Monitoring and Advocacy of Select Reform Commitments Under Association Agreements (Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine)

In 2016, Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF), Soros Foundation-Moldova (SF-M), the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), the Eurasia Program (EP) and the Open Society European Policy Institute (OSEPI) conducted a research and advocacy project aimed at supporting reform implementation in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.  The national foundations produced a series of policy briefs assessing reforms in the areas of justice, anti-corruption and anti-discrimination, as well as other areas of concern for the specific national context. Based on the success of the implemented activities, this project bid to continue and advance policy monitoring in the frames of AA implementation, ensuring continuation of methodological consistency and promoting exchange of ideas and experience between different partners from the EaP associated countries.  

The project aimed to bring closer and strengthen cooperation at the civil society level among Eastern Partnership countries who signed Associations Agreements with the EU: Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Since Association Agreements were signed, each of the three countries engaged in numerous reforms to advance their Europeanization efforts. Notwithstanding their efforts to achieve the same goals, the three countries have not developed significant cooperation, although this would give much more weight to voice their common interests at the international level. The initiative included networking, research and advocacy efforts both in the three countries and at the EU level (in Brussels and in EU member states). The project also explored possibilities to create closer contacts between civil society representatives and think tanks, providing constructive recommendations as to how to form and utilize an ad hoc platform gathering the three countries at EU level. 

Goal: 

The regional project aimed to assess and report the progress made by Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine in the implementation of political commitments included in the Association Agreements (AA) signed with the EU. The advocacy goal was to make the best use of the EU’s leverage in demanding reforms of justice, anti-corruption and anti-discrimination from its Eastern neighboring countries. 

Activities: 

• Organizing a convening in Ukraine including:  1) Regional peer-learning and experience-sharing for national experts from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia; 2) Roundtable discussions on topics of common interests; 3) Training session writing policy briefs; 

• Reviewing policy briefs and memos written by national teams from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.