1.8 Encouraging electoral reform – ODIHR’s online database of electoral recommendations All OSCE participating Sates have committed to promptly following up on ODIHR election assessments and recommendations. If electoral recommendations are not comprehensively considered and effectively addressed, there is a risk that electoral shortcomings and vulnerabilities will persist and indeed increase. This poses a risk to key human rights, and may additionally have a detrimental impact on the perceived credibility of the entire electoral process, contributing to security concerns at both national and regional levels. Over the last two decades, the Western Balkans region has made progress in adopting democratic norms and institutions, including the conduct of democratic elections. However, in the course of its recent election observation activities in the region, ODIHR has noted varied degrees of implementation of OSCE commitments and other standards for democratic elections. ODIHR’s work within an EU-funded project in the region seeks to address this. ODIHR has made a number of recommendations to assist OSCE participating States in bringing their electoral legislation and practice into closer alignment with OSCE commitments and international standards. While there has generally been greater engagement and inclusive dialogue with political contestants and civil society in developing and introducing electoral reforms, it is evident that further support is needed for the implementation of electoral recommendations. This includes assistance to increase the political will for reform, support for sustainable 24 DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE electoral-management capacities, the promotion of public consultation and inclusion, reference to OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards, the use of national and international expertise, and support in setting up plans, public reporting and review mechanisms. ODIHR’s public database of electoral recommendations (https://paragraph25.odihr. pl/) is a key tool to encourage reform in this area. It includes some 750 recommendations from 30 observation reports, as well as up-to-date information on the status of their implementation. The database has inbuilt accessibility features for people with visual impairments. Stakeholders, both governmental and nongovernmental, make use of the database to assess progress made and hold democratic institutions accountable. The database presents ODIHR’s recommendation from the previous observation reports, current activities undertaken to support follow-up to each specific recommendation, as well as final evaluation of implementation once the subsequent observation report is published. ODIHR plans to extend the database to include all 57 OSCE participating States after the completion of the project in June 2020.