INTERVIEW: Juta Bulling, European Agency for Reconstruction  

EU Strongly Supports the Civic Sector 

Mrs. Juta Bulling is a program manager in the Civic Society and Social Cohesion Sector within the European Agency for Reconstruction in Skopje. She has been on this position in EAR since March this year. Although it is a relatively short period of work, she has realized some very good contacts with the activists of the civic society in Macedonia. One of the EAR’s most meaningful activities in this field, the civic sector, is the support of the NGO fair, which has just ended. This interview was completed before the Fair and we talked to Mrs. Bulling about issues related to the civic society in Macedonia. 

Marijana Ivanova 
 

C.W. – What is the mission of the European Agency for Reconstruction?
J.B. – The European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) has existed in this country for some time now. It officially started working on 1 March 2002 and since then it has been managing the main aid programs of the European Union in this country. So far the Agency has given 26.5 million packages of emergency help from the European Union as a response to the last year’s crisis. The Agency has also implemented some regular programs of the European Union from the economic sector, social development, justice, internal issues, as well as from the field of environment, agriculture, natural resources, local self-government, infrastructure, civic society and social cohesion. All projects of the Agency have an objective to support the country in its persistence to get closer to the European Union and to enable it to meet the criteria of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, which was signed with the EU eighteen months ago. Our work is strictly monitored by the Agency’s Managing Board, the countries – members of the EU and the European Commission, so that we can be sure that all the projects and activities are in accordance with the Multi-indicative Program of the Commission and the Strategic Program 2002-2006 of the Republic of Macedonia.

 
C.W. – What is your experience with the non-governmental sector in Macedonia like?
J.B. – I started working in Macedonia in March 2002 as a program manager in the Civic Society and Social Cohesion Sector within the European Agency for Reconstruction in Skopje. Since then I have had an opportunity to meet various civic organizations, non-governmental organizations, various shareholders, representatives of the Government, of ministries and other donators. For me it was a great advantage that I had access to great deal of information on the origin of the civic sector in Macedonia. Before I came to Skopje I gained experience working in a lot of countries around the world, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, above all in the field of civic society development. It is very important for me to keep in touch with a lot of non-governmental organizations in the country in order to understand their needs and the situation they are in. In order to be constantly familiar with the latest events in the civic sector, in the future I would like to meet more non-governmental and civic organizations. Just because of that, in the following months I am planning to visit some organizations throughout the country, especially outside Skopje.


C.W. – What kind of support does EAR give to the non-governmental organizations in Macedonia?
J.B. – For the European Union, the CARDS Program (Program for aid, reconstruction, democratization and stabilization of Western Balkans) is a financial instrument for supporting democracy and law in the Republic of Macedonia. The development of the civic society and promotion of the multi-ethnic relations are covered with the democracy component and ruling of the law within the CARDS Program. Within the same program for 2002, the European Agency for Reconstruction is going to finance the following projects of the sectors of the civic society and multi-ethnic relations.

In the civic society sector we are going to support the non-governmental organizations strengthening. For this purpose we are going to finance establishing of eight NGO resource centers throughout the country, above all in the economically poor areas and in the places where such centers do not exist yet. This is going to be achieved through our implementation partner, the Open Society Institute of Macedonia Foundation, with the following objectives: to strengthen the capacities and development of smaller national NGOs (including training and providing service); support of regional NGO networks; support of the cooperation between NGOs and municipalities and providing technical assistance for networking, volunteering, lobbying and sustainability.

The project is based on the experience of the four existing NGO resource centers, which are implemented by the Open Society Institute with financial help from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The project refers to all NGOs, regardless of the sectors they are working in. We are expecting to start with the project in November 2002.

Farther on, we have supported this year’s NGO Fair. EAR has financially supported the second Non-governmental Organizations Fair, organized by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) in cooperation with some civic organizations. The Fair is a wonderful opportunity for people to get informed of the non-governmental sector. During the fair everyone could talk with about 200 NGO participants from all over the country and to find out something more about their activities. For the non-governmental organizations themselves, the Fair is a platform for discussing mutual objectives and it can also serve as a civic society forum.

The second field where we work is the Multi-ethic relations promotion. In the first part of this program we are going to finance a study for multi-ethnic relations evaluation. This study is going to include the following: mapping and establishing database for all current and past projects on multi-ethnic relations topic; evaluation of the capacities of the civic organizations and other institutions which carry out activities from the field of multi-ethnic relations, as well as training review.

On the basis of the evaluation, our experts are going to suggest some activities for the national program for overcoming stereotyping. These proposals (recommendations) are going to be discussed within the Government, as well as in the civic organizations and after that the program itself is going to be prepared.

In the second part of the program for supporting the promotion of multi-ethnic relations we are going to send a local appeal for our proposals. We are going to announce the appeal during the second or third week of October. All organizations, which meet the criteria for appropriateness, can apply with project proposals. After the term, which is going to be 60 days, the evaluation commission is going to consider the project proposals and is going to recommend the EAR which projects to finance. The appeal refers to projects from the international and domestic NGOs which are focused on innovative approaches to the following: improving the multi-ethnic relations; support of the cooperation between the minorities and promoting activities which are taken on local level and support the process of reconciliation.

For more information you will have to follow the local newspapers and the application procedures. The appeal is going to be published in the daily newspapers.

In the context of the above mentioned, recently, there were some other opportunities for NGOs to apply together with the municipalities or the centers for social work for grants for pilot projects from two projects, managed by the Agency. One of the projects is Local Self-government Program and the other is Project for Social Development and Employment, Sector-Institution, capacities building and development of social welfare. These appeals were both published in the daily newspapers and the evaluation process is in progress...

For the Program CARDS 2003 in the civic society, we would like to expand our support on other civic organizations and further on to support the process of multi-ethnic reconciliation. However, we will know the details for the programs for 2003 towards the beginning of next year, after it will be discussed with the Government and after being approved by our management and the CARDS’ Committee.   

 
C.W. – What is the procedure for applying for the EAR grants?
J.B. – EAR strictly follows the EU rules and procedures for giving grants or making contracts. These rules and procedures which are part of the Practical Guide to EC external aid contract procedures can be found on the EU official web site. There are two main mechanisms in order to make a contract for grant with NGO, either through a direct grant or an appeal for proposals. The procedure for direct granting is very rare and very limited so we mainly announce appeals for proposals. Therefore, it is senseless to send the proposals to us. You should follow the printed media, as well as the EAR web site to see if an appeal for proposals is announced. All our local appeals are published in the daily newspapers.

 
C.W. – How do you see the perspectives of the civic society in Macedonia?
J.B. – The civic society has a very important role in the democracy development in each country. The civic society sector in Macedonia has already realized a lot during its relatively short period of existence since 1990, apart from the fact that the sector had to work under difficult and unfavorable economic, social and political conditions. The few crisis in the region, which have quite exhausted Macedonia, including the 2001 crisis, have also influenced the civic society sector. Besides the conditions, the civic society is also facing some internal problems in the sector itself. These problems have to be overcome so that the sector can become a model for a good ruling system in the country.

Since the non-governmental organizations are an important part of the civic society sector, let me point out some of the problems they are facing, at least in my opinion. A lot of non-governmental organizations depend on the donators and they will not manage to sustain unless they work on establishing funds and getting incomes for providing services. What is more, a great number of non-governmental organizations, especially those of lower rank, still need assistance for developing their capacities and skills. Special attention should be paid to the strategic planning, organizational management, democratic decision-making, accountability, lobbying, representation and networks building. The ethic division within some areas where non-governmental organizations are working only obstructs the future development of the sector.

However, the civic society sector can indeed be related to a lot of positive achievements. I would like to mention only a few, for example, the electoral monitoring practice, public informative campaigns, tendencies to lobby for issues related to the environment and human rights, as well as the women lobby tendencies which have resulted in 17% women – members of the new parliament.

In my opinion, at the moment, the civic sector has a real opportunity to use the impulse which was built in the previous months and should start focusing on the following issues: to convey the efforts for establishing moral codex; to increase the pressure for reforms in the legislation, especially on the tax system, so that it is oriented on choice; to form a national platform for networking, representing and lobbying; to improve the picture of the civic society and to promote to the public what it strives for, as well as to work on transparency and accountability. Finally, I have to say that we, as donators, find it very hard to work with organizations, which are not controlled externally. I would like to encourage them, especially the non-governmental organizations, to pay more attention to this issue.

At the end, I would like to emphasize that the European Agency for Reconstruction is interested in supporting the important civic sector in the Republic of Macedonia. In the forthcoming years we are looking forward to fruitful cooperation with all the participants in the civic sector.              
 

C.W. – Which fields are of special interest for the EAR?
J.B. – The Agency has a wide field of interests, almost from each sector of the socio-economic life in the country. At the moment the Agency is either starting or managing projects from the field of traditional help, as the road infrastructure and agricultural development. It also branches in some other fields, for example professional education and training, enterprises support and fight against organized criminal. Some of my colleagues from the Agency create programs for reforms in the high education, government, banking, trade, industry, local self-government, police, justice, internal affairs and integrated border management.

 

The European Agency for Reconstruction has its web site. For all information and activities visit the following: www.ear.eu.int