Under the auspices of the “Civic Alliance for Progressive Change on Local Level” Project, supported by the International Centre “Olof Palme” from Sweden, the Forum for Civil Dialogue was established in August 2021, before the 2021 Local Elections.
The Forum for Civil Dialogue is composed of six partner CSOs (the NGO Infocentre, The Youth Cultural Centre Bitola, Struga Municipality Community Centre, “Vocal Textile Worker”, “Multikultura” and “Idea SEE”) while three other CSOs – Spektar, Civic Initiative of Women of Sveti Nikole and the Media Development Centre are actively involved in its activities. Before the Local Elections, the main goal of the Forum was to promote the direct participation of citizens in the public discussions to identify local problems and needs, as well as the definition of main priorities of the local communities.
The Forum implemented a series of activities in nine municipalities: Centar, Bitola, Štip, Tetovo, Struga, Kavadarci, Kriva Palanka, Sveti Nikole and Demir Hisar. Two consultation meetings with citizens were held in each of the municipalities covered by the project. Also, in each of the nine municipalities, public debate style events were held, bringing together candidates running of mayoral offices and seats in the local councils and the citizens, giving the latter an opportunity to present their demands and priorities to the former.
After the elections and the constitution of the new local administrations, meetings were held with the newly elected mayors and members of the municipal Councils, which focused on the issue which, if any, of the priorities and demands presented by the citizens will be included in the agendas of the respective local administrations.
Some partner organisations conducted online polls, focus group discussions, informal and formal meetings with target groups to ensure a more comprehensive ranking of priorities, needs and challenges faced by citizens in their respective local communities.
All activities were implemented in the period August – December 2021.
The Forum for Civil Dialogue shall continue with active and continuous monitoring of the work of the new local administrations, with focus on the realisation of key priorities identified by the citizens.
Full report Local Priorities of the Citizens
