Macedonian Civic Platform

Regional NGO Fairs in Strumica and Gostivar

The Macedonian Civic Platform has organized two regional NGO Fairs. The first one took place in Strumica on 24 and 25 November and the second one in Gostivar on 15 and 16 December. Their goal was to introduce the public to the civil society organizations’ activities, to create space for exchange of experiences and to improve the regional cooperation through coordination and networking of the organizations. The regional NGO Fair in Strumica was opened by Erwan Fuere, EU ambassador in Macedonia.

Besides the exhibition part, both fairs included forum activities, socio-cultural events and presentation of the Macedonian Civic Platform program. At the forums, participants discussed several issues of interest to the civil society, such as: implementation of the Law for free access to information of public character, family violence legal treatment, Badenter majority – a good mechanism for protection of the minority ethnic groups on local level, the Roma Decade and the challenges for its implementation on local level, etc.

“The importance of the first regional NGO fair in Gostiver is that it offers the organization a unique opportunity to present their work, to establish contacts and share experiences with the other organizations, that is, to create partnerships. Another important aspect of the NGO fair are the forums, which are conceptualized as a medium for expressing different attitudes on different subjects and presenting them to the public and the other organizations. It is worth mentioning that the local authorities are willing to realize further cooperation with the civil sector. They promised to make this fair a traditional event in Gostivar”, said Lulzim Haziri, program director of the Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI) from Gostivar. The fairs were visited by about 3000 citizens.

 

G. Sh.