Forum: THEME FOR DEBATING

Are We Cooperating with the Local Self-Government?

The latest question that we ask at the “Civic World” Forum refers to the cooperation between the NGOs and the local self-government. Are we cooperating and how are we cooperating? Are we accepted as partners by the local government units, have we managed to impose ourselves as factors they want to cooperate with for the benefit of the community?

We invite you to send us your opinions and experiences on this important subject. You can do it on our web-sites: www.civicworld.org.mk  and www.graganskisvet.org.mk . We publish several opinions by people active in the non-governmental sector who can initiate the discussion on this subject:

Dimce Mitreski:
The number of NGOs is constantly increasing in the urban as well as the rural areas. By decentralization of the government and giving bigger competence to the local self-government, I think that the cooperation between the NGOs and the local government units will improve. I think that the cooperation in the past was also good, especially in the smaller communities where people work together on solving the problems. However, I expect this cooperation to improve in future. The citizen associations impose themselves more as a factor, as well as a partner of the authorities, therefore the cooperation is inevitable.

Jordan Mihajlovski:
The cooperation between the NGOs and the local self-government is relatively good. I think that the NGOs realize much better cooperation with the local government units that with the central authorities. The municipalities are open for cooperation, especially the smaller ones. I think that the Mayor of Skopje team is extremely open for cooperation. The City of Skopje Assembly has a special service for cooperation with the NGOs, which is an example that should be followed by other municipalities.

Nevena Dimitrova:
Well, I think that on one hand we are cooperating and on the other hand we are not. The authorities – the local as well as the central, agree to cooperate with the NGOs only if they can make use of it. If they consider that the activities of a certain NGO interfere their competence, or in a way pose a threat to them, they become inaccessible. However, it is a process and we cannot expect that the things change at once. I think that many things are changing, especially in the last few years.

Zarko Dimitrov:
The authorities have an imperative to cooperate with the NGOs. It is the condition that the Macedonian country has to obey if it wants to become part of the European Union. It has to develop a strong civil society where the NGOs will be an equal partner to the government. This is what they have to do, whether they like it or not. In my opinion they would rather not cooperate, however the development of the country imposes that on them. They have to realize that we live in a modern time when citizens are becoming a force equal to the force of the government.