Форуми во заедницата

Promotion of 12 newly selected municipalities in the Programme

Tuesday, 29 September 2009

Aerodrom, Berovo, Radovis, Konce, Krusevo, Strumica, Debar, Mogila, Novaci, Gostivar, Makedonski Brod and Bogovine are the newly selected municipalities in the third cycle of the second phase of the Community Forums Programme.   The 12 mayors signed the contracts for its implementation on 25 September.   The Forum support involvement of the citizens in the decision making of their respective municipality, whereas the municipalities share the responsibility for part of the decisions with their citizens.   At the signing of the contracts, the Head of Cooperation of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Tatjana von Steiger Weber, asserted that the citizens have enthusiastically accepted this idea for participation.   “We could see people attending the forums regularly with the aim of giving their contribution for the common benefit of the entire community” – pointed out the head of cooperation of SDC.   For the first time in the course of the Programme which has been implemented for three years, an intermunicipal forum will be carried out where the citizens will communicate concerning the problems and issues which are in their mutual interest, namely garbage disposal in Mogila and Novaci and water supply in Radovis and Konce.   The other innovation is the implementation of a budget forum where the topic will be the municipality budget i.e. its allocation in accordance with the priority requirements of the residents of the municipality.   The Programme is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) with a total budget of four million Swiss francs and participation of each municipality individually.   The budget of the third cycle of the second phase totals to 64 million denars out of which 46,5 million denars are donated by SDC while 17,5 million denars are own participation of the municipalities.   The second phase includes the municipalities of Debar, Cair, Caska, Strumica and Karbinci, where the specification of the project selected by the citizens in the respective municipalities is in the final stage. The second cycle has included eight additional municipalities – Saraj, Sveti Nikole, Berovo, Kocani, Novo Selo, Dolneni, Bitola and Resen, where a theme forum was implemented for the first time.   The forum process comprises participation of representatives from several social groups, including the NGO and business sector, teachers, professors, medical staff, retired persons, agricultural workers, stockbreeders, representatives of the local administration etc. with different age, gender and nationality. The number of participants depends on the size of the municipality however the average attendance is around 90 citizens. The gender perspective, especially the participation of women is one of the more significant components of this programme which foresees the attendance of 40% women.   The implementers of the Programme in the third cycle of the second phase are five organizations – Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM) in the municipalities of Krusevo, Strumica, Mogila and Novaci, the Center for Institutional Development (CIRa) in the municipalities of Gostivar and Debar, Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) in the municipalities of Aerodrom, Berovo, Radovis and Konce, The Center for Sustainable Development “Alka” in the municipalities of Makedonski Brod and the Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI) in the municipality of Bogovinje.  The Programme is coordinated by the Forum Coordination Unit, in cooperation with the Association of the units of local self-government of Republic of Macedonia (ZELS).

 

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