, November 5, the 8th Ukrainian Women’s Congress took place in Kyiv. It is the annual public platform for gender policy-making. This year, the Congress took place under the slogan “Women’s Potential: New Roles, New Quality.” The discussion “Politics Without Women is a Threat to Democracy” included the Chair of the Board of the Civil Network OPORA, Olga Aivazovska. She believes that Ukraine’s key challenge is to clearly establish where we are and where we aspire to be as a state.

Elections are impossible under martial law. However, this is the time to work on cases from previous campaigns. 

The full-scale invasion presented new challenges for women's political participation and gender-balanced representation. OPORA tried to explore these aspects in this study. In particular, we conducted more than 20 in-depth interviews with leading experts in elections and gender issues. 

The Electoral Code adopted in 2019 guarantees the accessibility of the election process for people with disabilities and low-mobility citizens. However, polling stations in Ukraine still remain non-inclusive, while the number of people with disabilities is growing due to Russian aggression against Ukraine, with infrastructure being destroyed. 

On August 19, 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyi suggested establishing the Ministry of Unity. According to the President's plan, this institution should "bring back 7.5 million Ukrainians" who left abroad due to Russia's full-scale invasion and still stay there. If the ministry comes to life its team will face a difficult task: in addition to creating the necessary security conditions, they need to take care of housing, jobs, education and medical services for the returnees. If fighting continues, the process could drag on for years. 

Maintaining public trust in state institutions is of key importance in times of war, given that the lack of public confidence in the government contributes to societal polarization. Critical reporting and self-censorship by mass media are among the factors that have an impact on the level of public trust. Therefore, it is essential that every Ukrainian media outlet answers the question of what is the meaning of political process in a country without elections. This statement was made by the chair of the board of Civil Network OPORA Olha Aivazovska, who acted as a moderator of panel discussion “Media’s responsibility for achieving a sustainable society: mass media serving as the fourth estate” at the National Media Talk held on September 20, 2024.

Political rights are designed to enable the participation of citizens in the socio-political life of the country and the management of public affairs. They can be implemented in various forms, such as the engagement in the activities of political parties, participation in elections and referendums, peaceful assemblies, etc. Under special legal regimes, these rights can quite naturally be limited — that is why elections do not take place during martial law. Because of the need to effectively resist the aggressor, it is impossible to ensure compliance with international standards and principles of suffrage instrumental to the democratic elections, and indispensable for the elected government to be considered legitimate.

This is not the first year the OPORA Civil Network has been advocating changes in political finance, as well as engaging in surveys and awareness raising effort in this domain.