Македонски центар за меѓународна соработка - МЦМС

One of the major challenges of the Macedonian society is the implementation of the good governance practices based on the rule of law and democracy, participation, efficiency and effectiveness, transparency and equality. This issue has still not been seriously addressed by the civil society actors and there is an evident lack of capacity for doing this.

The overall goal of the program is to contribute for good governance, participation and policies directed from and towards the people.

The purpose is to enhance the responsibility of the institutions, civil society organizations and citizens.

The target group includes all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia with focus on the marginalized societal groups. Direct Beneficiaries are the civil servants, the Members of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, the members of the Civic Platform of Macedonia (CPM) and other civil society organizations. The target area is the Republic of Macedonia. The program will be realized in Skopje, while some of the activities will be implemented throughout the country.

The expected results of the program are:

• Transparent and participatory process of preparation of the state budget, reflecting the state priorities;
  
• Increased influence of the civil society organizations in policy making;
  
• Increased awareness and capacity of the citizens for responsibility and participation.
  

Several complementary tools will be used for implementation of the program. Primarily, advocacy and lobbying will be applied, including research, information, awareness building, influence on the public policy making and monitoring.

In addition, capacities will be built for creating sustainable structures and mechanisms that would be practiced and would demand responsibility.

The program will be implemented through the following activities:

• Lobbying for transparent and participatory process for preparation of the national budget, which will reflect the societal priorities and monitoring of its utilization.
  
• Increasing the participation of CSO in policy making
  
• Raising the awareness and capacities of the citizens for responsibility and participation
  

The program should deliver several products, such as: improved framework for civic participation in the budgeting and public policy making, training on financial analysis, good governance and policy making, reports on public procurement, good governance practices in CSO and responsibility of citizens on the societal issues.

The implementation period is July 1, 2008 – December 31, 2010.

The program includes several actors. It is assumed that the Government, relevant ministries and deputies will be willing to actively participate and cooperate. Important actors for the program are also the members of CPM and their commitment would be very significant for achieving the goals on advocacy and lobbying.

Relationships will be established and built with the Government, more specifically with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Procurement Bureau, the General Secretariat and the Unit for cooperation with the NGOs, the Ministry of Justice as well as several different civil society organizations.

The communication will be in written, but also oral, through participation in events, press releases, reactions. The information will be disseminated through several web sites and media. The public relations foresee visibility of MCIC, press conferences, press releases, promotion, placing the publications on the web sites, paid advertisements, debates and roundtables.

MCIC assumes full responsibility for implementation of the program. It will be implemented by the Civil Society Department within MCIC’s Executive Office. The additional expertise for implementation of the training, researches and lobbying will be provided by hiring external experts, trainers and consultants. MCIC’s standard systems and procedures will be applied, such as project planning, financial management, narrative and financial reporting.

MCIC will prepare quarterly, semiannual and annual progress reports on the implementation of the program, accompanied with financial reports. Furthermore, MCIC will provide a monitoring system for regular control and implementation of the planned activities. An external evaluation will be performed at the end of the program.

The program is categorized as very complex.

Having in mind that the program addresses issues that are societal priorities, which were never actualized before, there are several risks: the unwillingness of the government and its institutions to cooperate, lack of appropriate capacity for monitoring the preparation and utilization of the national budget, CSO not being aware of their organizational and institutional weaknesses, unwillingness of CSO for improving the systems for internal democracy, accountability and transparency.

Large amount of the financial resources are provided by EED. Funds are also provided by OSCE. The rest will be provided by other donors. An application has been submitted to the British Embassy, while applications will be also submitted to the Balkan Democracy Fund (BTD) and other donors.

The budget amounts to MKD 19,294,891.

Projects:

• Active citizenry
• Forums in the community Resen and Bitola