CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS CALL THE GOVERNMENT OF RNM TO CHANGE ITS DECISION FOR DRAMATIC CUTS IN SUPPORT TO CIVIL SOCIETY

Civil society and the Council for Cooperation with and Development of the Civil Society call the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia to re-examine its decision for dramatic cut of financial support to civil society organizations, published in the “Official Gazette of RNM” from 9 April 2020.

The decision for full cancellation or serious reduction of financial support, depending on the individual institution, is adopted in non-transparent manner, without consultations with civil society organizations, stakeholders and the broader public, which is indicative of the Government’s unprincipled attitude towards the civil society at the time of crisis. With the decision for cutting almost 525,000 euros of necessary support, the state de facto exempts civil society as relevant partner in combating the crisis caused by COVID-19 outbreak.

Recognizing the urgent situation from the very start of the outbreak, civil society organizations were fast and efficient in mobilizing themselves, making their resources available and implemented a series of activities to provide direct and humanitarian aid to the most affected citizens. Unfortunately, the Government of RNM failed to recognize this fast reaction to take activities that are of great importance for the citizens, but also as direct response to the crisis, as partnership in the fight against COVID-19. Moreover, the decision on reducing financial support from the Government of RNM seriously complicates sustainability and ongoing work of civil society organizations, especially in regard to their assistance and support to communities at the time of crisis.

Civil society organizations are key segment of any democratic society. They have the skills, knowledge, services and access to priority target groups that are often more adequate than those of state institutions. The current state of emergency has seriously affected the civil society, together with other segments of the society. Reduced financial assistance deprives this sector of an important source of funds necessary for operation during and beyond crisis conditions, threatens availability of support provided by these organizations to citizens and ultimately leads to a situation in which people from this sector will lose their primary source of income.

The civil society fully understands the state of crisis that we are facing, as well as the need for solidarity, but under conditions when civil society organizations work on mitigating damages arising from the newly-emerged situation, thereby assisting the Government of RNM to deal with the health crisis, these serious budget cuts will be detrimental for longer term work of civil society organizations.

On this account, we call the Government to change its decision and – through dialogue and in transparent manner – restore portion of funds for their initial purpose, i.e. support for civil society organizations to work on attainment of their respective missions and objectives, especially support for activities to deal with the crisis caused by the pandemic.

The official reaction is presented to the Government of RNM, and the entire text is available on the following link: https://bit.ly/34Pqbk7

Respectfully,

Council for Cooperation with and Development of the Civil Society; Association for Democratic Initiatives – Gostivar; Blueprint Group for Judicial Reforms; NGO Via Vita – Bitola; NGO Trust – Skopje; EGAL – Skopje; Educational and Humanitarian Organization – Shtip; NGO Stronger Together; Association “Loud Textile Worker” – Shtip; Association GLOBAL – Bitola; Association for Service Provision to Persons with Disabilities HANDIMAK – Tetovo; Association for Dyslexia EINSTEIN; Association for Education of Farmers “Green Stock Exchange” – Bitola; Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women – ESE; Association for Research and Analysis ZMAI; Association for Support of Marginalized Workers STAR-STAR; Association for Legal Education and Transparency “Station LET” – Prilep; Association for Rural Development Local Action Group “Agro Leader” – Krivogashtani; Association for Promotion and Protection of Workers’ Rights “Dignified Worker” – Prilep; Association Multicultura – Tetovo; National Roma Centrum – Kumanovo; Association Roma Business Information Centre of Macedonia – ZRDICM; NGO Zona – Kavadarci; NGO Izbor – Strumica; Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis”; European Policy Institute; Institute for Human Rights; Initiative for Development and Inclusion of Communities – IRIZ; Coalition “All for Fair Trials”, Coalition Margins; Konekt; LGBTI Support Centre; Macedonian Anti-Poverty Platform; Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation; Macedonian Young Lawyers Association; Media Plus – Shtip; Youth Club – Shtip; Youth Cultural Centre – Bitola; Youth Educational Forum; Network for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination; National Youth Council of Macedonia; National Network to Fight Violence against Women and Domestic Violence; NGO KHAM – Delchevo; NGO Info-Centre; Independent Academic Union – NakS; NGO Opcija – Ohrid; Platform of Civil Society Organizations to Fight against Corruption; Platform for Gender Equality, NGO Puls – Kumanovo; Reactor – Research in Action; Regional Geography Society GEOSFERA – Bitola; Rural Coalition – Kumanovo; Union of Associations for Rural Development “LAG Network” – Krivogashtani; Transparency International; FINANCE THINK –Economic Research and Policy Institute; Foundation for Debate and Education IDEA Southeast Europe; Metamorphosis Foundation for Internet and Society; Foundation for Local Community Development – Shtip; Foundation Open Society – Macedonia; CEED Foundation – Macedonia; Foundation for Education and Cultural Initiatives “Step by Step”, FORUM – Centre for Strategic Research and Documentation, NGO HELP – Gostivar; Helsinki Committee for Human Rights; HERA – Health Education and Research Association; HOPS – Healthy Options Project Skopje; Center for Civil Communications; Centre for Education and Training ACTIVE LIFE – Tetovo; Centre for Policy Research and Development; Centre for Investigative Journalism SCOOP Macedonia; Centre for Legal Research and Analysis; Community Centre of the Municipality of Struga – Struga