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  Issue 50 June 2005

   

Sonja Stefanovska – Trajanoska, program associate and Anita Kodzoman, environmental programs coordinator, UNDP
 

UNDP program is deeply built in the development agenda of Macedonia
 

What are the forms you work on raising civil society development in Macedonia since opening the United Nations Development Program Office until today?
UNDP’s mandate to work on sustainable human development, placing people in the center of development, cannot be completed without cooperation with the civil society sector. Taking into consideration the collective power of the civil society sector in building social, economic and political agenda on a local, national and global level, it is clear that strengthening the partnership with the civil society sector is essential for UNDP to remain a relevant and effective partner in the development. In that respect, UNDP is continually trying to make a step forward in expanding and deepening cooperation with the civil society sector on all levels of operating. UNDP has so far realized several forms of cooperation with the civil society, especially on a local level, where representatives of the civil society are actively involved as UNDP’s strategic partners in realization of development activities. There are many examples and forms, but the most important are ones where UNDP manages to create a space for an essential dialogue on a local level between the local authorities, private sector and the civil society for identifying development priorities, as well as creating, realization and following development policies. Thus UNDP gives full recognition of the role that the civil society sector has and should have in the process of development, simultaneously contributing to strengthening the sector’s capacities, in order to become an active and strong partner of the other two sectors. In cooperation with the civil society sector we take into consideration the values that civil society organizations represent in terms of the paradigm of human development as basis for dialogue, acting and common activities and campaign with the civil society sector.


What are your so far experiences in realization of projects with state institutions on one, and civil society organizations on the other hand? Could you point out some illustrative examples for successful cooperation, but also some typical problems for the country in the projects’ realization?
Experiences are mainly positive and the process of building mutual trust simultaneously implies mutual understanding of our complementary role in the development, as well as the potential that our cooperation carries. However, as a result of big differences in the size, sophistication and diversity of the civil society sector, impressions cannot be unified. Civil society organizations might need to focus more on the process of self-regulation, that might seem to be a hard battle, but there is a good basis for promotion in that direction. In terms of external reasons, finances from donors and the possibility for increased financing of the civil society sector by improving credibility might be a reason to stimulate the civil society organizations for greater self-regulation. If such mechanisms of more efficient and more transparent self-regulation are established, it will result in effective monitoring that will provide a way of measuring the results from the civil society sector operations. This is of great importance, since Macedonia is passing a process of further defining the relations and the character of partnerships between the civil society sector and authorities, where levels of institutionalization and independence of the civil society sector from the authorities are not completely defined. The most visible challenge in that relation is the perceived lack of reporting and self-regulation within the civil society sector. In this respect, promoting mechanisms for self-regulation and reporting within the civil society sector is of strategic interest for strengthening the relations between the civil society, governmental and private sector, as well as a good reference for cooperation with international organizations, such as UNDP.

As far as the UNDP mandate and efforts are concerned, we think that neither the government, nor the civil society sector, nor UNDP can work on their own to achieve sustainable human development. Such objective implies active participation and partnership and UNDP offers itself as an alliance to the government, civil society and the private sector in the battle for achieving quality and sustainable development. The cooperation with the governmental and civil society institutions and organizations, on both national and local level, has so far turned to be constructive and positive, in spite of the fact that better, more essential and more efficient mechanisms and ways of cooperation are always sought. The civil society sector is somehow involved in almost all UNDP projects: sometimes in running training courses and realizing campaigns, in different forms of counseling groups on a local level, in realization of specific components from the projects etc. for example, the civil society platform was essentially involved in the preparation of the first Report on millennium development goals in Macedonia. Hence, steps are big and important and this initiative is in some way a contribution to further introduction of the civil society in the so-called “mainstream” of public things that influence poverty decrease. The project Park Prespa Office in Resen has helped associating a few civil society organizations that work in the area of agriculture and now they are carriers and users of a project whose aim is to decrease negative effects from agriculture in the confluence of the Prespa Lake.


How open and interested are the civil society organizations for work with the UNDP Office?
Civil society organizations differently see UNDP and they often address us with concrete projects. We try to explain the mandate and the way how UNDP functions and to explain that UNDP works according to a fixed program frame with clearly defined goals and activities. If we strategically recognize ourselves in the realization of these goals and activities, we can realize cooperation and the forms and mechanisms can be really creative. We certainly prefer a dialogue and partnerships for development and if we recognize ourselves here, everything is easier. Generally, civil society organizations are interested in UNDP, but sometimes on a pure project, isolated level. The civil society sector should also recognize its advantages and disadvantages, know clearly its goals and values, and then we will certainly meet in our efforts. Partnerships are based on the principle of horizontal relation, i.e. in spite of the fact we are institutionally different, we have specific weight in promoting same development goals, especially in terms of decreasing poverty through sustainable human development. The relation is based on mutual trust that must be acquired and cherished.

Very soon, we expect the Small Grants Program of the Global Ecological Fund to be promoted and it will directly open opportunities for closer cooperation with civil society organizations. This program provides funds for civil society organizations and citizens’ associations in the areas of biodiversity, climate changes, international waters, desolation, and it will enable addressing certain local problems related to environment and simultaneously raise awareness for the need for sustainable use of natural resources.


United Nations Development Program is acquainted with the development of national development condition and is striving to identify key challenges related to the country’s development. What is your latest picture of the situation in Macedonia and what are you focused on this year?
In spite of the fact that the situation in Macedonia is gradually getting better, the country is still facing numerous challenges. We are here to help the process of overcoming these challenges, that is why our program is deeply built in the development agenda of Macedonia and in accordance with the efforts to integrate into EU.

At the moment we are helping in the process of local self-government reforms and coordination with national institutions and other donors, we give advice and support for municipalities decentralization and strengthening, through our programs for building capacities of local administration. We are also brining together the government, local authorities, private sector, civil society and donors in order to promote economic reforms, to create favorable economic climate and to stimulate opportunities for generating incomes. UNDP program strives for promoting favorable business climate, sound and sustainable growth of the private sector, creating jobs and economic integration of marginalized communities. We are also helping strengthening the existing policy in managing environment and sustainable development, impelling regional and cross-border cooperation. Within the UN family, UNDP builds national capacities for preventive crisis management and preventing influence of natural catastrophes by sending an urgent reply – and together with the other UN agencies in Macedonia, we help the country in its efforts to achieve the Millennium development goals, whose realizations will contribute to the good and welfare of every citizen in Macedonia.


Are Macedonian civil society organizations involved in projects of regional or wider character through your programs and activities? What is your role in that case and how much do you succeed to trace projected ways for longer time period?
Within the cross-border project for Park Prespa (Macedonia, Albania and Greece), representatives of civil society organizations from these three countries are a part of the Trilateral body for managing Park Prespa and its role is to coordinate the activities of the three neighboring countries in relation to planning development and environmental protection in the confluence of the Prespa Lake. Through this project, civil society organizations in Macedonia can cooperate on topics of common interest and to build strategic partnerships with their colleagues from Albania and Greece.

Civil society organizations are also regularly involved in the activities of the project Control of small arms. They had their representative in the National coordinative body for voluntary --- of weapons, they have been regularly involved in the media and promotion campaigns of the project by involving their members in some of the activities. Transparency in working with the civil society organizations has been achieved by involving their experts in the preparation of the Law on arms, as well as sub-legal acts through public debates, organized by some civil society organizations. Civil associations that work in the field of control of small arms are part of the South East European Network for Control of Arms and they are trying to have issues of great importance for the whole region as their objectives.

We certainly think that we are about to trace long-term and more strategic cooperation for the development of Macedonia and its way to the European Union.

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