Stöd för reform av valsystemet OSCE Albanien Election system reform support OSCE Albania Support to election reform in Albania through enabling of out of country voting, de-politization of elections' commissions and improvement of legal framework for referenda.

The intervention is a cooperation with OSCE about providing election reform support to the relevant Albanian authorities, including the Central Election Commission. The focus will be in supporting the country to further advance with electoral reform and processes in line with the OSCE commitments and OSCE/ODIHR recommendations included in the elections monitoring reports, contribute to ensuring an effective and efficient electoral administration, as well as, enhance electoral administration capacities and voter education in Albania. The support will be provided more specifically to ensuring the legal and technical provision necessary for the Out of Country Voting (OCV)in the forthcoming parliamentary elections of 2025, advancing the de-politization agenda of the electoral administration through systematic professional training process, voter education about the voting processes and improvements in the legal framework for the referenda. The intervention will combine capacity building and legal changes with limited but well-targeted material support through provision of equipment for OCV, and training for the electoral administration, especially at local voting centers.The cooperation partner is OSCE Presence in Albania, with a very long experience of support to democratic elections in the country, through technical assistance, elections' monitoring and political dialogue and support negotiations between the political parties. OSCE will establish a dedicated project team, who will constantly benefit from policy and technical support and expertise from the OSCE Presence office, and will carry the Presence's political weight and influence in the dialogue with the stakeholders. OSCE Presence in Albania will be the cooperation and agreement partner for the intervention. OSCE Presence in Albania will be the cooperation and agreement partner for the intervention. However, the intervention will be financed through a pooled funding modality with Sida being the main funder with 12 000 000 SEK. The Swiss Development Cooperation has pledged to fund with an amount 500 000 -600 000 CHF and will sign the funding agreement with OSCE in January 2023, once their existing cooperation is completed in December 2022. The agreement is expected to become effective from 1st of February 2023. The Swiss support is soft earmarked for the first result area, because there is other parallel support provided to the CEC for training and capacity building. Poland has also provided an amount of 20 000 Euro as an unconditional financial contribution to the project. The total Project budget is 1 796 027 Euro. Stöd till valreform i Albanien genom att möjliggöra omröstning utanför landet, avpolitisering av valkommissioner och förbättring av den rättsliga ramen för folkomröstning. The main objective of the project is to contribute to an all-inclusive and participatory electoral process in line with the OSCE commitments and OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, and thus to the consolidation of democracy in Albania, with strong democratic institutions and processes, trusted and supported by an empowered public.

 The results expected from the intervention are:

1) The legislative, policy and operational framework in election-related priority areas, is supported and advanced.

2) Resources, capacities and knowledge on electoral matters among institutions and citizens, are developed and enhanced.

3) Logistics and equipment facilities for electoral administration are improved.

The intervention will contribute more specifically to ensure the OCV for the general elections of 2025, by preparing the roadmap of steps and bylaws. It will contribute to increase the de-politization electoral administration by introducing effective training programmes to become mandatory for electoral commissioners, paving the way for gradual substitution of politically appointed  with impartial commissioners. The intervention will also help to improve the legal framework for referenda, creating the room for direct democracy and for publics inclusion in decision-making for crucial matters.