The NGO Info-Center, together with its partner organizations and members of the Forum for Civic Dialogue (FCD)—Glasen Textilec from Štip, Youth Cultural Center – Bitola, Spektar from Kriva Palanka, the Civic Initiative of Women from Sveti Nikole, and the Community Center of the Municipality of Struga—conducted monitoring of the implementation of citizens’ priorities at the local level during October and November 2024.
The purpose of the monitoring was to assess the progress in the realization of citizens’ priorities in six municipalities: Štip, Struga, Kriva Palanka, Sveti Nikole, Kruševo, and Demir Hisar, which were identified during consultative meetings with citizens in 2021 and 2022.
The monitoring process involved a series of interviews with relevant representatives of municipal authorities. The analysis incorporated the information and documents obtained during these interviews, as well as publicly available data and documents published on municipal websites.
Additionally, from October 10 to October 25, 2024, we conducted six online surveys targeting citizens from the municipalities included in the monitoring. These surveys aimed to gather citizens’ perceptions, opinions, and experiences regarding whether their municipalities are fulfilling the identified priorities and involving and consulting citizens on local policy matters.
The questionnaires were hosted on Google Forms, and the surveys were conducted anonymously. A total of 1,593 citizens participated in the surveys, distributed as follows: Štip – 411, Struga – 356, Sveti Nikole – 269, Demir Hisar – 200, Kruševo – 179, and Kriva Palanka – 178.
This monitoring was carried out as part of the project Active Citizens and Participatory Democracy at the Local Level, supported by the Olof Palme International Center from Sweden.
Read the findings of the Monitoring of the implementation of citizens’ priorities at the local level for 2024.
General Findings -Online Survey for the Implementation of Civil Priorities
The majority of respondents from the six municipalities involved in the monitoring: Struga, Štip, Sveti Nikole, Kriva Palanka, Demir Hisar, and Kruševo, believe that local authorities in 2024 have not taken sufficient action to address civil issues and priorities.
74% of respondents from Struga stated that the Municipality of Struga has not taken any measures or actions to improve communication with citizens.
More than half of the respondents from Demir Hisar (53.5%) believe that the local government has not taken action for the construction of multipurpose playgrounds.
A high 87.1% of respondents from Kriva Palanka say that the municipal authorities have not introduced local public transportation.
Nearly half of the respondents from Štip (45%) do not know whether the Municipality is taking action to build a wastewater treatment plant.
65.1% of respondents from Sveti Nikole believe that the local government is not taking action to create new green and recreational spaces.
74.3% of respondents from Kruševo stated that the Municipality is not taking measures to improve the business climate and employment of young people.
Similar to the previous 2023 survey, this public opinion survey also showed that citizens are very little or not at all involved in the creation of local policies. As much as 84.4% of respondents have never participated in policy-making in the local community, while 4.45% said they regularly participate, and the rest of the respondents said they are only occasionally involved in activities related to local policy creation.
Nearly half of the respondents (48%) stated that they have never been invited to participate in any municipality activity related to policy creation, while 33% said they were not informed.
More than half of the respondents (56%) believe that the most appropriate form of civic participation is public debates, followed by 37.7% who favor community meetings, while budget forums are considered the least effective.
In addition to evaluating the fulfillment of civil priorities in 2024, citizens also shared their expectations for the upcoming 2025 year.
The priorities for the citizens of Demir Hisar for 2025 are the reconstruction of streets and parts of the water, sewage, and stormwater networks, as well as solving the parking space issue.
The residents of Sveti Nikole, as last year, believe that the municipality should work on opening new parking lots in the city center and installing traffic signs.
The citizens of Štip are asking for a permanent solution to control the dumping of debris and waste at illegal landfills, as well as stabilizing the water supply network.
Respondents from Struga are seeking a solution to the landfill problem and parking spaces.
The majority of respondents from Kruševo are again asking for improvements in water supply quality and ensuring clean drinking water.
