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- Workshop entitled "Financial literacy and debt management" will take place from 21st to 23rd of July 2010 in the GEM Club in Skopje's Old Bazaar.
The goal of the workshop is to provide basic knowledge on personal finance management for the participants, so they can adequately plan and manage their expenses, in order to prevent excessive indebtedness. |
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- Calendar of Activities Archive |
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News and Events Archive 2008 News and Events 2008 ArchiveFOSIM’s Executive Board
Gordana Duvnjak – New Chairperson of the Executive Board
Starting from January, 2008, Gordana Duvnjak, editor in Utrinski vesnik, will take over the position of Chairperson of the Executive board of FOSIM. At the last Executive board meeting, its members and FOSIM management said their goodbye to the previous Chairperson of the Board, Slobodanka Markovska, and also parted with Hasan Jashari, whose engagement in the Executive board of FOSIM has just ended. New members of FOSIM’s Executive board, starting from January, 2008, will be Mirushe Hodza and Zarko Trajanovski.
| | | | PUBLIC APPEAL
Stop the indifference towards the devastation of SEE heritage
The SEE Heritage Network launches an urgent appeal to the authorities of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia to preserve the cultural and natural patrimony in this region which is in a severe danger.
During a meeting held in Kotor (Montenegro) the non governmental organizations forming this network, identified some of the main problems which the cultural and natural heritage is facing now in the South Eastern Europe.
The transition process in this region brings uncontrolled development in urban and rural areas, specially through inadequate spatial planning, such as in Kotor, (Montenegro), Petrolifera, Bay of Vlore (Albania), historical core of Split with the Diocletian Palace (Croatia), Ksamil (Albania), Ohrid (Macedonia), old town of Belgrade (Serbia); mass tourism (Albania, Croatia, Montenegro), industrial expansion in historic areas as in Trogir (Croatia), Radimlja (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Lack of and inadequate maintenance as in Old Skopje Bazaar (Macedonia), Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad (Serbia), Old city of Prizren (Kosovo), Durres (Albania), medieval fortresses in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and inappropriate management mechanism of cultural sites - old Dubrovnik (Croatia), Perast, (Montenegro) Bas carsija - Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) are strongly jeopardizing our heritage.
As a consequence, the nature and cultural landscapes are also endangered, like Ohrid Lake (Macedonia), Boka Kotorska Bay (Montenegro), vernacular architecture of Stolac (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
SEE Heritage Network, aiming to promote and preserve the heritage as a common value of the region, expresses its deepest concern about these crucial problems that are devastating the common movable, immovable and intangible heritage, especially: archival, industrial, rural, architectural and cultural landscapes.
It hereby urges the authorities in these countries to stop the indifferent attitude towards the devastation of the common heritage and requests for:
• Strengthen the integration of cultural heritage conservation principles in the development and planning processes
• Increase adequate engagement of experts in these processes
• More active involvement of local communities and enabling public participation in the decision-making.
The SEE Heritage Network considers the cultural, ethnic and religious diversities to be a valuable resource of the region. It believes that this region cannot build its Future by devastating its own Past.
In Kotor, Montenegro, 10.02.2008
The South East European Heritage Network - SEE Heritage Network
(Macedonia: Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia; Albania: Albanian National Trust, Butrint Foundation, Mjaft! Movement; Bosnia and Herzegovina: Cultural Heritage without Borders Regional Office in Sarajevo, Mozaik - Community Development Foundation; Kosovo: EC MA NDRYSHE; Serbia: Association for Rehabilitation of Cultural Heritage ARCH - LUK, Civic Association SUBURBIUM and Europa Nostra - Serbia; Croatia: Pro Torpedo, Association of Friends of Cultural Heritage of Split; Montenegro: Expeditio, Notar, Center for Cultural Heritage Projektor).
| | | | | | | | FOSIM – OPERATIONAL PROGRAM 2008
FOSIM – OPERATIONAL PROGRAM 2008 (.pdf, 3,6 MB) | | | | JOINT CIVIC INITIATIVE
Input to the design of the civil society facility of the European Commission
 
The Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET) drafted these recommendations to contribute to the designing of the Civil Society Facility for the Western Balkans, as foreseen by the last Communication of the European Commission. The purpose of this paper is to give an opportunity to the Macedonian civil society to play a proactive role and influence policy making in terms of the EC funds made available for Macedonia and the Western Balkan countries.
These recommendations, entitled Civil Society Facility Policy Paper, will be communicated to the European Commission representatives in Brussels (DG Enlargement) at the “Civil Society Development in Southeast Europe” conference, 17-18 April 2008 in Brussels.
This initiative was inspired by the conference “Developing Dialogue and Partnership between Civil Society, National Governments and European Institutions” which took place 2nd April 2008 in Brdo, Slovenia. DG Enlargement presented a draft design of the Civil Society Facility with its components in the course of the conference. Due to the fact that the current design is in a very rough stage, we believe that this is the right time to respond and articulate our suggestions. The purpose of this policy brief is to propose recommendations and to contribute to the design of the facility for the Western Balkans . Immediate response is also important since the final decision on the Facility will be taken at the end of June 2008.
Civil Society Facility policy paper (.doc, 140 KB)
List of citizens' associations supporting the document (.doc, 87 KB)
| | | | | | | | SEE CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE
Building Europe Together
The European Commission organized the “Civil Society Development in Southeast Europe: Building Europe Together” conference, from 17 to 18 of April, 2008, in Brussels, on which 400 representatives of the non-governmental sector from Southeast Europe and Turkey, as well as from EU member countries, took part. FOSIM was one of the 40 non-governmental organizations coming from Macedonia.
The opening speech was held by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn whereas Mr. George Soros was one of the keynote speakers. Talking about his long-time engagement within building the open society in which the non-governmental organizations have a significant role, Mr. Soros pointed out that it is time for the countries to help them become independent. He said that primary fields of the non-governmental activities in this region are: Roma integration, monitoring of the government and her persistent transparency.
The conference included 7 round tables on human rights, good governance and democratization, social inclusion and education, and environmental protection and sustainable development. Few workshops and panel discussions also took place.
| | | | PROJECT
Monitoring the implementation of the Law on free access to public information in higher education
Through the implementation of the project "Monitoring the implementation of the Law on free access to public information in higher education" the Youth Educational Forum (YEF) is promoting the right to free access to information in the higher education institutions.
From January 2008, YEF has submitted a total of 1097 requests for free access to public information were submitted to the three state universities, and to 31 faculties in the Republic of Macedonia. Only 225 requests got a complete reply within the legal deadline of 30 days. It is worrying that the higher education institutions were silent to more than 820 submitted requests, which is 75% out of the total number of submitted requests.
Read more on www.mof.org.mk
This project is financed and supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia.
| | | | | | | | AWARDING GOOD GOVERNANCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
On the 3rd of July, 2008, in the Holiday Inn hotel - Skopje, FOSIM’s project “Assessment of Good Governance Potential in Macedonia” is organizing an event for awarding good governance acknowledgments.
Good governance acknowledgements will be awarded to three institutions (out of 26 that have applied at the open competition) that have demonstrated the most successful implementation of the good governance principles.
Acknowledgements will be awarded to:
•Customs administration of the Republic of Macedonia (category: organs of the state administration)
•Veles municipality (category: local self-government units) and
•Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance
(MAPAS) - category: other organs of the state administration/central level organizations).
On March 27th, 2008, the five-member Commission for awarding good governance acknowledgements made a decision for awarding acknowledgements to these three institutions according to an already prepared questionnaire, filled out by the institutions registered at the open competition, and according to an evaluation of the additional criteria.
According to the competition criteria, the institutions that received acknowledgements had an opportunity to submit project proposals to FOSIM in context of good governance, depending on their priorities and needs. FOSIM’s management board approved the submitted project proposals on the following topics:
•Introduction of electronic learning (Customs administration of the Republic of Macedonia
•Promoting corporate social responsibility for improving the environment through community participation (Veles municipality)
•Strengthening the capacities of human resources (MAPAS)
| | | | GOOD GOVERNANCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 FOSIM awarded Good Governance certificates for the first time. The acknowledgements were awarded to:
•Customs administration of the Republic of Macedonia (category of organs of the state administration)
•Veles municipality (category of local self-government units) and
•MAPAS (category of other organs of the state administration/central level organizations).
This activity is “one kind of an evaluation of the institutions that have managed to move out from the average, made an effort to raise the standards in working and imposed a style that makes them recognizable” emphasized the president of FOSIM’s management board, Gordana Duvnjak.
Read more…
Audio recording from the event:
| | | | | | | | EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR ACCESS TO OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
If the draft is adopted in its current form, the European convention for access to official documents will legitimize a legislation lacking important security measures which can be currently found in a great number of national laws for access to information, thus neglecting the enormous progress made in the recent years, realized in the Republic of Macedonia
The draft convention comprises three serious problems:
1. The failure to include the official documents possessed by the legislative authorities in the frames of the mandatory scope of the agreement;
2. The failure to include the official documents possessed by physical and legal entities while in public office within the frames of the mandatory scope of the agreement;
3. The failure to specify certain basic categories of official documents, such as the ones containing financial information or information about procurement, which must be proactively published.
Sign the petition against the Draft-convention for access to official documents of the Council of Europe.
| | | | PROGRAM
Law and health initiatives
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM) will organize a training for 20 citizens’ associations on the 11th of July, 2008, 9.30 hrs, on the topic “Health and human rights”. At the training, the participants will have an opportunity to be familiarized with the domestic and international legal principles and mechanisms for human rights protection. The training will focus on Article 10 of the European Human Rights Convention.
M. Sc. Toni Vukicevic, a lawyer from Croatia with many years of advocacy experience before the European Court for Human Rights will hold the lecture.
In addition, the meeting is intended to develop joint advocacy strategies and alternative strategies for court disputes in the field of public health. Organizations working on the promotion and protection of human rights of socially marginalized groups will attend the training. Zharko Trajanovski, a member of FOSIM’s management board will deliver the opening address.
Download the agenda (.doc, 93 KB)
| | | | | | | | LAW PROGRAM
Reaction to the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia regarding the Proposal for adopting a Law for amending the Law on free access to public information, with a draft law.
Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia in its letter sent to the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia on the 8th of July 2008 expressed its concerns due to the serious omissions in the Draft Law for amending the Law on free access to public information, and due to the absence of actual improvement of the law.
FOSIM informed the members of the parliament of the Republic of Macedonia that a draft law has been submitted to them, which is worrying because:
•
Although it is stipulated in the explanation about the draft law that the amendments are in conformance with the Law on misdemeanour, the draft law does not project exclusive authorization of the Commission for protection of the right to free access to public information, authorizing the courts for misdemeanour sanctions – a decision which is not in accordance with the Law on misdemeanour;
•
The draft law ignores the already established omissions of the existing law, such as: (1) defining the status of the Commission; (2) the contradictory provisions in the law regulating the deadlines for appeal; and (3) the provisions at the detriment of the citizens and against the Law on general administrative procedure, intended for the silence of the administration. The draft-law is not solving these problems now.
•
The draft law does not provide exemption from criminal liability for the employees of all the information holders that could reveal protected information, which means that the problem in article 38 of the existing law is not solved.
Unfortunately, only 14 members of parliament accepted the recommendation to reject the draft-law, supported by an analysis of the one-year monitoring of the implementation of the Law on free access to public information published in FOSIM’s publication “Wall of silence”, which you can download in electronic form; http://soros.org.mk/dokumenti/Zid_od_tisina_izveshtaj.pdf
Download the Reaction to the Parliament of RM.
| | | | LAW PROGRAM
Reaction of the civil sector on the occasion of the adoption of the Law on Lobbying
On the 25th of July, 2008, FOSIM, Transparency Macedonia, the Helsinki Committee for human rights, Forum, MOST and the Media Development Centre organized a press conference in the premises of the NGO Info-centre.
During the meeting with the press, the representatives of these organizations presented their remarks on the procedure in which the Law on lobbying was adopted, particularly emphasizing their remarks on the text of the law that is not including even the minimum standards for lobbying as an activity directed towards the judiciary, executive and local authorities.
Vladimir Milcin, FOSIM; Sasho Ordanovski, Transparency Macedonia; Gjuner Ismail, Forum; and Roberto Belichanec, Media Development Center participated in the press-conference. The meeting was moderated by Dance Danilovska from FOSIM.
Download the documents below:
•Open letter to the media and the President of the Republic of Macedonia
•Analysis of the Law on Lobbying (FOSIM)
•Analysis of the Law on Lobbying (ECNL and ICNL)
•Analysis of the Law on Lobbying (MOST)
| | | | | | | | LAW PROGRAM
Free access to public information
On September 12, in Skopje, Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM) in cooperation with the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association organized the fifth regional meeting within the frames of the project “Promotion and protection of the right to free access to public information in the Republic of Macedonia”.
The purpose of the regional meeting was to present in detail the rights of the citizens’ associations arising from the Law on free access to public information, as well as to prepare and plan joint activities in the process of its implementation.
Additionally, the participants were informed about the opportunity to get free legal assistance for realizing the right to free access to information, provided by a group of lawyers from the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association in the administrative and judicial institutions. The former NGO support centres were also participating at this regional meeting, as well as NGOs from the regions covered by the NGO Support centres.
? Did you know that...
•September 28 is the international day of free access to information, the ”Right to Know Day”.
•Freedom of information is a fundamental human right, according to the 1948 Universal human rights declaration.
•The Republic of Macedonia adopted this law in 2006 and entered a community of about 75 countries from the world that have laws for guaranteeing the right to access to information.
•The first country to have adopted a law for protecting the right to access to information that allows access to government documents was Sweden. This document is called “Freedom of the Press Act” and dates from 1766.
| | | | CIVIC INITIATIVE
The Government must not deny responsibility if Macedonia receives a negative report from the European Commission
During today’s press-conference held in the NGO Info-centre, about 30 citizens’ organizations from all over Macedonia publicly addressed the Prime minister and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia regarding their public statements on the upcoming Progress report for the Republic of Macedonia in 2008, prepared by the European Commission.
“We, the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, are concerned about the European future of our country, especially after the statements of the government’s representatives, who right after coming back from Brussels have initiated a public campaign with which they are trying to deny any responsibility for the likely failure to receive a recommendation for initiating negotiations” the representatives of the citizens’ organizations emphasized.
“With this initiative, we want to remind that more than 85 percent of the citizens want to see Macedonia become a full member of the European Union and we also want to emphasize that the Government has no mandate to resign from the European Agenda, not even temporarily” stated Biljana Bejkova from NGO Info-centre.
Lidija Dimova from the Macedonian Center for European Education explained that the EU accession process is run by the government and the government only. This is why we find the government responsible for the successful or unsuccessful outcome of this process. It is responsible for accomplishing all the benchmarks, and failure to receive a recommendation in the Report would mean that there was a failure in attaining the benchmarks. This year, in March, the Government, in communication with the European Commission prepared an action plan for accomplishing the benchmarks, thus establishing the separate measures and activities for attaining these benchmarks. However, right after this, the Parliament declared extraordinary elections which completely halted the implementation process of the action plan.
In their address, the organizations asked the Government not to manipulate the public about the reasons for failing to get the recommendation for initiating negotiations and not to deny responsibility if Macedonia receives a negative report from the European Commission in November.
Download the address to the PM and the Government (.PDF, 2.27 ÌÁ) | | | | | | | | PUBLIC EVENT
The declarative and the real, in numbers
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia organized a public event: “The declarative and the real through numbers”. The event took place on the 19th of September 2008 (Friday) in the Holiday Inn hotel, starting at 10.30 h.
The goal of the event was to present the findings and conclusions from the conducted analysis of the Budget and the Amendments to the Budget of the Republic of Macedonia for 2008 (in the month of August 2008) and open a public discussion for the procedures, incomes and allocation of expenditures of the Budget of the Republic of Macedonia for 2008 adopted by the Parliament on the 15th of July, 2008.
Abdulmenaf Bedgeti Ph.D. (SEE University, Tetovo) Vancho Uzunov Ph.D. (Faculty of Law Justinijan I Skopje) and Biljana Angelova Ph.D. (Institute of Economics, Skopje) are the authors of this research.
Representatives of the relevant state institutions, members of the Macedonian Parliament, representatives of the NGO sector and international community were invited.
Download the agenda (.pdf 95 KB)
| | | | LAW PROGRAM
Free access to public information in the area of higher education
The Youth Educational Forum (YEF) has created a database of the data obtained with the implementation of the project "Monitoring the implementation of the Law on free access to public information in the area of higher education", through which it is promoting the right to free access to information from the higher education institutions.
The submitted requests, as well as the replies classified according to the information holders who were monitored since January, 2008, can be found on the specially created webpage http://www.mof.org.mk/pi/
A total of 1097 requests for free access to public information were submitted to the three state universities, and to 31 faculties in the Republic of Macedonia. Only 225 requests got a complete reply within the legal deadline of 30 days. It is worrying that the higher education institutions were silent to more than 820 submitted requests, which is 75% out of the total number of submitted requests.
This project is financed and supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia | | | | | | | | LÀW PROGRAM
September 28, International Day of Free Access to Information “Right to Know Day”
Press conference and round table with journalists
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM) and the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje, together with their partners in the project “Initiative for draft amendments to the Law on free access to public information” are marking the 28th of September, the International day of free access to public information, i.e. “Right to know day” with a press conference.
The press conference will be held on the 25th of September, 2008, in the Holiday Inn Hotel, beginning at 10.00h. There will be an address by Donald Bisson, Chief of OSCE’s Rule of Law Department; Mihajlo Manevski, minister of justice of the Republic of Macedonia; Ljubica Stanojovska, member of the Commission for protection of the right to free access to public information and Neda Korunovska, Coordinator of FOSIM’s Law program. During the press conference, the working group working on the draft amendments of the Law on free access to public information will be presented, based on FOSIM’s two years of monitoring, published in the “Wall of silence” publication. (.ÏÄÔ, 1.7 MB)
After the press conference, a round table will be held for the journalists, during which the following topics will be discussed: Journalists’ experiences with free information, Cases with particular interest in getting access to public information, as well as the obstacles encountered by the journalists when using the Law on free access to public information.
| | | | LAW PROGRAM
Isolation session of the working group for preparation of draft-amendments to the Law on free access to public information
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia and the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia, the Commission for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information and domestic experts, held the first isolation session of the working group in Mavrovo (September 25-27, 2008), during which they were preparing the draft-amendments to the Law on free access to public information.
Within the frames of the project “Initiative for draft-amendments to the Law on free access to public information” a public debate is projected to be held until the end of this year regarding the draft-amendments, attended by all the stakeholders, information holders and citizens’ associations, as well as a round table with the members of the Macedonian Parliament, in order to improve the procedure for access to information.
| | | | | | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
October 11, 2008 - International action day for democracy, free speech, human rights, civil liberties; against censorship, mass-surveillance, mass-data retention.
The international action day "Freedom not Fear" will be marked in as many European
capital cities as possible and elsewhere around the world to
demonstrate against the total retention of telecommunication data and
other instruments of surveillance.
We would like to recall the
remembrance of the historical achievement of civil rights and liberties
as a heritage of the Age of Enlightenment and to support the trust in
security in our free society.
Macedonia will join this
international campaign through activities organized in Skopje on the
10th and 11th of October. The first one is the Forum that will be
organized in the Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus” in Skopje, and the
second one is the direct campaign for public awareness raising, which
will be organized in the capital's center by the Metamorphosis
Foundation, the Directorate for personal data protection, Forum for European Journalism Students, Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia , European Law Students' Association - Macedonia, the Youth Educational Forum and the Macedonian Center for European Education.
| | | | ANNOUNCEMENT<
Public event “Improving Court Governance”
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia is organizing a public event Improving Court Governance, within the frames of the project Assessment of the Good Governance Potential in the Republic of Macedonia. The event will take place in the Holiday Inn hotel, on October 8th, 2008 (Wednesday) starting at 11.00 hrs.
The goal of the event is to present the results from the Analysis of the good governance potential carried out in the area of judiciary reforms outlining the identified “grey zones” and recommendations for improvement, categorized according to four good governance principles in the courts of Macedonia: independence, transparency, quality and efficiency.
The following target groups were included in the Analysis: Courts of first instance, Appellate courts and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia, presidents of Courts of first instance and Appellate courts, the Judicial Council of the Republic of Macedonia, the Academy for Training of Judges and Public Prosecutors and the Macedonian Judges’ Association.
Authors of the Analysis: Ana Pavlovska – Daneva PhD, Gordana Buzharovska PhD, Tatjana Zoroska – Kamilovska PhD, and Snezhana Stankovik.
| | | | | | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
On the occasion of the INTERNATIONAL ACTION DAY FOR DEMOCRACY, FREE SPEECH, HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL LIBERTIES; AND AGAINST CENSORSHIP, MASS-SURVEILLANCE AND MASS-DATA RETENTION a public debate will be held on October 10, 2008 in the Ceremonial Hall of the Faculty of Law "Iustinianus Primus" - Skopje.
Domestic experts, representatives of the institutions for human rights protection and journalists will all express their views on the topic "Is it really safer with cameras?"
Download the agenda with a list of the invited guests.. | | | | COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Convention on Access to Official Documents
Lobbying in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: Successful activity of more than 250 european citizens organizations
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) last week adopted unanimously a resolution expressing concern that the world’s first treaty intended to guarantee public access to information had significant flaws. In a rare step, PACE called for the Convention on Access to Official Documents to be redrafted. The PACE “Opinion” identifies a series of problems with the draft treaty including:
•Lack of a general statement on the right to information establishing that “all official documents are in principle public and can be withheld subject only to the protection of other rights and legitimate interests.”
•The absence of mandatory time limits for answering requests. The European Court of Human Rights has established that information “is a perishable commodity and to delay its publication even for a short period may well deprive it of all value and interest.”
•Narrow definition of “public authorities” that excludes the main functions of legislative and judicial bodies as well as private bodies that perform public functions or operate with public funds, “allowing some public bodies to continue operating in the shadows.”
•Requestors should have a right to appeal to a review body that has the power to order disclosure of the requested official document.
•States given freedom to enter reservations on any provision of the Convention, thereby undermining the “delicate balance of many individual components” needed to make the right of access to information function in practice.
Speaking in the Parliamentary Assembly debate on Friday, Klaas de Vries, a former cabinet minister in the Netherlands who prepared the Opinion on behalf of the PACE Legal Affairs and Human Right Committee, called on the Committee of Ministers to “go this extra mile now” adding that “we will be criticized for years to come if we don’t act now.”
Access Info Europe, ARTICLE 19, and Open Society’s Justice Initiative are international organizations that have expressed their interest in these issues for two years now, getting the support from more than 250 european citizen’s associations.
In the Republic of Macedonia, the campaign was supported by: Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, Media Development Center, Pro Media, “All for fair trial” coalition, Metamorphosis Foundation, NGO Infocentre, Youth Educational Forum, Common Values, Akcija Zdruzhenska, Youth Culture Center – Bitola, Transparency Macedonia, Regional Centre for sustainable development – Kratovo, HOPS – damage reduction, HOPS – Commercial sexual workers, Passage, Macedonian Network for damage reduction, Center for sustainable community development – Debar, Community development center – Kichevo, Citizens’ initiatives center – Prilep, Community support center – Resen, Transparency – Zero corruption, Regional center for sustainable development – Gevgelija and the Regional center for development – Delchevo.
Download the complete announcement here
| | | | | | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
Recommendations for good governance in education
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia is organizing a public event Recommendations for good governance in education. The event will take place in the Holiday Inn hotel on Wednesday, October the 15th 2008, starting from 12 a.m.
The goal of the event is to present the findings and recommendations from the conducted Analysis of the good governance potential in education. The Analysis includes the following topics: education in a wider social context, education as an economic category, educational infrastructure, institutional education network, human resources development, providing quality in education, contents of the teaching process, European integration and international cooperation in education, educational administration and educational legislation. The event is an opportunity for opening a public discussion with the stakeholders for the provided recommendations on overcoming the weaknesses and inconsistencies in the governance with and in the education.
Authors of the document: Zoran Popovski, PhD, Zoran Velkovski, PhD, Lefkija Gadzoska, Agim Rushiti MSc, Milka Masnikosa, Valentina Palevska – Mucunska and Blagica Dimitrievska MSc.
In order to have a wider discussion, the stakeholders of management in the education have been invited: Ministry of education and science, Public Procurements Bureau, ZELS, Ministry of local self-government, the head offices of the state and private universities, the Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia, SONK, the Commission for education in the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, representatives of relevant associations, from the NGO sector, international community and the media.
Download the event agenda (.pdf 78KB)
| | | | PUBLIC PROMOTION
Results from the Roma Education Program
198 Roma high school students successfully completed high school education with the support of FOSIM and USAID
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will organize a public event on the occasion of the successful completion of the high school education by 198 Roma high school students - scholarship beneficiaries of the Roma Education Program implemented by FOSIM and USAID.
Goal of the event:
• To promote the results achieved in the four-year implementation of the Roma Education Program (decreased rate of school dropouts, and improved overall grade point average of the Roma elementary, high school and higher education students
• marking the completion of secondary education of the impressive number of 198 Roma high school students, and acknowledging the graduated high school students, their parents and teachers-mentors:
• to acknowledge the support for promoting Roma education provided by other donors aside from FOSIM and USAID, such as the Royal Netherlands Embassy, OSCE, Children’s Foundation Pestaloci - Hungary, the Roma Education Fund from Budapest and the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary in the Republic of Macedonia)
• to promote the scholarship program for another 120 Roma high school students from the third year of a four-year education provided with the Program
The event will take place on October 17, 2008 (Friday) starting from 12:30h, in the Alexander Palace hotel in Skopje (Conference room 3). At the event, speeches will be given by Branko Crvenkovski - President of the Republic of Macedonia, Philip Riker – United States Ambassador, Pero Stojanovski - Minister of Education and Science, Nezdet Mustafa - Minister without portfolio in the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and by FOSIM’s Executive Director - Vladimir Milcin. Two high school graduates – scholarship beneficiaries will share their personal experiences from participating in the Roma Education Program.
| | | | | | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
Date: October 20, 2008
Venue: Skopje, Stonebridge hotel
Time: 11:00 – 13:00
The University of Freiburg, Switzerland in partnership with the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, as a coordination office of the Regional Research Promotion Program / Western Balkans (2008-2011) – RRPP, initiates the realization of the first phase by signing Memorandums of cooperation with the following institutions:
1. “Sts. Cyril and Methodius” University, Faculty of Philosophy, Gender Studies Institute – Skopje2. “Sts. Cyril and Methodius” University, Faculty of Law, Iustinianus Primus – Skopje
3. SEE University – Tetovo
4. Euro Balkan/Institute for social and humanities research
5. FORUM – CSID
The main subject of the research supported through this program is “Knowledge, power and social change”. Aside from the funds for the research projects, the program will also provide funds and methods for capacity building and networking, cooperation and advocacy activities. Starting from next year, the number of institutions able to apply for support for the implementation of research projects, capacity building and cooperation will be increased.
RRPP is implemented by the University of Freiburg in agreement with and with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Swiss Confederation). In the period from 2008 to 2011 it will be implemented in: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
Program goal: Sustainable capacities for sociologic research relevant to the transition in the Western Balkans region contribute to the social, economic and institutional reforms in the separate countries and in their regional integration.
Purpose: Contribution to the development of regional capacities for research in the field of social sciences corresponding to the scientific standards of the partners in the Western Europe countries.
Expected results:
1. Several high quality social science research projects on subjects relevant to the transition implemented by 2011 in the Western Balkans region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia).
2. Communication and cooperation between the researchers and research institutions is established in the region and the partners from the RRPP comprising the core are in position to establish individual and institutional networks by 2011.
3. By 2011, the social science research has been enhanced as well as the capacities of the RRPP partners for international funds management and the local coordination departments are capable of undertaking the management of RRPP in the consolidation phase.
In its next phase from 2011 onwards, the program should be managed by institution/institutions from the region and to provide continuous support for the next 6 years.
Additional information available at:
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM)
Jane Sandanski 1111000
Skopje, Macedonia
Slaviza Indzevska
Telephone: +389 2 2444488 ext. 105
Email: sindzev@soros.org.mk
www.rrpp-westernbalkans.net
| | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
Recommendations for good governance in social protection
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia will organize a public event Good governance of social welfare through the project Assessment of the Good Governance Potential in the Republic of Macedonia. The event will be held in the Stonebridge hotel, on the 28th of October 2008 (Tuesday) starting from 12.00hrs.
The goal of the event is to present the findings and recommendations from the conducted Analysis of the good governance capacity in social protection emphasizing the right to social welfare and a discussion with the stakeholders. The analysis has been performed in three levels – the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Social welfare centers and the social welfare beneficiaries – with conclusions and recommendations on the following good governance principles: effectiveness, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, transparency and participation.
Authors of the document: Sofija Spasovska, Suzana Velkovska, Suzana Bornarova, Elizabeta Kunovska and Penka Nikolovska.
| | | | | | | | COMMUNITY FORUMS PROGRAMME
The contracts with the newly selected municipalities within the frames of the “Community Forums Programme” have been signed
The mayors of eight municipalities elected in the second cycle of the second phase within the frames of the “Community Forums” program today (October 21) signed the contracts with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) supporting the Program with a total budget of four million Swiss franks in a period of three years.
The main goal of the Community Forums Programme is to support the participatory development of the communities on a local level through the forum process. “The goal of this program is to enable the citizens to contribute to the life in the municipality with their own ideas and projects”, stated the manager of SDC, Romain Darbelley.
The second cycle of the second phase of the program included the municipalities Kochani, Bitola, Novo Selo, Berovo, Saraj, Resen, Dolneni and Sveti Nikole, and will be implemented from November 2008 to April 2010. The budget for these municipalities is 60 million denars, out of which 44.5 million are a donation of SDC, and 15.5 denars are provided by the municipalities.
“This program enables the citizens to be included in the municipal life since they know what is best for them”, stated the president of the Association of the Units of Local self-government (ZELS)Koce Trajanovski. He expressed hope that the Forums will be institutionalized in the future.
The program realization started with the Pilot phase from October 2006 to February 2008 during which the municipalities of Prilep, Gjorche Petrov and Kichevo were included.
Five municipalities are included in the first cycle of the second phase of the Program – Debar, Chair, Strumica, Chashka and Karbinci, implemented from March 2008 to August 2009.
It is expected that the number of municipalities, during the next three years, would be increased to about 25 municipal units.
“The program represents the methodology of how democracy should be lived, and how to strengthen the role of the citizens”, stated the director of the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM) Vladimir Milcin.
Five organizations are implementing the program in this phase – Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM) in the municipalities of Kochani and Novo Selo, the Center for Institutional Development (CIRa) in the municipalities of Berovo and Sveti Nikole, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) in the municipalities of Bitola and Resen, the Association for sustainable development and cooperation “Alka” in the municipality of Dolneni and the Association for democratic initiatives (ADI) in the municipality of Saraj.
The program is coordinated by the Unit for coordination of the forums – Strategic development consulting, and the Association of Units of Local Governments is also actively participating.
More information on the program:
www.forumivozaednicata.com.mk
| | | | EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
The grey zones in public funds management
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia through the project Assessment of the good governance potential in Macedonia will organize a public event The Grey zones in the public funds management. The event will be held in the Holiday Inn hotel, October 30, 2008 (Thursday) starting from 11.00 hrs.
The goal of the event is to present the conclusions and recommendations from the conducted Analysis of the capacity for good governance of public funds focusing on the Central budget of the Republic of Macedonia, the extra-budgetary funds and the public enterprises and budget beneficiaries through the following good governance principles: efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability.
Authors of the document: Abdulmenaf Bedjeti PhD, Biljana Angelova PhD, Dijana Boshkovska PhD, Shenaj Hadji-Mustafa MSc, and Misho Nikolov.
Download the agenda (.pdf, 86KB) | | | | | | | | EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Policies, programs and preconditions for good governance in the health system
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia through the project Assessment of the Good Governance Potential in Macedonia is organizing a public event Policies, programs and prerequisites for good governance in the health system. The event will be held in the Holiday Inn hotel, on October 31st 2008 (Friday) starting from 11.00 hrs.
The goal of the event is to present the conclusions and recommendations from the conducted Analysis of the good governance potential in the public health, focusing on the ten basic public-health functions.
Authors of the document: Danche Gudeva – Nikovska PhD, Fimka Tozija PhD, Dragan Gjorgjev, Aleksandar Arnikov PhD and Aleksandar Kishman PhD.
Download the agenda (.pdf 86KB) | | | | PUBLIC EVENT
Large multiethnic happening “Under the same sun”
The first multiethnic happening “Under the same sun” will take place on November 1st, 2008, in the Skopje Fair, starting from 10.00 a.m. This event is part of the campaign for promoting the multiethnic values and an incentive for mutual respect of ethnic communities in Macedonia. Visitors will have the opportunity to be familiarized with the culture and tradition of various communities. There will be a presentation of folk costumes, handcrafts, cuisine specialties and national folk dances from various cities throughout Macedonia.
There will be a discussion about the fulfilment of the provisions from the Framework Agreement, the situation of the communities in Macedonia, the characteristics of the Macedonian multiculturalism and the European perspectives. The event will be opened by H.E. Erwan Fouere, EU Special Representative for Macedonia and Head of the EC delegation; Vladimir Milcin, Executive director of the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM) and Hajrije Ahmed, president of the NGO “Common Values”.
The one-day multiethnic happening will end with the performance of groups Bla Bla Bla, Area and Toni Kitanovsi with Cherkezi (Metropolis Arena, 21:00-24:00).
Entrance is free for all.
The event is organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia within the frames of the project “Living in Multiethnic Environment – Citizens with Equal Rights, Opportunities and Protection” financed by the European Commission and FOSIM.
Download the program (.doc, 395 KB)
  
| | | | | | | | CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
EC internships for young Roma university graduates
Following an agreement with the European Commission, the Open Society Institute, Roma Participation Program, is announcing its 2009 Call for applications for EC internships for young Roma university graduates from all new member states (excluding Cyprus and Malta), Croatia, F.Y.R.O.M., Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The internship program will run for 5 months starting with the 1st of March, 2009.
For more information please find enclosed the Call for expression of interest, including the application procedures and eligibility criteria. You can also find the the application form and the CV template.
Romanes and English versions of the announcement are available online at:
http://www.romadecade.org/index.php?content=330,
http://www.romadecade.org/index.php?content=327
Please pay attention to the list of all obligatory documents below:
•Application in English or French;
•Copies of all the university degrees/diplomas
•Europass CV.
•Certificates and/or declarations for all work experience;
•Reference/recommendation letters about work experience in Roma civil society (for detailed information please see ANNEX 1 in the attached Call for applications)
The deadline for submitting the applications is December 15, 2008.
Please send your completed application by e-mail, fax or post:
Brussels Internship Program
Roma Participation Program
Open Society Institute Budapest
Oktober 6. u. 12.
H-1051 Budapest Hungary
E-mail: rpp@osi.hu
Fax: +36 1 327 3841
| | | | PRESS RELEASE
Macedonian broadcasting in crisis, public service on brink of collapse
London and Budapest, in Skopje 3 November 2008
According to a new Open Society Institute (OSI) report, broadcasting in the Republic of Macedonia is still beset by massive structural problems despite recent legislation to boost the independence of the broadcast regulator and the public service broadcaster. Part of the series Television across Europe: Follow-up Reports 2008, this report warns that public service broadcasting is in a desperate predicament.
“Despite a drawn-out process of restructuring, public service broadcasting is still paralysed by crisis in the areas of financing, personnel and programming,” states the report, which updates an earlier OSI monitoring report from 2005.
The report, prepared by Vesna Šopar of the European University – Republic of Macedonia, is presented today at a public meeting organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM).
The financial health of Macedonian Radio and Television (MRT) has worsened since 2005. Licence fee funding, on which MRT partly depends, collapsed in 2007 after fee collection fell dramatically to a mere 0.5 per cent of TV households. The Government gave cash injections to keep MRT afloat, but these short-term measures further damaged the broadcaster’s independence. They are also legally questionable, as according to the law the State may only finance specific public service production, such as programmes for citizens abroad.
MRT’s management and Macedonia’s politicians are in collusion. According to Vesna Šopar, "the managers make no effort to collect the licence fee more efficiently as it is more convenient to get Government hand-outs. The politicians accept this situation because it keeps MRT financially dependent on the State."
The situation of the commercial broadcasting sector is not much better. The market is overcrowded, with over 100 radio and television stations serving some two million citizens in one of Europe’s poorest countries. This overcrowding drives down quality. Commercial output neither gets close to meeting public service standards, nor stimulates high-quality local production. The non-profit broadcasting sector is still in its infancy.
The cable market has seen dynamic, but turbulent developments. Out of more than 100 local operators, only half have registered their programme packages with the Broadcasting Council. The remainder continue to operate without programme copyrights. After one foreign investor (CableTel) bought up 13 cable operators, the cable sector is expected to consolidate further in the years to come.
On a more positive note, legislation upholding European standards for media and the audiovisual acquis has been adopted since 2005, with notable provisions on European works, advertising, sponsorship and teleshopping. In general, new legislation has been duly implemented. However, efficient implementation of sanctions against breaches of the law, especially as regards ownership, programme standards and advertising, is lacking. Regulations on media concentration, for example, are sometimes breached blatantly and with impunity.
The upcoming transition to digital broadcasting is of high concern. Before it launches a tender for digital licences, the Broadcasting Council should organise a broad debate with all stakeholders on the best regulatory model for the digital environment. The report also recommends MRT to develop mechanisms for efficient collection of the licence fee, and calls on the Government to help by enlisting the resources of State financial institutions such as tax collecting authorities.
Note to Editors
This report is part of the monitoring series, Television across Europe: Follow-up Reports 2008. The series updates the analysis in nine of the twenty countries that were included in the 2005 series of reports, Television across Europe: Regulation, Policy and Independence: Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, Lithuania, the Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Both series of reports were produced by the EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) of the Open Society Institute and the Media Program of the Open Society Foundation, in cooperation with local experts and civil society organisations. The full text of all the reports, as well as a European overview, is being published in English and in translation on http://www.mediapolicy.org
The Macedonian 2008 report can be downloaded here
| | | | | | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
What are the good governance potentials in the economic sphere?
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia will organize a public event “What are the good governance potentials in the economic sphere?” within the frames of the project Assessment of the Good Governance Potential in the Republic of Macedonia. The event will take place in the Holiday Inn hotel, November 7, 2008 (Friday) starting from 11.00 hrs.
The goal of the event is to present the conclusions and recommendations from the conducted Analysis of the capacity for good governance in the economic sphere, focusing on macro-level and corporate governance through the following good governance principles: efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, accountability, responsiveness and participation.
Authors of the document: Vancho Uzunov PhD, Aleksandar Stojkov MSc, Verica Hadji Vasileva – Markovska MSc, Goran Koevski PhD and Aleksandar Klimovski PhD.
Download the agenda (.pdf, 84KB)
| | | | PUBLIC EVENT
First multiethnic happening “Under the same sun” held
The first one-day multiethnic happening took place on Saturday (November 1, 2008) at the Skopje Fair under the motto “Under the same sun”, as part of the campaign for promoting the multiethnic values and encouraging the mutual respect between the ethnic communities in Macedonia.
The culture, tradition and values characteristic for the various ethical communities were promoted by nongovernmental organizations and institutions, mostly by folklore groups, women’s organizations and museums. Folk costumes, handcrafts, cuisine specialties and national folk dances were presented by 800 participants from 28 populated areas. More than 6000 visitors from all over Macedonia had the opportunity to socialise and taste traditional meals, enjoy the music and get familiar with the specificities of the culture and tradition of the various ethnicities in the country. Short documentary films were presented, ethnologic exhibits, fine arts and a comic book workshop.
At the official opening, speeches were given by H.E. Erwan Fouere, European Union Special Representative and Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Macedonia; Vladimir Milchin, Executive Director of the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM) and Hajrije Ahmed, president of NGO “Common Values”. “All of the ethnic communities and traditions indicate that this is a truly rich nation and this is what Macedonia can offer to the EU” said the Euro-Ambassador during the opening of the event. Philip Riker, the U.S. ambassador to Macedonia, also attended the event along with the numerous guests and had the opportunity to see a great number of exhibits and folk costumes and enjoyed the cuisine specialties and the folk dances of the ethnic communities.
Two panel discussions were held during the event. The first one was dedicated to the 7th anniversary of the Framework Agreement, and the second was dedicated to multiculturalism.
The Ohrid Agreement is a successful project, which, despite certain omissions and the tendency to bipolarize the country, is giving results, outlined the participants in the debate. The professor from the Faculty of Law and one of the creators of the Framework agreement, Ljubomir Frchkoski, addressed the strengths and weaknesses of this agreement, but he also indicated the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for Macedonia if nobody takes responsibility for the negotiations in the name dispute. The citizens agree that the Framework agreement brought stability to the country, but they believe that with this agreement everybody should be equally included. There were also remarks regarding the party employments on grounds of ethnic origin.
During the second panel, there was a discussion about the concept of multiculturalism, the reflections of European multiculturalism in Macedonia, the declarative and the real in our society. The segregation was emphasized by Zharko Trajanovski MSc, and the relationship between the individual and collective rights was discussed by the attending representatives of various ethnic communities (Vlachs, Turks, Serbs, Roma, Eqyptians, Croatians).
The evening ended with a free concert of the groups “Bla Bla Bla”, “Area”, Toni Kitanovski and “Cherkezi”, which was an opportunity for the young to mingle and have fun. The multiethnic happening was organized by FOSIM within the frames of the project “Living in a multiethnic environment – citizens with equal rights, opportunities and protection”, financed by the European commission and FOSIM. The goal of the project is to improve the status of the minority groups and to strengthen the capacities for active participation in the public policy creation on a local and national level.
| | | | | | | | FORMAL OPENING
Youth Business Incubator
The SEEU/BDC-YES Youth Business Incubator located in the student campus of the SEE University – Tetovo was formally opened on November 4, 2008.
The SEE/YES Youth Business Incubator is part of the project implemented since January 2008.
The project is aiming at attracting the young people from Tetovo, Gostivar and the region to start their own business within the frames of the incubator, to enable them to acquire the necessary skills for running a business through training and by connecting them with the real business partners so that they would become part of the global market.
The idea of the incubator is to incite the ambitious, encourage the indecisive and support the young entrepreneurs.
At the formal opening, speeches were given by: Abdulnemaf Bedjeti, Prorector of SEE, Zoran Cali, Administrative director of FOSIM, and Aleksandar Sekulik, the executive director of the YES Foundation.
The project is financed and implemented by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, South East European University and the Foundation Youth Entrepreneurial Service.
| | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
“QUO VADIS, MACEDONIA?” Conference
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET) will organize the conference “Quo vadis, Macedonia? in the Holiday Inn Hotel in Skopje on November 17, 2008, starting from 10.30 h.
The conference is to be organized into four plenary sessions:
•THREE YEARS WITHOUT RECOMMENDATION FOR OPENING ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS
•WHAT DID WE DO RIGHT AND WHERE DID WE GO WRONG?
(Analysis of the fulfilment of the benchmarks from the Accession Partnership in February, 2008)
•RUNNING ON THE SPOT (Analysis of the Analytical and Progress Reports 2005-2008)
•AND NOW WHAT (What should be the future steps of Macedonia in the EU accession?)
The four plenary sessions will be opened by: H.E. Erwan Fouere, Head of EU Mission; Patrick Paquet - Head of Political and Information Section of the EU Mission in Republic of Macedonia; Liljana Popovska, Vice Chairperson of the Committee on European Affairs of the Assembly of Republic of Macedonia; Jovan Manasievski, Chairperson of the Committee on Finances and Budget, Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia; and Ermira Mehmeti, MP, Member of the Committee on European issues of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia; Ljubomir Danailov Frchkovski Ph.D.; German Filkov, President of the Centre for Civic Communications; Radmila Shekerinska, Chairperson of the National Council for European Integration; Vesela Cherneva, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council for Foreign Relations – Brussels; Jordi Vaquer Programme Director for Europe, Centre for International Relations and Development Studies–Barcelona and Vladimir Gligorov Ph.D. Professor, Vienna Institute for International Economy.
At the conference, the representatives of the civil society, ministers, MPs, intellectuals, international and domestic experts will discuss all the aspects of Macedonia’s EU accession process. The debate will focus on European Commission’s Progress Report for the Republic of Macedonia in the process of EU accession in 2008, as well as the fulfilment of the priorities of the accession partnership (the benchmarks) since February, 2008.
Download the agenda (.doc, 135 KB)
| | | | | | | | EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Legal framework and discrimination protection mechanisms
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia will organize a public event “Legal framework and discrimination protection mechanisms” within the frames of the project Assessment of the Good Governance Potential in the Republic of Macedonia. The event will take place in the Stonebridge hotel, November 18, 2008 (Tuesday) starting from 11.00 hrs.
The goal of the event is to present the conclusions and recommendations from the conducted Analysis of the legal framework for protection against discriminationon an international and international level on the grounds of ethnic background, gender equality, working relation and disabilities. During the event, the anti-discrimination draft-law will also be discussed .
Authors of the document: Dragi Celevski MSc, Nikola Prokopenko, Zoran Todorov, Danica Stanojevik, Tanja Janjik - Todorova and Keti Stefkova.
| | | | MONOGRAPH PROMOTION
Revealed Testimonies – Soldiers’ Letters from the Great War 1914 – 1918
On November the 20th, 2008, FOSIM promoted the monograph “Revealed Testimonies – Soldiers’ Letters from the Great War 1914 – 1918”.
This significant historical edition was presented by Gordana Duvnjak, president of FOSIM’s Management Board, Irena Stefoska PhD from the Institute for National History and Jasmina Najdovska from FOSIM.
The monograph, which is a result of the one-year scientific and research work, presents rare documentation from the first half of the 20th century, to be more precise 204 letters, 59 postcards and 40 documents. Most of them are letters sent by and to Macedonian soldiers from North-Eastern Macedonia (the Kratovo, Probishtip and Zletovo region), mobilized in the Serbian and Bulgarian army during the First World War. There are also fifty-nine postcards sent to Macedonia by former soldiers of the Serbian army, who had been prisoners of war or surrendered themselves to the Austro-Hungarian army and spent time in several camps in the then Austro-Hungary.
The goal of the monograph is to affirm and demonstrate the other side of history, i.e. the history of the everyday life of the military and civil population during the First World War. | | | | | | | | CONFERENCE
Quo Vadis, Macedonia?
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET) organized the conference “Quo vadis, Macedonia? in the Holiday Inn Hotel in Skopje on November 17, 2008.
At the conference, representatives of the civil society, members of parliament, intellectuals, international and domestic exterts discussed about all the aspects of the process of Macedonia's accession to the European Union. The debate focused on the European Commission's Progress Report on the EU accession process of the Republic of Macedonia in 2008, as well as for fulfilling the priorities of the accession partnership (the benchmarks) from February 2008.
The conference was organized in four plenary sessions:
•THREE YEARS WITHOUT RECOMMENDATION FOR OPENING ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS
•WHAT DID WE DO RIGHT AND WHERE DID WE GO WRONG?
(Analysis of the fulfilment of the benchmarks from the Accession Partnership in February, 2008)
•RUNNING ON THE SPOT (Analysis of the Analytical and Progress Reports 2005-2008)
•AND NOW WHAT (What should be the future steps of Macedonia in the EU accession?)
The four plenary sessions were opened by: H.E. Erwan Fouere, Head of EU Mission; Patrick Paquet - Head of Political and Information Section of the EU Mission in Republic of Macedonia; Liljana Popovska, Vice Chairperson of the Committee on European Affairs of the Assembly of Republic of Macedonia; Jovan Manasievski, Chairperson of the Committee on Finances and Budget, Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia; and Ermira Mehmeti, MP, Member of the Committee on European issues of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia; Ljubomir Danailov Frchkovski Ph.D.; German Filkov, President of the Centre for Civic Communications; Radmila Shekerinska, Chairperson of the National Council for European Integration; Vesela Cherneva, Senior Policy Fellow, European Council for Foreign Relations – Brussels; Jordi Vaquer Programme Director for Europe, Centre for International Relations and Development Studies–Barcelona and Vladimir Gligorov Ph.D. Professor, Vienna Institute for International Economy.
  
Macedonia's choices (.pdf, 440 KB)
The bumpy road to EU Accession: Lessons in perseverance (.pdf, 502 KB)
| | | | COMMUNITY FORUMS PROGRAMME
First session
The Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia in cooperation with the municipalities Kochani and Novo Selo started the realization of the third phase of the Community Forums Programme, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The first forum session will be held on the 26th of November, 2008 in the Novo Selo municipality in the “Mitchel” restaurant starting from 16.00 hrs, and the firs session in the Kocani municipality will take place on the 27th of November, 2008 in the “Sts. Cyril and Methodius” elementary school, starting from 18.00 hrs.
During the seven forum sessions, the citizens of these municipalities will be deciding what are the priorities for the socio-economic development of the municipality and what activities could be conducted in order to improve the situation of the local community. The citizens and the municipal administration will design projects together, and the implementation of these projects will be financed from the programs’ budget. The projects will be supported with a budget of 8 million denars, out of which 2 million denars are allocated by the municipality, and 6 million denars by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The goal of the Community Forums Programme is to support the decentralization process and enable citizens’ participation in the development of the community on a local level. This program is a development platform enabling the citizens to improve their life with their own ideas and participation in the decision making process on a local level, and it is an opportunity for the administration to develop an accountable local governance through participation, responsibility and trust.
In this phase, the program is implemented in the municipalities of Berovo, Sveti Nikole, Bitola, Resen, Dolneni and Saraj, in cooperation with MCMS, CIRa, ADI and ALKA as implementing organizations.
For further information, please visit www.forumivozaednicata.com.mk.
| | | | | | | | LAW PROGRAM
FOSIM and OSCE organizing a public debate on the draft-amendments of the Law on Free Access to Public Information
Skopje, November 27th, 2008 – The draft amendments of the Law on Free Access to Public Information will be discussed during a public debate with the stakeholders (information holders and NGOs) in Skopje, on the 27th of November (Thursday 10.00-13.00) in the Holiday Inn hotel, Millennium Hall No. 2.
The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia and the Commission for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information supported the public debate. The deputy Minister of justice, Mr. Ibrahim Ibrahimi will give the opening speech, along with the Commission’s president, Mr. Janko Nikolovski.
The draft amendments to the Law on Free Access to Public Information were prepared by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia and the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia, the Commission for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information and domestic experts. | | | | EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Good Governance Potentials of the Local self-government
Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia will organize a public event “Good Governance Potentials of the Local self-government”. The event will take place in the Holiday Inn Hotel, November 28, 2008 (Friday) starting from 12.00 hrs.
The goal of the event is to present the conclusions and recommendations from the conducted Analysis of the good governance potential of the local self-government focusing on: local taxes administration, urbanism and culture, based on the following good governance principles: rule of law, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, accountability, responsiveness and participation.
Authors of the document: Kire Kitevski, Ramije Cara, Evgenija Josifovska – Bektash, Petar Teov, Zoran Miloshoski and Danijela Apostolovska.
| | | | | | | | FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
e-Society.Mk 2008
The fourth international conference ”e-Society.Mk” organized by the Metamorphosis Foundation will be held in Skopje, Macedonia on December 10, 2008.
This year the conference will focus on ICT usage in education. Please fill out the conference registration form. The registration deadline for the conference is 12:00, December 4th, 2008.
| | | | COMMUNITY FORUMS PROGRAMME
The citizens of Kochani selected the Infrastructure theme
The first forum session within the frames of the “Community Forums Programme” in the Municipality of Kochani, held on the 27th of November, in the “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” elementary school, gathered about 200 citizens of Kochani who were interested in participating in the decision making process for the allocation of the eight million denars from this program.
Out of the three Forum themes – Infrastructural management of the city and the surrounding populated areas, Environment protection and Local economic development with an accent on the development of alternative tourism, suggested by the municipality of Kochani during the submission of the project, most of the votes went to the Infrastructure theme, which is very broad and provides an opportunity for developing more projects by the citizens.
During the first forum session, the structure of the forum was established by work tables. During the following six sessions, i.e. the duration of the process of proposing projects, discussions and a final decision, the citizens will be able to work on 11 work tables: local communities, municipal administration, environment, business sector, youth, social activities, education, rural development, culture, community development promotion and eco-tourism development.
According to the forum participants, this is a good model of decision making.
“This is a good model because the citizens who are directly concerned by the problems can directly decide how to spend the money of the donor agencies in order to improve the quality of life in the city. I believe that all the forum participants will make the right decision and address the problems that everyone is mostly concerned with”, says the student Blagoj Jovanov.
The goal of the program is to support the participative development of the communities on a local level, ant the forum is a platform through which the citizens will improve their own life with their own ideas and participation, and the administration will develop responsible local governance in which the citizens will also be included.
Through this program, Kochani got six million denars from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the municipality participated with two million denars. The forum process is organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia.
The second forum session is scheduled for the 18th of December in the hall of the “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” university and it is open for all the citizens of the Kochani Municipality.
| | | | | | | | CREATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING
Social justice education
The first part of the training “Social justice education” within the frames of the project “Creative teaching and learning” implemented by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, taking place in the hotel Metropol in Ohrid, December 12-14 will be attended by professors from the high schools “Zdravko Chochkovski” – Debar, “Naum Naumovski – Borche” – Krushevo and “Ibrahim Temo” – Struga.
During the training, the participants will acquire the necessary techniques through practical examples for getting familiar and dealing with the phenomenon of ethnic, racial and gender prejudices and conflicts, in order to apply these experiences in the teaching process, as well as in everyday life.
The techniques will be presented by Meri Boshkova PhD, Florina Shehu MSc., Ljuljzim Ademi MSc, Sofija Arnaudova MSc, Petra Ristik and Atina Taseva.
| | | | INTERNATIONAL CONTEST
Chachipe Youth
The deadline for entering photos in the Chachipe Youth contest has been extended to January 31, 2009.
What is Chachipe Youth?
The Open Society Institute (OSI) and OSA Archivum announce Chachipe Youth, an international photography contest for young people between the ages of 12 and 25. The contest is a sequel to the successful Chachipe contest held in 2007. (Chachipe means truth, reality or right in Romanes.)
Chachipe Youth invites young people to use photography to present how they see Roma and their lives. The contest has three categories: “My Street, My Neighborhood,” "My Colorful Life," and "What Is Wrong?" An international jury will award a prize of EUR 1,000 to the winners in three age-groups—12 to 15 years old, 16 to 19 years old, and 20 to 25 years old—within each of these categories.
Photos submitted for the contest must have been taken since the beginning of 2005 in one or more of the countries participating in the Decade of Roma Inclusion (http://www.romadecade.org): Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Spain
Chachipe Youth is an online photo contest. Digital photos can be submitted at http://photo.romadecade.org, where detailed contest conditions are available, from October 30 through January 31, 2009. The announcement of contest results is expected in February 2009.
A selection of the best photos submitted to the Chachipe Youth contest will be displayed in an exhibition hosted by Centralis Galeria in Budapest in early 2009. OSI and OSA Archivum also plan to exhibit this selection of photographs in other Decade countries during 2009.
More information:
Melinda Jusztin
E-mail: photo@romadecade.org
Tel: +36-30-250-2635
| | | | | | | | COMMUNITY FORUMS PROGRAMME
Two projects selected at the last forum session in Chair
During the last, sixth session within the frames of the Community Forums Programme in the municipality of Chair, two projects were selected aiming to improve the environment in the municipality.
With the first selected project implemented by the NGO “Ekovita”, waste containers will be provided to 3000 households (ul. Serava, ul. Dizhonska, Gazi Baba and Tenekje maalo). The second selected project was the Revitalization of the park in the Topaansko pole settlement which is to be implemented by the municipality of Chair.
Both projects will be financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the municipality of Chair. SDC will finance the selected projects with a total of four million denars, while the municipality of Chair will participate with two million denars.
The municipality also promised to engage in the realization of the projects that were not selected for implementation within this program.
The Community Forums Programme in the municipality of Chair is implemented by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM).
The program is coordinated by the Unit for coordination of the forums and strategic development consulting, with active participation by the Association of Local Self-Government Units (ZELS). The Center for institutional development (CIRa) and the Macedonian Center for International cooperation (MCIC) participate in this phase of implementation in the other municipalities.
| | | | COMMUNITY FORUMS PROGRAMME
Projects from the Community Forums Programme selected
More than 100 citizens of Debar participated in the sixth session of the Community Forums Programme and voted for the three projects that are to be financed with six million denars, four of which are provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and two million denars by the local self-government of Debar.
Near the Culture center, in the Penestia restaurant, the citizens of Debar selected the following projects through voting: Reconstruction and repair of the facade and the plateau and sidewalks of the “old building” facility and the gym in the elementary school “Bratstvo Edinstvo” with a budget of 3.406.748,00 MKD; project Construction of an amusement park in the Breshija kindergarten, funded with 234.056,00 denars, as well as the project of the elementary school “Said Najdeni” – Procurement of teaching and didactic means and expert literature for the library, 979.106,11 denars allocated.
Since the project for preparation of the main project for construction of the gymnasium in Debar “Zdravko Chochkovski”did not get the sufficient number of votes, the mayor of Debar Argetim Fida stated during the forum that this project will be financed by the local self-government.
Namely, the forum, which was working with nine groups, voted for eight projects, since in the meantime, another donor allocated funds for the ninth project - Reconstruction of the heating system in the elementary school “Said Najdeni”.
The mayor of Debar, Argetim Fida emphasized that now instead of only ten people responsible for preparing projects in Debar, with this project they now have more than 100 citizens that now how to prepare projects.
The Community Forums Programme in the municipality of Debar is implemented by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia (FOSIM).
| | | | | | | | CREATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING
Social justice education
The first part of the training “Social justice education” within the frames of the project “Creative teaching and learning” implemented by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, taking place in the hotel Metropol in Ohrid, December 19-21 will be attended by professors from the high schools “Zef Ljush Marku” – Skopje, “Niko Nestor” – Struga and “Josip Broz - Tito” – Bitola.
During the training, the participants will acquire the necessary techniques through practical examples for getting familiar and dealing with the phenomenon of ethnic, racial and gender prejudices and conflicts, in order to apply these experiences in the teaching process as well as in everyday life.
The techniques will be presented by Meri Boshkova PhD, Florina Shehu MSc., Ljuljzim Ademi MSc, Petra Ristik, Sofija Arnaudova MSc and Eleonora Chabukovska.
| | | | COMMUNITY FORUMS PROGRAMME
The Infrastructure theme selected in Novo Selo
The first forum session in the municipality of Novo Selo, held on November 26 in the Michel restaurant was attended by 164 residents of Novo Selo interested in participating in the decision making for the allocation of the eight million denars from the Community Forums Programme.
The mayor of the Novo Selo municipality, Mr. Nikola Andonov addressed the participants and emphasized that for him and the municipal administration it is of great importance to also include the citizens in the decision making and the resolution of the problems that they are facing every day, including the priority issues.
During the first forum session, the theme Improvement of the communal infrastructure and environment was selected as a priority for the residents of the municipality; they will be working on it during the following six sessions in order to define the problems, suggest solutions and develop projects.
The goal of the program is to support the participative development of the communities on a local level, and the forum represents a platform through which the citizens can improve their life with their own ideas and participation, and the administration could develop responsible local governance in which the citizens would also be included.
Novo Selo received six million denars from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through this program, and the municipality is participating with two million denars. The forum process is organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia. The second forum session is scheduled for December 24 in the Michel restaurant in Novo Selo and is open for all the interested residents of the municipality.
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