Since its independence from former Yugoslavia, Macedonia has been going through a series of political crisis and democracy and rule of law have been constantly challenged. The latest political crisis, manifested through “state capture” affected public institutions’ ability to perform even their most basic duties.

After the change of the Government in May 2017, the political situation has changed considerably, including the position of civil society. From the incriminated “enemy”, CSOs became close partners of the Government, which opens up new possibilities for policy dialogue leading to deeper social and political changes.

Outcome 1 - Civil Society Environment: The environment for civil society development is improved through the creation of mechanisms for better cooperation between the authorities and CSOs and increased public funding for civil society.

Outcome 2 - Civic Engagement: CSOs build strong constituencies enabling citizens’ active involvement in civic initiatives, including voluntary activities.

Outcome 3 - Collaboration: Collaboration among CSOs is improved, leading to civil society alliances.

Risultati principali attesi:  

- Grant support (Institutional, Action and Small Grants) for over 100 CSOs;

- Support to constituency building including organization of public events to create spaces for active participation of citizens (resulting in increased membership, volunteering, civic activism);

- Organisational strengthening of CSOs for participation in public policy and decision making processes;

- Support to CSOs for joint agenda setting on social and political reforms;

- Organisational strengthening for self-regulation and alliance building among CSOs;

- Platforms of Collaboration including grantees from previous phases working on common causes;

- Mentoring support to Institutional grantees;

- Facilitation support for all grantees to improve the environment for civil society and to strengthen relations with constituencies;  

Risultati fasi precedenti:  

- 9 CSOs, of which 6 Civil Society Support Facility grantees produced a Blueprint for Urgent Democratic Reforms in Macedonia, which brought 73 CSOs to support the initiative which served as one of the main platforms for the new Government’s program “3-6-9”.

- The Government formed the Council for the Monitoring of the Implementation of the Strategy for the Judiciary (2017-2022), chaired by the Prime Minister, including CSOs that prepared the Blueprint.

- The National Council for Gender Equality, in coalition with numerous women’s CSOs, pursued the Parliament to ratify the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).

Fase 5 01.01.2019 - 31.12.2023   (Completed)