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  Issue 63

   

Our open competitions and tenders

Who should help the victims of domestic violence?
 

Is it necessary to make a coil out of each tender invited in Macedonia, difficult for someone to uncoil it? That is what happened with the open competition of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy announced on 18th May 2006 for support of projects for taking care of victims of domestic violence. Two months after the open competition was announced, the Commission for Cooperation with Citizens’ Associations decided that according to the fulfilled conditions, the most appropriate and with most points is the Women’s Organization of the City of Skopje, which in the next six months would receive 51.500 denars every month for realization of the project. The NGO Shelter-Center immediately reacted upon this decision and they lodged a complaint to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, considering that in the course of their five-year existence they had best proven and shown who could take care of the victims of domestic violence the best.

“The question is on what basis the ranking had been made”, says Gabriela Spirkovska, lawyer in the NGO Shelter-Center. The Women’s Organization of the City of Skopje has neither a space for providing for women, nor employees that would work with these women, nor experience with this target group, says Spirkovska, explaining that the Shelter-Center has a space of 280 m2, a professional team comprising a psychologist, a lawyer, a social worker, a doctor; it is a team trained in the biggest European centers. As far as their successes are concerned, Spirkovska thinks that the best indicator is the care of 1.283 women and 732 children in their five-year existence.

The following is also a fact. When announcing the open competition for realization of the Project for protection of the victims of domestic violence, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy did not precise what it implied by protection of the victims of domestic violence. The protection can be 24-hour care; it can refer to protection in terms of giving advice on an SOS-line, legal protection or a longer-term protection. This imprecision might have resulted in the present problems and contests.

“The Women’s Organization of the City of Skopje has had the project for SOS-line since 1994. The line is 24 hours open and we receive 1000 calls a month by victims of domestic violence. Within the MWO there is also a transit women’s house where 64 women and 24 children have stayed within 24 or 36 hours”, says Rajna Najdova, president of MWO. She denies the accusations that MWO does not have a professional team that can help the victims of domestic violence, pointing out that they have a qualified team comprising doctors, psychologists and lawyers.

As far as the open competition itself is concerned, Najdova points out that the first open competition was announced on 14th March, but it was precised that support was given to a project of citizens’ associations for protection against victims of domestic violence – National SOS line. “With this competition it was projected in the course of six months a non-governmental organization dealing with this issue to be given financial support of 51.000 denars. The Women’s Organization of the City of Skopje was the only one that applied and after it had been confirmed that there was only one candidate for this financial support, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy decided to annul the competition”, explains Najdova.

On 18th May 2006 the line ministry once again announced the competition, this time not emphasizing that it was about a National SOS line, so all citizens’ associations could apply for it, dealing with any kind of care of the victims of domestic violence. The MWO was number one on the list of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and they were given the decision on 7th July 2006.

The NGO Shelter-Center is not pleased with the explanations that in the competition it has not been precised what kind of care for victims of domestic violence it is about. “We are the only organization that directly treats the problem of domestic violence. Our organization will never let someone play with such fragile group as the victims of domestic violence are”, points out Spirkovska. “Our organization’s reaction in terms of the decision had an objective to stop manipulating a really endangered category of people as there are opportunities for protection of these women and children and they could be applicable if such things did not happen. The Shelter-Center is a defined organization for work with domestic violence as a priority in its program and as such, it has an obligation to continue and further be committed to its activities. It means that in case such or similar problems happen in the future, we will try to animate the whole public in solving these sensitive issues”, Spirkovska being categorical.

There is not a solution to the dispute about the competition of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy for the time being and there are even more difficulties due to the change of the government. Now everyone can be accused by everyone, as every change of the government means starting from the very beginning and no one is responsible for the past projects and omissions.

Dusko Minoski, a state secretary in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy explains: “It is a fact that a complaint has been lodged about the decision made by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy to give financial support to the Women’s Organization of the City of Skopje for a project for taking care of the victims of domestic violence. The complaint has been sent to the Secondary governmental commission, but due to the change of government, the Commission has been disbanded. Due to the vacuum, the Shelter-Center has been contacted and in interest of the future cooperation, a compromise has been reached. The Shelter-Center has promised us to withdraw the complaint and that the best possible solution will be found. As far as the future competitions are concerned, I hope that in the future they will be much more transparent and there will not be such unpleasant situations.”

The promise has been given and kept. The NGO Shelter-Center has withdrawn the complaint. “We think that at the moment it is the best possible solution. This time we will withdraw the complaint for a number of circumstances, but in case there are future manipulations in competitions, we will go to the end, whatever the outcome”, says the president of the NGO Shelter-Center, Daniela Dabevska.

This time a compromise solution was found. However, we should not forget the ones the competition has been announced for, the victims of domestic violence. Let’s not forget – every fourth woman in Macedonia is physically harassed, every third woman psychically and that is why a country that has such a big number of victims of domestic violence should not let arguments about competitions and tenders that should help these people, who already have enough problems in their life.     

 
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