Regional Center For Sustainable Development Kratovo

I had a bit of trouble meeting with this NGO- but for once it was me and not them! I  confirmed the meeting with them on a Thursday for a Friday meeting. I had been fighting a cold for a while, but on Friday morning when I woke up I couldn’t even get out of bed. Like I got up and started to get dress and felt like I had been awake for 30 hours straight doing hard labor. I texted them and sent an email saying I couldn’t make it. Sadly they still showed up to meet me at the bus, but we were able to rearrange my visit to them until later. I felt so bad, but there was just nothing I could do! That whole weekend was literally spent laying in bed or on the couch drinking sprite!

The mysterious NGO is the Regional Center for Sustainable Development (RCSD)  in Kratovo. Kratovo is about a 2 our bus ride away from Skopje towards Bulgaria. They met me at the bus station and we walked through the town on our way to their NGO’s building. They had the second floor of a building, with a restaurant on the first floor. Their office had a storage room, bathroom, small office with computers in it, large boardroom connected to an office room. Their walls had tons of posters on it from various campaigns they had participated in in the past. Most of their furniture had “Donated by the EU” on it.

RCSD is a result of an EU project, rather than grassroots support (which they also have). They were established in 2003; until 2006 they were the NGO support center in the region. They were part of a project that helped to open 8 other NGO support centers. When they became their own NGO, they focused on social and economic fragility. They established their NGO as a way of providing sustainability to the region. In their position as a support center, they keep abreast of the most recent changes in NGO law, which happens often- they advice other NGOs on the changes. While they act as a support center for other NGOs, they have the same status as any other NGO and fight for the same funding as the other NGOs. They offer their office up for free to use for meetings or access to the internet. Currently they have three paid staff and three volunteers. They are a part of several national and international organisations with different but compatible goals, mostly in support of quality youth laws.

They work towards sustainable development in MK. They want to have a better social and economic integration in Kratovo. This NGO tries to help make Kratovo more developed, while gaining more perspective on the national level. They are also trying to make the local government function more as a “good governance” partner. They are working with the government to make their actions more transparent and accountable towards the local community. They also work with minority groups, such as the Roma community, to help them get their voice out.

They provide trainings for public institutions and the community. When they train the community they do so because often the public is uninformed about how the government works. This way citizens can know how to best maximize their contact with the government- especially to gain better access to their services. They cover 4 municipalities and about 180 NGOs. They help people learn how to establish an NGO, strategically plan, finance, and budget for an NGO as well as project management. They do this through about 30 trainings a year. The Regional Center wants the government and private companies to be more energy efficient. Not only is this more economically, they claim, but also allows a more efficient use of taxpayer money. They are advocating for the government to create an annual energy efficiency plan; they are helping the government better understand the reasons.

They also support a youth club, in its infancy, that is focused on building the capacity of the youth. Allowing them to learn how to advocate on all issues that are important to them. They hope to grow leaders who will have developed quality work towards the youth.  They focus on areas that the local youth is concerned with: training for debates (such as in a model EU), how EU policies are implemented and able to raise their voices for issues relevant to them.

They also are trying to expand the tourism base in Kratovo. Their city is known for many old buildings and a specific style of architecture that is not found elsewhere in MK. However, since they are 22 hours outside of Skopje, and they are not well advertised, no one comes. Therefore they are trying to develop sustainable tourism. They want a long term plan to draw tourists to the area. Tourism, they claim, will also provide better integration and strengthen the capacity to provide social development in the region.

In relation to both the local and national governments, they like most others, have tried to work with the national, but have had more success in the local environment. The national government cooperates when they need help but never the other way around. The national government might help in any way that doesn’t involve money, such as providing training. RCSD doesn’t feel that this is helpful cooperation nor do they count it as being supportive. When it doesn’t cost them any money, time or people, the national government will help. They will provide space, such as what they did with the local children’s park that was recently built. The national government might help with some form of money, but this is extremely rare. The government claims that they no longer have the time, but RCSD believes it is because they do not find it important. The RCSD completed all of their trainings and provided suggestions to the government.They completed all of their responsibilities to the government and received no support. The government claims there are other responsibilities.

There is a part of the budget set aside for NGOs, roughly 400,000 MKD ($8,480). They stated that the NGOs that receive the funding are often the newly formed national government/party related. Or the same ones get the grants every year. They have never received money from the MK government. As part of a way to raise money, they teach French, Spanish, and Italian to local students. They also provide other services that they charge a small fee for. But most of their money is from international donors.

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After our meeting in their office, we went to a local school in Rankovce. They met up with some trainers who were going to be presenting on energy efficiency to a group of kids. Every class sent a representative to the presentation. Then, after the presentation to the children, they made one to the teachers. There were less teachers there than there should have been due to a “emergency” meeting. Both sets of trainers suggested that it was politics rather than an emergency for the meeting.

The trainers who showed up from Skopje were a part of another NGO (who I have been trying to meet with to no avail). They did most of the presentation to the children, while RCSD did most of the presentation to the adults. The trainer for the kids had an amazing personality. And I felt super good about it because I could understand most of the presentation.

The children were pretty attentive during her presentation. They used a powerpoint and handed out comic books. they also had some things that they hung up around the classroom and just for the presentation. The presentation was on how to use energy efficiently and the different types of places we can get energy from in the world (water, sun, wind, gas, coal, waste). My favorite line of the whole day was “Енергетски ресрси виза за зелена иднина!“ “‘Renewable Energy is the visa for a green future!”

See my travel blog for the travel part of this trip.

SOZM

I was finally able to meet with another women’s rights organization for my next meeting. SOZM or the National Council for Gender Equality (НСЖМ), is an NGO located in Skopje focusing on domestic violence. They had the smallest office I have yet seen. They had some room that was at most 10 feet long and 5 feet across. They fit about 5-7 people in this office at the time I was there. It was very disorganized- papers and books everywhere, but they were in the middle of a campaign. This was my shortest interview, because they had allotted less than one hour for our meeting. Also, they were very busy at this time.

This interview took place through a translator, because the head of the organization didn’t speak English, however, some of the information I got from the lady who translated. She also worked there and was not just a translator.

After the “reorganization” of Macedonia in 1991, they created the organization in Skopje and a few in other towns. They hosted humanitarian and peace events across the country. About 4 years later, there were 13 different women’s organizations in a network for international women’s rights.
Back then, many women were not involved in political activity. From the first and second parliamentary elections only 4 or 5 of the 120 members were women. The Reason for this, according to SOZM, was the parties themselves. They didn’t have women in the parties, they saw no need at first. This was one of their first goals- to get more women involved in politics. This was one reason for the establishment of their NGO- they saw this as a channel for social activity.
Using the political empowerment of women as the jumping board, they went as network throughout MK. All the different organizations completed independent activities but shared a common vision.

The government is supposed to support local women organizations and build their capacity. In 2011, there are 110 local independent organizations in the network that SOZM is a part of. They are the result of organizations acting as a network to promote the interests of women. Outside of the network, there are 200 other independent local women’s organizations The NGO sector outside of Skopje is not very active, nor visible. But there are a few NGOs that are very active.

SOZM works with the government and the municipalities, but mostly with the municipalities. They have no problem working with the government. They work closely with the local government, but it is “a different story” when working with the national government. Every time they approach the national government the situation is different. The national government  is fine to work with, but just not good for money. They have not received funding from the government for over 5 years; what funding they did get, was very minimal. All the funding comes from international donors. There is more money coming from the national government in the future. After MK became a Candidate Country, there was less funding available to NGOs in MK. In the future, they want to their use of international donors. While many of the people active in their organization are volunteers, they need funds to pay for their office space and main activities.
They work towards fighting the perception of opposition NGOs. They admit there are some NGOGOs and ones that are specifically one party or the other, but not all are. SOZM claims that not very many organizations are perceived this way. They did not elaborate.

While they mainly focus on violence now, they want to branch out to focus on economic and political issues. They do not yet have the funds to realize these goals yet.
SOZM provides a SOS line in three different mobile numbers, so it is no charge to the victims. They are able to reach someone to talk about their problems. Then the women who call will be refereed to other organizations for shelters, legal aid, etc. They can also be advised on their legal rights.  They also have an intervention center. You can stay there for 24 to 48 hours before you have to move. The center provides accommodation and food for the women. Outside of Skopje other organizations provide the same services within the network or women's organizations. They promote the call lines and shelters on local media, leaflets, etc. They even organized a round table with the stakeholders when the lines first became active.

They probably serve about 80 women monthly.

They also focus on the economic empowerment of women. They provide English and computer courses. They will train women how to start their own businesses. Or how to expand a current business. There is also a program for peace and conflict resolution that they work with. They promote the UN Resolution 1325. Towards increasing the participation of women in politics/democracy, their input for decision making, peace and in upper levels in the police and army.

ESEM (Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women of Republic of Macedonia)

was really hoping to meet with this next NGO, I had found one of their publications while I was in the US and it was amazingly informative! So, I was very disappointed when I didn’t hear from them for over a month, and then when I called them to ask about the email, they stated “Yes, we got the email.” Nothing else. However, they did agree to set up a meeting with in 48 hours.

This was Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women of Republic of Macedonia (ESEM). Their office is located right off the main square in an apartment building, like every office seems to be here. When you walk in, you find a reception area, conference room, and 2-3 offices (I am not sure, because I walked directly into the conference room and was not given a tour). There was a built in bookshelf to one side of the conference room, totally filled with books. The table was littered with tons of papers, obviously mid thought. There was also a TV on, which was kept on through the interview.

ESEM focuses on women and equal opportunities They try to make sure that MK and EU standards are aligned. This is difficult because there is no EU standard, every country has a different standard. In MK there is a draft law on equality by the opposition, but it is mostly for general discrimination which is a “defocus” (not positive, but will strengthen the general system). There is no systematic approach to gender equality.

ESEM was formed in 1985. This period was the initialization of civil society in MK. They were helped with aid from a Dutch Development Agency. Their initial focus was on assessing and addressing the urgent needs of women. They have moved into a new area recently on women’s health. But they do focus on violence against women and women’s human rights (monitor quality implementation of treaty). They then are able to report to the UN on their findings. They claim they have the ability to improve certain issues, parallel to the EU progress reports. They have a highly structured organizational framework. There is a small set of employed staff. Any external professionals they have are contracted employees. They use their partner institutions to implement their different activities. ESEM uses all of their resources to lobby and advocate for women. If the current changes work, they will advocate for even more changes.

They maintain legal centers with direct serves. They also have a health info center where they provide advice on health issues. The health center gives them direct access to women who they can communicate. In the last 2-3 years, they have begun to develop budget monitoring in the health sector. Initially they focused on Roma health, but then switched to domestic violence. ESEM has office hours and phone numbers that people can call to find out about services for women (be it domestic violence or health related).ESEM provides services 2 days per week in the afternoon. They offer legal aid and pro-bono court representation when needed. This shows that people are turning to civil society for help; there is a small positive image.

While most of the civil society is really developed, there needs to be certain amount of cooperation between the government and said civil society. The civil society sector has the capacity, history, and potential but they are not used to help society. NGOs are often treated as enemies of the state, since they often monitor the government and act as a watchdog. This even goes are far as the government proclaiming that NGOs are essentially the opposition. Roughly 10,000 NGOs are registered in MK, which ESEM sees as a clear indicator that something is going on. Yet, ESEM believes that citizens see the sector as merely a way to get rich or, rarer, to contribute to society. ESEM theorized that the negative public perception of NGOs came from people who were willing to misuse the funds. Some organizations were used politically, and this contributed as well . There is an Awful perception of the left leaning Open Society Institute, which further negatively effects the rest of the civil society because they often the scape-goat of the government. Since ESEM can’t avoid this type of labeling, they ignore it.

When asked about the cooperation between NGOs and the government, ESEM responded that it depends on the ruling party and then who is specifically in power. NGOs are treated as the enemy and the government thinks NGOs are trying to usurp the government. Any cooperation between the government and NGOs is initiated by the NGOs, ESEM claims; you will rarely find honest cooperation initiated by the government. Often, they further claim, when NGOs have begun the cooperation, government employees often think that it is supposed to be a one way cooperation (NGO to the government) rather than a two way street. While ESEM could think of some examples of good cooperation with the government, it was very very rare. There is a difference between the local municipalities and the national government, but not much. Neither are interested in transparent activities. They also both use NGOGOs to cover up government activities. ESEM goes as far as to claim that the government has created their own civil society sector and that there are two sectors in MK: the real NGOs and the ones created by the government. According to ESEM, civil society is not sustainable in MK. It is hard to find real results of NGO’s work. There is a problem with activism and the formulation of the civil society field. Most NGOs are dependent upon foreign aid. This situation is creating an impossible working environment. Funding is already scarce, and these NGOGOs make it worse. Since 2010, there has been a downsizing in the civil society sector. It has become passive, according to ESEM. The sector exists, but does not do anything productive. Also, the quantity has decreased, possible from the lesser amount of money flowing into Macedonia. Cooperation with the government can be views through different lenses. ESEM meant that cooperation could be seen as equal depending on which issue you judge it off. However, there is no ‘established’ cooperation on any issue. They propose that when the government decides to actually cooperate with everyone who is responsible for subject. If NGOs can work with all ministries that address an issues, then when everyone is included, they can see the result as part of their own work- and thus want to maintain it. The government won’t refuse to work with you if you show them the benefit to them- but there has to be a benefit. Yet, some NGOs also think that cooperation with the government is a threat, a sell out.

There is some MK funding available to NGOs, and there is even a Department for Civil Society. The government announces grant opportunities, but the amount is quite small and maybe less than 1-2% of the budget. ESEM finds it “annoying” how funds are awarded. According to ESEM, the ministers directly decide which NGOs to support. Further, they do not see the applications as an opportunity to connect with many different NGOs, just preferring their own NGOs. While it is all “official and proper,” it is not “fair.” ESEM has received money from the MK government in the past.

Women’s NGOs are treated the same as other NGOs, and much is based upon the capacity of the different civil society organizations. Compared to the other civil society sectors in Macedonia, the women’s civil society sector is highly developed. They are more capable than the other NGOs in other sectors of the civil society sector. There is sustainable opportunities within the civil society sector for women’s NGOs. Since ESEM is striking out against cultural norms and traditions, this makes them stronger. Many NGOs can’t escape from general development and often lack the organizational funding and vision needed.

The meeting was very informative, especially about the ‘women’s situation’ in MK, but I am saving that for another collaborated post with information I have gained from another source as well.

Civil Society Institute

(Not to sound like a broken record, but..) My next meeting was with Center for Civic Initiative (CCI). CCI has been in operation for 15 years. They have had great success with local reform with two different political parties in power. And to put it lightly, they made me actually feel important. It started with a car to pick me up in Skopje rather than taking the bus (which I was willing and able to do and even tried to convince them that I should do). Then I was taken out to lunch and dropped off in front of my friend’s apartment! And they were super super nice, some of the nicest people I have met yet and they were willing to help!

Once I arrived in Prilep, where their NGO is located, we immediately started talking about them! Their office is near the center, but still on the outskirts of town. They have three rooms, a reception area, small kitchen, and bathroom. And the rooms were very full of furniture or books! I will try my best to organize this interview, but we jumped all over the place with questions and answers!

The civil society sector in MK, according to them, is highly dependant upon donors. The different NGOs fight for the same idea, but with such small funding sources, they compete for people and money. There are a large number of NGOs registered, but many are no longer practicing. Former ministers often see the civil society as a place to retire into- and they create their own special NGO just for them.  There are a few more NGOs than the normally accepted one that could be recognized, but there are not any watchdog organizations or any constructive critics. Many NGOS will not be politicized, or rather they will not join any parties or be associated with any political party. This way people will not see the NGOs actions as politicized. If they are seen as neutral then their funding doesn’t depend on whatever party is in power.

CCI tries to have a relationship with the entity and not the people in the positions. They partner with the local government, and are now in the position that they can ask them to try new ways of working without having to work for the party in the elections. In the last 2 years the local and national government and the NGOGOs have fostered a division of NGOs into the Soros NGOs and other NGOs. They tried to create the public opinion that the Soros NGOs are trying to make the country weak intentionally. Some of the people in government see enemies in the NGO/civil society sector because the government people think NGOs are trying to take over their jobs. There is now closer cooperation between the NGOs, partly because they are afraid of taking any action that may cause problems for them in the future. Now you can see NGOs working with the government without criticism from the public. Yet, they are working as a passive NGO sector. No one stood up in Feburary when ethnic tensions rose due to the conflict over the museum shaped as a church in the fortress in Skopje, because this was rather risky. The NGO sector is working as a passive sector right now- no one stands up when things are going badly, because they are afraid of the risks. They are happy that there is an NGO sector. They told me that “Our main concern is that we are lacking a strong partnership between NGOs.” There is no union of NGOs nor is there any cooperation. They even claim there there is no sense of working together because it is extremely difficult to get people to work together- make the meetings or phone calls. When asked why- they admitted that there is a known need, but there are some that disagree that there is a need. There is also a lack of effective action towards NGOs. If the NGOs are acting alone, then there is the idea that they are easy to eliminate, but if there is a network  of NGOs trying to work together then the government would be more responsive. They work mostly for their own community rather than the greater community of the nation.

For 15 years there has not been a very active NGO sector. From 1999-2001 a lot of money came into MK due to the different conflicts. Many new NGOs were formed to take this easy money without learning how to write good grant proposals or continue the activities after the easy money was gone. Now CCI tries to get the funds and then implement more locally, often through re-granting procedures, the programs to help local people. Some NGOs are afraid to take action because it may cause problems with the government or local authorities. However, you can see NGOs working with the government with out criticism.

CCI feels that protecting human rights isn’t just the responsibility of the government, but also of the NGO sector. The government claims it is working with grassroots organizations, but this is just an excuse for not being active in critical areas, CCI believes. They even emphasized that it is more true now than before because MK is on the edge of a crisis. No community member or government employee is trying to imitate dialog between the government and the opposition or the ethnic groups of MK. They see no other option but for the NGO/civil society sector to step up and help bring the sides together.

CCICCI is trying to make changes through constructive cooperation and showing them it is important through their work with the kids. As long as they are putting topics that bring reform on the agenda, but that do not criticise the government then it is OK to propose them. The reforms need to be satisfying to both sides; often that means focusing on women’s rights, handicapped people, and human trafficking.

The government has helped create the idea in public that if you criticize the government then you are part of the opposition. There is no ‘mature-ness’ about democracy, according to CCI. The previous government/leaders are the ones who have changed it. There is a greater fear of obstacles, more personal power tendencies, and a lack of democratic experiences. While NGOs are making study visits to see how democracy is functioning in other countries, the government officials are not. Everyone is waiting for others to initiate a network rather than being the ones to initiate the network. That NGO that starts it will have the focus of the government (and it is implied the criticism). But waiting for other to act, CCI states, creates a dark atmosphere for NGOs; soon reality will force them to act with democracy.

CCI was began in 1997. They work with human rights/democracy, capacity building for the NGO sector, and the improvement public sector. They mostly focus on human rights/democracy. They began with refugee education, teaching kids so they didn’t loose their place in school. They helped form children/youth centers around MK. They offered classes and clubs in English Language, debate, theater, social skills, IT. The groups would have some focus on human rights and equality. Many kids were targeted through these extra-curricular activities. Then a different agency took over the camps, and some still function today but CCI does not run them.

After the camps, CCI focused on institutional development and capacity building. They did different studies on how to run an NGO. They received funding to build their own NGO up so they could help others. They want to share their experience and help with deeper cooperation. From the funding that they received to capacity build they also learned the “zig-zag” process. This process states that they go to the community and learn their needs. Then they go back to the board to create a program. When they have an idea, they go back to the community to implement to project.

They have over 80 implemented projects. They have discussed needs with different NGOs. They also deliver training to other NGOs and organizations. They will often give the new NGOs support, they monitor the implementations and assess their success. They believe that this could be applied to all sectors of governmental work. They have a big involvement in the beginning of new NGOs they fund. They have been granted money and through a process of re-granting they have helped over 30 other NGOs (such water meters, healthy, violence) all in the Prelip region. This re-granting has helped their reputation.

Another thing that CCI helps in providing legal aid to victims of human rights violations. They hired a lawyer to provide legal advice on domestic violence or work violations. This is still required in today’s climates, people come to complain to them almost every day. Since 2004 they focus on police violence. Now the lawyer is an internal asset to CCI rather than an external collaborator. Through cooperation with NGOs in Kumanovo, Strumitca, and Skopje all under the coordination of the Skopje organization this way they have almost the entire country covered.

Another thing they work on is prevention of human trafficking by training in schools and in the center of social care. They have developed teacher manuals and tested them in schools. They have lobbied to have the manuals adopted, but so far they have not been successful. MK is both a transit (girls are passed through MK) as well as an origin company (girls originate in MK). They are trying to make people more aware about the problem and what they can do to stop it. Most people who are responsible for the origin are members of the girls family. Most girls are traded for sex and are minors. Human trafficking needs to be recognized, and reported in especially in some areas. Part of the difficulties is the lack of knowledge. The government has called for proposals, but only certain NGOs get money from the government. There is some public perception of human trafficking  but it needs more PR to have a higher awareness.

They also work on public administration a bit. They have an office in the municipality to help people become familiar with the NGO sector. They use this mainly to work with the the municipality on the NGO sector. They are working with neighborhood units so they can decide that their needs are locally rather than national government decided. There are 16 communities in the Prilep area. The neighborhoods are able to promote their positions in the municipalities. They are not asking for individual needs but rather the neighborhood action. They are trying to implement these in other countries or municipalities. The neighborhood units are a potential civil society outreach, but they need minimum funds to support volunteerism and lobby for the community.

They have received funding from many foreign donors, such as the US, EU, and individual organizations. However, they have never received funding from the MK government. CCI has applied but there is a very selective approach to who gets the MK funds. While they do not receive monetary funding, the government helps them out non-financially. There is great cooperation between the ministry of education , ombudsman, justice and the interior. Most NGOs have problems with funding a few have received funding through the EU as well as the US. This funding is mostly to new or different NGOs.

City Red Cross-Skopje

My next meeting was with someone at the Red Cross, sadly they did not put me in contact with the right person to get all of my questions answered right away, but rather with the people who organize volunteering. Thus this blog post is less about any concrete information like the other interviews and more about what the Red cross does. There is a organization within the Red Cross here (and in Europe from what I can tell) that is called the PHV (Promotion of Human Values) which is basically a large volunteer group of young people.

The lady I was put in contact with provided me with a presentation that she would be giving soon to a visiting Red Cross Dignitary. IT had an overview of the entire work of the Skopje Red Cross, which is separate from the National Red Cross (they are in different buildings). Also, this was the most well established organization I have yet to interview. They are comprised of 5 different branches in the City Red Cross. Where other NGOs had only one small apartment, I got lost trying to find the right office door! Their building had signs all over it of campaigns they had done in the past- ads for AIDS, hungry children, stateless refugees, etc. There are 34 branches in different cities around the country. They have a training center in Struga. They provide their PHV and volunteer retreats there. While only the professional staff is paid, there are many many volunteers.

They have 7 main activities in the City Red Cross:

1. Dissemination: Or rather the promotion of the Red Cross. Basically this is their PR department without saying so.  They promote the red Cross and the principles that they hold, such as the Geneva convention.
2. First Aid: Usually completed through schools and businesses. Since there is a law in MK that says for every 20 people employed 1 person has to be trained in First Aid/CPR. Also, every person to get a drivers licence has to have first aid training. (although it is interesting to note that the safety officer at the US Embassy at our briefing told us that there is no Good Samaritan Law here, meaning if you injure someone while trying to help them to the best of your ability, you are liable for their injuries. But if everyone has to get trained I am shocked there is no law like this.)
3. Youth Red Cross:  There are about 50 active youth volunteers. They are taught how they can be proactive and do different activities with their hands so they can better themselves in the future. Their traditional activities relate to cancer, AIDS or different small projects
4. Disaster Outreach and Preparedness: They train a team so they can help with injuries. Every week they have a team on Vodno and Matka (mountains in MK) to help with lost hikers or trapped skiers.
5. Blood Donation: They work with an institute for the actual transfusion. The Institute (name less) will come collect the blood. There are campaigns to collect blood as well as clubs for blood donors (to increase their motivation).
1. An interesting note is that in the US the Red Cross lets you donate blood every 56 days (in case you need a comparison, less than 2 months for any one!). Here men have to wait 3 months and women 4! When I asked the lady I had been talking too if she knew why she told me it was because of the “delicate balance that women have.” THIS is why I wanted to study gender in MK!
6. Social Welfare: They run a campaign against hunger where people can donate food/clothes which are given to “social cases” (AKA the homeless). They also have a program called the week of Solidarity where the 5 centers collect donations from people for the less fortunate.
7. Health Prevention: The United Nation’s Refugee program is collaborating with them to help have a center for children (kindergarten).

She also mentioned the different projects that they were currently working on.

• A program, with “Dormeo,”  where you can donate an old mattress and they will clean it and it will be given to jails or hospitals. You will be give a coupon for a discount on a new mattress.
• The Center For Homeless People: Every Friday/Tuesday they meet with the homeless people to take them to a center where they can take a shower, get clean clothes, receive basic medical care, and some food. This has been done for the last 3 years.
• Over the next two years they will be implementing a program for the elderly. They will give 80 people a phone with free minutes on it. They will also provide 2 nurses who will help on the phone. They hope to give the elderly people some community to socialize in and get some medical care.

I was able to get some information about how closely they worked with the government. They said that it depends on what level of government they are working with and what level of the Red Cross is trying to reach them. The City of Skopje has been a big help to the city Red Cross, but it just depends on the day or week or mood of the government. The local municipalities sometimes help with gaining extra support from their citizens or providing logistical support.

In reference to funding, they get some money for running the blood donation campaigns. In addition, part of the car registration fee goes to the Red Cross. They also provide commercial training to businesses for a fee.

Macedonian Institute for Media

The next meeting I had was with the Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM). I interviewed the someone high up on the ladder and someone who focused more on the NGO side. All comments here when stated by “they” refer to something either one of them or both of them said.

They are a NGO/foundation that has existed for 10 years (2001) and are supported by the 90 most relevant media outlets around the country. They provide capacities that serve all media and journalistic outlets in MK. They provide education for media professionals (where no other organizations provide this service). They also analyze the content of the media, especially during the elections. Often they will complete topical evaluations such as on community laws, online media, etc. They offer conferences both seminal and topical.

They want to create a public discourse about the media in MK. The media scene is facing problems with freedom of the press and freedom of association. They want to create an association of journalists and a union of journalists, but they face many legal problems in this course of action. They are currently organizing an event with the most relevant individuals who will be gathered to improve the media situation.

MIM works closely with the civil society sector in MK and contributes in areas where the media has impact. They help build the capacity in the civil society sector by educating the media contacts of relevant organizations so that they can have a bigger impact when they reach out to the media. MIM also wants to increase the position of civil society in MK, and to do so are working on a 5 year program. They want to help strengthen the civil society with 4 partners (Institute for Sustainable partnership, EU non Profit Law, and Center for Intercultural Dialog). As part of the project there will be re-granting opportunities to local NGOs that are smaller to give them more concrete action in the field.

There are 20-25 NGOs with greater capacities as leader NGOs, they do strategic work in developing policy papers, helping with development of the nations laws, helping improve NGOs. there are laws on volunteerism, donations, and sponsorship. These are not great, but they are good for the first time they actually had a set of laws about volunteering. MIM specifically has helped the Roma NGOs. They specifically try to strengthen their capacities by giving the basic public relations training, how to effectively use the internet, and develop communication plans and strategy. They would help within these new projects but then continue after the projects were completed.

There is cooperation between the state and NGOs who have worked with transparency and accountability to media. The new law is on State Accountability and Free Access to Public Information. Specifically, MIM gives

• training to the responsible people in government agencies to give them information on how to give the public information.
• handbooks to the government so they can be more independent, well trained, and able to understand the law and what their (government agencies) responsibility is.
• handbooks for journalists and how they can get the info allowed to them by the law.

When they train government officials, they made sure to clarify to me that they do not train them for “spin”  but how to be responsible when talking to the press and the public in order to give them the most information. They currently have a pool of 20 trainers for any topic.

MIM has also created a diploma program on media, their School of Journalism and Public Relations, where you can get a BA degree. About 90% of their graduates are working in the media field, one is even a editor-in-chief. They are currently trying to establish a post graduate program with help from UNESCO, but it is still in the works.

They make productions and documentaries for public outreach programs. They produce weekly interviews on Radio Free Europe, highlighting the interesting news of the week. And they are able to get the highest or most relevant person due to the interest of the program. They also preforming public outreach programs (usually as part of the re-grants they receive). The most recent re-granting program they have is with NGOs and media providers. Most NGOs choose to publicize their organization but they are supposed to be result oriented joint with a media outlet. That way, if no one else will publicize their documentary or findings, at least that one media organization will. This produced about 150 documentaries, as well as stories, inserts and videos. Then they created a Civil Society Video Fest, they have only had one year so far, but they received no other funding to continue the program and thus they had to shut down the program. Some non-profits helped with the film fest,

When asked if it was easy or difficult to meet with government officials, they responded that it was a bit easier because they have managed to keep an image of a neutral and fair organization. They are also seen as being professional based on science not politics. Many others want to work with them so it is easier to work with the government. Most times state institutions come to them for help. However, they “don’t really want to work with the state” because it isn’t their main focus.

They have had bad relations in the past, such as lobby issuing a paper on changing laws on broadcasting overnight because they weren’t happy with the content and speed. The government took no help or information, and since they have a majority. In September, they came and asked to sit and talk on how to overcome the problems. They had a meeting to form an action plan with priorities to overcome their problems. Currently, they are working together to finalize the report on media in MK. There is a lot of opposition to bring them together to one table (they often refuse to talk to each other).

MK society is polarized politically with different parties who are supposed to make reforms. These reforms are not happening- instead they are focusing on the “bizarre dispute” with Greece over their name. After the most recent EU progress report,the government struck back. They (the government) claimed that reality is different on the ground than what the EU sees. The government prefers to rely more on the US rather than the EU- the government (and possibly the people’s) trust is gone in the EU. The government feels that the EU is not contributing to solving the problem, but rather increasing the pressure on MK to solve the problems.

The NGO sector is affected by political parties, such as the Soros Foundation funding and other funding options. MIM is funded by USAID and the Danish School of Journalism. Yet they also make some money from the school they run. The NGO sector is affected by the NGOGO, which appear usually right before the elections. Many of the NGOGOs have no experience being an NGO or participating in the civil society constructively.

Most NGOs are not grassroots organizations, but can come together in times of trouble. The public perception of NGOs (which is nourished by the government) is that they are mainly money laundering machines, or spies of international organizations. Most people in MK have a lower lever of education, so they are “easier to manipulate” and draw into the conspiracy theory. In addition, the channels of communication are controlled by the government and the media, there is often just a way to use the media as a way to promote the government.

There is, MIM claims, an nonconstructive environment for change. It is difficult to get people to even start to talk, they seem stuck behind the lines. They hope to change this in the future and at least get people to talk with each other. If they see that debate is normal the people will be more likely to talk with each other. Since there are no debates for any elections, and essentially no constructive communication MK politics and life lacks a critical discourse.

Most often laws and the media are used solely as propaganda tools by the government. Such as the recent case of the A1 television station. They were charged with tax evasion, and while no one claims that they did not evade on their taxes, so did everyone else, but only the opposition station was shut down. Most members of parliament own TV stations, allowing the stations to act as a mouthpiece of the government. There are now 3 main national broadcasters.

MIM hopes to change this by training NGOs understand the transparency laws and hope that will help to combat the perceptions as they talk with journalists. MIM likes to train NGOs to know who writes about their subjects in the news, so that they can directly reach out to their contacts in the media to get their stories out rather than a general newscaster.

YES Foundation

My next visit was to YES Foundation an NGO/foundation that “seeks to strengthen the local innovation system in Macedonia by stimulating to practical entrepreneurship among the youth by offering complementary activities that will ease the start-up of new ventures.” This was by far my shortest meeting- barely over one hour. Unlike others that I had interviewed or talked to, they barely volunteered any information.

They told me in my interview that they are a business incubator who currently supports 16 different companies in the IT (information technology)  field. They try to stimulate entrepreneurship and help young people create new job positions by establishing their own businesses. They usually try to focus on young people ages 18-30 or 35 who are highly educated.

It is difficult to start a business in MK, and more so when they tried to start their foundation. Business incubation was very unknown when they started. People did not understand what it was supposed to do. But now people are starting to come to them when they want to start a business. They have received this renown because they have started making presentations with in the different faculties. Some of their other advertisements include: information on websites geared towards businesses, hosting big events such as start up weekends, or offering several trainings a month. Some of the trainings are about how to get others to get to know your company, others are about creating social networks to “network” for your business. They like to combine traditional ways of promotion with adhoc ways.

While technically they serve the entire country, mostly they focus on Skopje due to the location of the government and the fact that most people come to Skopje to start businesses. When businesses come to them for help, they have to be IT oriented. If they are not, they will refer them to other organizations. When helping businesses start, they like to provide fully furnished office space with lower rent and utilities. They are able to offer mentoring, consultant work, and trainings.

They are totally financed by international organizations- they receive no MK funding. Much of their fiances stopped last year and they are currently looking for new sources of funding. They had received 1,000 Euros a few years ago from the MK government, but it was a one time thing. While the government has some grants intended to support new businesses, the amount is too small to make any real difference.

However, the space that they currently use was donated to them free of rent for 10 years. It used to be barracks for the Ministry of Education. (I do believe that there was a miss communication with what a barrack is in English- these are right next to a few school building- but I could be wrong, I just wasn’t comfortable asking.) They have been using the facility for 4 to 5 years now. There is a possibility to extend the contract, but they are unsure of how big of a possibility that is. In addition, the government does provide support at their events, with an appearance of a minister or so. The government might not have the money to financially support YES, but they do support their mission with public appearances, according to YES. They can maintain regular contact with the municipalities and the Ministry of Economy and they are able to work with specific people in these ministries often.

There have been changes in the civil society sector since they have been in existence. Most of them have to do with the change in mentality and perception of NGOs. Some NGOs and the citizens have negative experiences with donors money and how the NGOs implement to proposed projects. This has lead to the perception that NGOs are just there to steal other people’s money and not do anything to help the citizens.The public often believes that they will get robbed if they donate money or participate in events. Or even that too many events are too expensive for what you get.  A positive change has been the increase in local support from the government.

The fact that YES is technically a foundation means that there is a difference in public opinion to them compared to your average NGO. People believe that all foundations have lots of money, while YES often struggles to make ends meet. There are some commercial sponsors who are looking at helping them out, but YES has to fight against the foundation ideal.

On a day to day basis they are occupied with helping the companies that have questions. Many people walked into the office where I was interviewing the head project managers asking questions. They are currently focused on organizing more events and implementing the projects that they have funding for. There big upcoming events (well, they were upcoming at the time of the interview, but have in fact already occurred by the time of publishing) are Start-Up Weekend and Global Entrepreneurship Week. Global Entrepreneurship week was established by Kaufman and more than 100 countries participate each year. This year they will have Business Speed Dating (where you can quickly summarize what your business is about to others), Panel Discussions, and Group Discussions.

We had a discussion about how one goes about starting and ending a business in MK- and the process is lengthy. There is no good way to end a business or NGO. If you are bankrupt, there is nothing like Chapter 11, you even have to pay the government to shut down. This stems from the days of privatization where people would start a business to get the government’s old job and then promptly close and take all of the money. Therefore, there are many business and NGOs officially on the books, but who in practice do not operate.

When asked if there was anything else they wish I or the public knew, they actually had an answer! They wish they were able to inform the public more about their efforts. In the past three years alone, they have helped to crease over 120 jobs. They also wish that the government was more aware of their progress, and thus maybe more generous with their money. They believe that entrepreneurship should be a focus of the government because it has the potential to help the economy of Macedonia. MK is 20 years past the previous system, and they need to change the perceptions that socialism laid in people (and they are passing on to their children.