This preliminary statement is offered by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) election observer delegation to Ukraine’s April 21, 2019, second round presidential election. The delegation, which included observers from eleven countries, was led by former Director of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) Dame Audrey Glover, former United States Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor, NDI Regional Director for Eurasia Laura Jewett, and NDI Global Associate and Senior Resident Director Mary O’Hagan.

NDI’s latest nationwide survey (completed December 2018) shows that with March 31st presidential elections approaching, more than 50 percent of Ukrainians are undecided. They value honesty above all other qualities in a candidate, including experience. Among voters with a preference, an actor who plays an honest but entirely fictional president in a television show is as popular as the leader of Ukraine’s oldest political party.  

KYIV, Ukraine – Both men and women want to see changes in the traditional roles of men and women. 77 percent of respondents say that equality between men and women is important to them. 71 percent think men and women should be equally involved in family life but only 40 percent think they are today. Two thirds see that the politics is male-dominated but only 36 percent think that this should be the case. Sexual harassment in the workplace is an issue of concern to men as well as women.

This statement is offered by a joint international delegation organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the European Parliament. The delegation’s purposes were: to accurately and impartially assess electoral preparations in advance of Ukraine's 2019 presidential election; review the broader political environment; examine factors that could affect the integrity of the electoral process; and offer recommendations that could contribute to peaceful, credible elections and public confidence in the electoral process.

Kyiv, Ukraine – Five months before Ukraine’s presidential election, slated for March 2019, and parliamentary elections, slated for October 2019, a joint pre-election assessment delegation of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the European Parliament found a broadly sound legal and institutional framework, as well as concrete areas for improvement (download the full election statement).

NDI Ukraine’s July 2018 public opinion survey showed overwhelming and stable support for a fully functioning democracy (83 percent). The demand remains strong across all regions of Ukraine with equal justice for all and free and fair elections being the most important characteristics of democracy for Ukrainian citizens.

Over the past year, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs set out to provide campaign, political party, and election professionals with practical guides to the most applicable cybersecurity best practices in advance of the 2018 midterm elections in the United States. In November 2017, it released “The Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook” for campaign professionals. In February 2018, it released a set of three U.S.

NDI Ukraine's latest nationwide survey (completed in December 2017) showed several important trends, including growing support for gender equality in political life. For the first time, more than half of Ukrainians (52 percent) support the equal participation of men and women – or more women than men – in political life.

Several important social trends have been observed in NDI Ukraine's latest nationwide survey, completed in July 2017. These trends include growing support for gender equality in political life, rising demand for a more modern, service-based relationship between government and society, and increased willingness to participate in elections and civic activities.

The National Democratic Institute sought to explore attitudes toward women’s political participation in Ukraine using cutting-edge public opinion research techniques. NDI investigated voter preferences on candidate gender, gender balance and quotas in elected institutions, the role of political parties in women’s political participation, and the barriers women candidates face when running for office.