Pivdenivska city council received high marks for safety

The Pivdenivska community showed a high level of compliance with democratic standards based on the results of a mandatory and additional security audit. The event was the first public discussion in Odesa region of the monitoring of the security situation based on the OPORA methodology.

This was announced during an online presentation by the regional consultant of the Civil Network OPORA, Viktoriia Sobko. According to the consultant, the Pivdenivska community has passed a high-level audit.

"Despite the relative proximity to the front line and regular shelling, the community maintains a significant part of democratic processes at the proper level and makes efforts to ensure the continuity of sustainable development and maintain basic security conditions for life," Sobko emphasized.

"OPORA's security audit methodology allows us to assess the risks and capacity of communities to restore electoral and democratic processes, taking into account the security, institutional and legal context. The Pivdenivska community underwent an in-depth analysis of infrastructure, security, and potential threats in the event of elections after the end of martial law.

During the presentation, OPORA's analysts and regional consultants presented the key findings of the audit, outlined the importance of the methodology for the post-war restoration of democracy, and provided recommendations for improving security monitoring.

Particular attention was paid to the discussion on the practical challenges of organizing elections in communities amid the military threat. The experts emphasized that the risks cannot be eliminated in the short term, and the approach to the electoral process should be balanced and prioritize the safety of citizens.

Representatives of the community, law enforcement and the public sector noted the practical value of the study and discussed possible ways to improve the effectiveness of security audits, including a centralized system of alerts and modeling of electoral processes.

Earlier, Odesa was included in the ranking of local budget transparency among Ukrainian regional centers, showing a high level of openness of financial information. At the same time, most other cities still demonstrate only average transparency and limited citizen involvement in the budget process.

Анна Бальчінос