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A decade dedicated to the development
Sustainable development, building awareness and the Kosovo crisis
In 1993 in the middle of the war that tore apart the ex SFR Yugoslavia, the World Council of Churches with its ecumenical presence, tried to alleviate the consequences of the fratricidal war in this region. In the system of leading WCC agencies, Macedonia was under the authority of the Dutch Inter-church Aid, whose intention was to establish a long-term presence in our country, with a goal to help in the peacekeeping process and the development of the civil society; and to help people in need.
In September 1993, the DIA opened its office in Skopje. It existed until the DIA operational partner in Macedonia was established, that is, the Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation.
The MCIC Founding Assembly took place in December 2003.
So, this year is an important jubilee for the MCIC - 10 years of growth and development for the Macedonian development. On that occasion, in the next four editions of "Civic World", we will publish two-page texts dedicated to the MCIC activities and its development.
In this issue, we are presenting the activities implemented by the MCIC in the period between 1998 and 1999.
The period between 1998-1999 was very important both for the MCIC and the country and region in general. In that period MCIC focused on the sustainable development and building the awareness, and not so much on the development and rehabilitation which had been in their focus in the previous period. And of course, a key focus in that period was building the peace and understanding.
While the first year brought MCIC several successes: the Democracy and Civil Society Award, given by the USA and the EU, initiation of the mid-term plan for 1998-200, opening the Macedonian Enterprise Development Foundation - MEDF in the following 1999, the society faced the Kosovo crisis. In an environment of a refugees flow from Kosovo, MCIC managed to restructure very quickly and efficiently, directing most of their activities towards the efforts to alleviate the tragedy and the pain of the displaced and the inevitable consequences that our country suffered. The activities were directed towards offering emergency aid, under the title "Refuge Macedonia". It was a great experience for the MCIC which became an expert in dealing with situations of crisis.
1998: Building the awareness and sustainable development
In that year, the MCIC worked in the three basic sectors: Watersupply of the villages; Health and education; and Civil society, awareness and democratisation. However they implemented several other activities. With a budget of about 36 million denars, MCIC realized projects that covered the marginalized groups in the society: villagers, women, handicapped, and ethnic minorities. They had remarkable results in the cooperation with the government institutions: with the Ministry of Justice regarding the Law on civic associations and foundations and the Law on Value Added Tax.
In the Watersupply sector, 18 projects were supported, that is 18 villages inhabited with about 5 200 people from the rural areas (out of which 66.15% were Macedonians and 33.85% belonged to the ethnic minorities) got healthy drinking water. .
The Health and Education Programme supported several activities for promoting the education and the health protection among women, children, young people, homeless people and the elderly citizens, as well as religious and ethnic minorities, drug and alcohol addicts and those infected with the HIV - especially in rural and sub-rural areas. The total of 27 projects were supported, having these categories of citizens as their target groups.
The Civil Society Programme supported about 30 civic associations. Four types of activities were implemented within the Programme: work of the NGO support office, information, training and the Small Projects Fund. MCIC supported several activities of the associations directed towards protection of women rights and human rights in general and improving the interethnic relations, health and environment.
1999: Refuge Macedonia
The human catastrophe that the Kosovo crisis brought in 1999, disturbed the region and of course, Macedonia strongly. Our country was directly involved in the crisis, accepting over 350 000 Kosovo refugees. MCIC was among the first who provided first aid for the refugees even at the very borderline Blace. MCIC have also supported two refuge camps - Radusa and Cegrane, distributed food and hygiene packages for 26 000 refugees. There was no dilemma for the MCIC - all their resources were directed towards emergency aid operations for the refugees and alleviation of the refuge crisis, under the name "Refuge Macedonia". Thus, MCIC contributed to a large amount to the peace and stability keeping process in the Republic of Macedonia.
Moreover, they managed to find strength for implementing the regular activities and even for initiating three new programmes: Relating the Skopje- Thessalonica enterprises; Supporting the micro and small enterprises and Strengthening women associations' the capacities for health education.
Watersuply projects have been implemented in 9 villages from central and eastern Macedonia, whose beneficiaries are over 5 300 inhabitants; four projects from the Health and Education Programme, as well as several projects for strengthening the civic associations from the Civil Society and Democracy Programme have been supported, too. By the end of the year, the Macedonian Parliament passed the Law on Civic Associations and Foundations, in which the MCIC took an active part. A handbook containing comments on the Law was also prepared. That was the time when MEDF implemented its first activities, preparing the possibilities for supporting the small businesses and self-employment. The first loan was awarded for provision of new tractors for the agricultural enterprise Magnakom.
The awareness for the connection of the region and the quick and easy spread of crises, was another stimulus for the MCIC to direct some of their activities towards Kosovo. With the programme document called "Post-Crisis Rehabilitation of Kosovo", MCIC and four organizations from Action Churches Together (ACT), took part in the international activities for normalizing the condition in the province. MCIC opened an office in Gjakovica and worked in the municipalities Gjakovica, Orahovac, Prizren and Dragas. The Programme covered reconstruction of the houses and the infrastructure, food provision, support to the agriculture and income generation, support to the civic sector. Direct beneficiaries were 7 820 families, that is 48 700 people.
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