NGO Fair – 5th Forum of the Civil Society in Macedonia will take place from 9th till 11th of December 2005 at the Skopje Fair.
The following types of organizations can participate in the NGO Fair:
 - Associations of citizens and foundations registered in Macedonia;
 - Foreign and international organisations and agencies with branch office in Macedonia;
 - Governmental institutions (Ministries and Agencies)

At the NGO Fair, guests from the region will be invited too.

The goals of the event are:

-          creating an atmosphere for exchanging experiences, motivating mutual understanding and respect among the civic organisations;
-          stimulating better dialogue among the civic organisations;
-          increasing the level of communication, coordination, and cooperation;
-          increasing the level of informing of the public and the other actors about the activities of the civic organisations;
-          contributing to the information exchange among the organisations from the region. 

The NGO Fair consists of three components:

-          Forum activities;
-          Exhibition part;
-          Socio-cultural events. 

NGO Fair will have main theme and focus country which will mark the event and will permeate through all its components. This year, the main theme will be decentralization, and the focus country will be Albania.

 

1.    FORUM ACTIVITIES 

a) Public debates (forum discussions)
The Forum part will be comprised of public debates (panel discussions, round tables), where different issues and themes will be discussed, i.e. issues that are of interest to the whole sector, as well as to the general public.  

b) Educative sessions
The educative sessions will be an integral part of the Forum activities. At the educative sessions, different topics concerning the strengthening of the institutional capacity of the civic organisations will be discussed and analysed. The session will have an informative character. 

- Self-organisation of the events
Within the NGO Fair, the civic organisations will have an opportunity to self-organize forum discussions and educative sessions. The self-organisation of forum discussions and educative sessions implies that the organisations should select a topic, should provide suitable keynote speaker and chairperson (as well as providing board and lodgings, payment etc. for them, if necessary). The organizers of the NGO Fair will provide the space, the term, and the technical equipment (loudspeaker system, LCD projector etc.) 

Thus, the organizers invite all interested civic organisations to submit an application with the discussion topic and the topic of the educative session, no later than 11th of November, 2005. 

The application form can be obtained from the link bellow, by electronic mail, or at the premises of MCIC. 

Since the main topic will be decentralization, it is highly recommended that proposed themes for debates and for the educative sessions are related to the topic. 

The Program Board is responsible for selecting the topics to be presented in the forum part that are consistent with the goals of the NGO Fair, and available space at the NGO Fair. 
 

2. EXHIBITION PART

The NGO Fair provides opportunity for the participants to introduce themselves at the exhibition part, using booths, posters and audio-visual mechanisms. 

Booths

a) Basic exhibition space
The basic exhibition space planned for presentation activities has 9 m2. It consists of a booth, made of octane-ram system, panel – boards duplex; carpet covering, info stand 100/100 or 2 from 50/50; written names of the participants with block-letters in Macedonian language; tables with 4 chairs; reflector lighting; power outlet.  

Additional equipment and services (e.g. Internet access for the booth, etc.) comes at extra cost. The organisations should make individual contact and agreement with the Skopje Fair regarding such needs.

If the organisations have different ideas regarding the design of their booths, they may implement other arrangement, but they should notify the Skopje Fair in advance.   

The organisation desiring to add additional text in other language and alphabet on the header of their booth, besides the Macedonian version, need to cover additional expense of 725 MKD per writings (table). The maximum number of tables which can be put on the stand is three. 

The cost is 1,500 MKD per m2, or 13,500 MKD total for a standard booth (9m2). 

- The organisations with a 2004 annual budget between 500,000 and 5.000.000 MKD will have to cover 35% of the total cost or 4.750 MKD for a basic stand of 9 m2.  

-The organisations with a 2004 annual budget exceeding the amount of 5.000.000,00 MKD, and the international organisations and agencies, will have to pay the total cost (1,500 MKD per m2).

 

b) Additional exhibition space
Each organisation will have an opportunity to rent more space than the planned basic space. In that case, the organisations will pay the total cost (1,500 MKD per m2). 

Poster board presentation
-          The cost of the poster-presentation for the organisations with a budget for 2005 that exceeds the amount of 500,000 MKD will be 500 MKD.
 

3. SOCIO-CULTURAL EVENTS

Several socio-cultural events will take place at the NGO Fair, based on the personal creativity of the civic organisations and directed towards promotion of cultural heritage and values. 

Similarly to the forum discussions and the educative sessions, the individual organizations will have to organize the socio-cultural events by themselves.  

If some of the proposed events are inconsistent with the goals of NGO Fair, or if the number of proposals exceeds the available capacity, the Program Board will make a selection of the most suitable proposals.  

Possibility for covering the accommodation costs

The organisations that have a seat out of Skopje and the surrounding towns Kumanovo, Tetovo, Gostivar, and Veles will be given a possibility for partial coverage of the accommodation costs for only one representative from the organisation. Priority in this regard will have the organisations that are going to self-organize a forum discussion or educative session and the organisations with annual budgets less than 500,000 MKD or between 500,000 and 5,000,000 MKD. 
 

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The deadline for applying for the NGO Fair – 5th Forum of the Civic Society in Macedonia is 11th of November, 2005 . Applications should be sent to MCIC, at the following address: Nikola Parapunov bb., P.O. Box. 55;1060 Skopje. 

The organizers have the right to exclude those organisations which will apply after the deadline (11th November, 2005). 

Those organisations applying after 11th November, will have to pay a 10% increase of the regular fee. 

Aplications forms:
- Aplication for participation at NGO Fair-5th Forum
- Aplication for Forurm events NGO Fair-5th Forum
- Aplication for Soci-cult event NGO Fair-5th Forum

The application forms will also be available at the following websites:
www.graganskisvet.org.mk;  www.mango.org.mk  and www.balkancsd.net

 

Contact person: Krenar Kuka,
Tel. + 389 (0)2 30 65 381, ext. 134 (11:00 to 15:00 CET, every working day),
Fax. + 389 (0)2 30 85 298;
E-mail: nvosaem@mcms.org.mk. 

The entry for participants at the NGO Fair will be free of charge.