Македонски центар за меѓународна соработка - МЦМС

A year after the adoption of the Strategy for Cooperation of the Government with the Civil Society Sector, part of activities were implemented; however, other planned activities were not registering any significant progress. The capacity of the employees in the Unit for Cooperation with the Non-Governmental Organizations is still in the process of development, and in absence of separate program budget for the Unit its difficult to expect from it to make great progress in the relations with the civil society organizations and the Government, and in the process of coordination of the implementation of the activities in the Strategy. The Unit has still not been recognized in the framework of the Government itself and the civil society organizations.

The overall goal of the project was contribution to the responsible institutions which conduct policies for development of the civil society sector.

The objective of the project was strengthening of the capacity of the governmental bodies for cooperation with the civil society organizations and monitoring of the government’s policies which refer to the civil society organizations.

The target group is civil society organizations and representatives from the bodies of the state administration. The target area is Republic of Macedonia.

The project implemented the following results: realized a coordinative meeting and established mutual cooperation of the governmental bodies from the countries in the region responsible for cooperation and development of the civil society; prepared report on the progress of the implementation of the Strategy, and thereby sustaining transparency and accountability in the process of its implementation.

The project consisted of two main activities:

• Monitoring of the implementation of the Strategy

MCIC prepared a report on the implementation of the Strategy for Cooperation of the Government with the Civil Society Sector, during the period from January 2007 to December 2008. The report was published in 1.000 copies and the same has been distributed to the civil society organizations, state institutions, media and other relevant actors. Also, a debate on the findings from the report was organized. Representatives from the civil society organizations and relevant state institutions participated.

• Support to the Unit for Cooperation with the Non-Governmental Organizations

The Unit for Cooperation with the Non-Governmental Organizations organized a regional conference for mutual introduction and cooperation with the units for cooperation with the civil society organizations from the countries in the region. The topic of the conference was “Governmental Cooperation with the Civil Society Organizations” and the same was held in Skopje from March 3rd to March 5th 2008. At the conference, besides the host, representatives from the governments of Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia participated, as well as representatives from the civil society sector from Macedonia. MCIC together with FOSIM jointly supported the conference.

The time period of project implementation was March 1th – December 31th 2008. 

 The assumptions which influenced on and contributed to the achievement of the project results were the following: the interest for mutual cooperation between the representatives from the units from the region for strengthening the civil society sector, and the interest of the Unit and civil society organizations to review and debate the progress of the Strategy.    

The activities were conducted in coordination with the Unit for Cooperation with the Non-Governmental Organizations.

The project involved heterogeneous beneficiaries, i.e. representatives from all sectors in the society, and more organizations in the implementation.

Извршно резиме од проектот.