Yuliia Shypilova is the Ukraine Programme Lead at International IDEA, based in the Brussels office.

She leads International IDEA’s programming in Ukraine, overseeing the organization’s strategic engagement, institutional partnerships and support to democratic resilience in the context of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine and the country’s European integration process.

Yuliya is a senior international governance and democracy expert with more than 18 years of experience supporting democratic institutions in transitional, conflict-affected and post-conflict contexts. Her work focuses on strengthening democratic governance, institutional resilience, electoral integrity, political finance transparency, parliamentary development and reform processes.

At International IDEA, she is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of the Ukraine programme portfolio, including engagement with Ukrainian institutions, international partners and donors. Her role combines programme leadership, resource mobilization, partnership-building and high-level technical assistance in support of Ukraine’s democratic recovery and reform agenda.

Ms. Shypilova has extensive experience managing large-scale donor-funded programmes and advising democratic institutions across Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, Central Asia and other regions. She has worked with International IDEA, the United Nations Development Programme, OSCE/ODIHR, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Her country experience includes Armenia, Afghanistan, Belgium, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uzbekistan, among others.

Before joining International IDEA, she held senior advisory and management roles, including Head of Programs at IFES and Chief Technical Advisor for UNDP electoral assistance projects in the Kyrgyz Republic and Armenia.

Yuliya is the author and co-author of more than 150 publications on legal, electoral and governance issues. She holds a master’s degree in law.