The Council for Cooperation of the Government with Civil Society in North Macedonia. This advisory body of the Government, whose purpose is extremely important and necessary in a democratic society, was established by a government decision in 2016, which was published on the Council’s website. However, since 2022, its members have not met and the body has not functioned, and consequently, for the second year in a row, it has been regressing the cooperation and connection of institutions with citizens.
Why is the operation of such a body important in society? What is its role? Why have its members not met since 2022? How can the council be unblocked so that cooperation between the Government and the NGO sector can finally begin and develop, in the interest of the citizens?
Two years of boycott
According to the decision to establish this body, 14 representatives of the state administration should be members, as well as 13 members appointed by the Government, elected through a public call, at the proposal of the organizations registered in accordance with the Law on Associations and Foundations. The purpose of the Council’s existence is clear—promoting the dialogue between the Government and the organizations, which would also encourage the development of the civil sector. However, the reality is different. There is no development of that cooperation, and it all started after the previous Government cut the budget and gave the money for civil society organizations to the Ministry for Inter-Community Relations, at that time headed by Artan Grubi.
In a statement for Meta.mk, Snezana Kamilovska Trpovska from the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, as a member of this body, explained what happened.
“The Council for Cooperation, one year after its formation in the second term, ceased operations, i.e. went into boycott in 2022. Unfortunately, as early as the beginning of 2022, it became clear that the perception of the then Government was that this body was more of a pro forma, so it was not included in key decisions for the development of civil society. Namely, with the adoption of the then budget, the funds for civil society organizations from the General Secretariat of the Government were completely cut, without any consultations, and were transferred to the then Ministry for Inter-Community Relations. Namely, in a situation when there was a need to discuss increasing state funding for civil society organizations, as was also envisaged in the Government program, we were faced with a cut in funds. However, there was no question of implementing a real reform, says Kamilovska Trpovska.
Despite requests made to the government at the highest level to hold a meeting and address the challenges, the meeting never took place.
“This situation has led to the civil society organization members of the Council boycotting it for almost two years. Before the boycott, the Council had its regular meetings at which issues such as the Development Strategy, and issues related to the financing of organizations and their affirmation were discussed. The purpose of this body is extremely important and necessary in a democratic society. In this way, the state’s readiness for real discussion and consultation with civil society on issues of importance for the development of society and the readiness to make decisions in a transparent and constructive process are demonstrated,” believes Kamilovska Trpovska.
She emphasizes that the function of this body is to improve the state of civil society in the country and to show that it is a real partner in creating policies related to the development of society.
“That is precisely why the last two EU progress reports on the country noted the non-functioning of the Council as a body that should be a bridge between civil society organizations and the Government,” she adds.
Are there any challenges that need to be overcome with the new Government?
While civil society members in the Council boycotted the work, the impression was formed that the process of reforming the model for state funding of civil society was halted. Are there challenges with the new Government that need to be overcome in order to establish a new Council and accelerate the process of adopting a new model for state funding?
Despite the fact that there was an active working group on this issue (formed in an inclusive process), proposals were made, however, it is still “stumbling” in place and amendments to the Law on Associations and Foundations have not yet been made. All these are challenges facing the new Government, but the expectations of civil society organizations are the same. Let’s see a transparent process for selecting members of the Council, whose mandate has already ended. This body should have a real function and be active in its efforts for development. Finally, the working group on the state financing model and the Law on Associations and Foundations should continue its work, in order to start real reforms as soon as possible. For all this, we hope that in the Government Program we will see real commitments and deadlines that will be respected, emphasizes Kamilovska Trpovska.
We also spoke on this topic with Uranija Pirovska, the executive director of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.
“In March 2022, representatives of civil society organizations in the Council for Cooperation decided to boycott the work of this body. The reason was that the Government, without consulting and without informing the Council, decided to transfer the mandate for the allocation of budget money for the non-governmental sector to the Ministry for Inter-Community Relations, but the main reason was the way in which it was done. Until then, the money intended for the civil society sector that related to the priorities of the Government was distributed by the General Secretariat based on a previously adopted program prepared by the Council, that is, jointly by government representatives and the civil society sector. The problem with the decision made at the government session of September 27, 2022 was that it was made without any consultations with the Council,” says Pirovska.
Budget cuts anger NGO sector
Problems were anticipated before, adds Pirovska, when the 2022 budget, which was sent to parliamentary debate, showed that there was no money for NGOs.
On January 30 last year, we requested a meeting with the then Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and in a press release we indicated that the work of the Council was made impossible by the government’s ignoring of its key recommendations and conclusions, which is its basic competence as an advisory body to the Government. The functioning of the Council raised the financing of the civil sector to a higher level, while the proposed reform in the financing of civil society organizations entered the Government’s program. The Council worked with a horizontal arrangement, which was a recommendation from Brussels, for its greater protection and independence. In the reports of the European Commission, the formation and work of the Council was assessed positively, but more importantly, the civil sector is and should remain a partner of the government in the implementation of activities and policies that are of interest to citizens, adds Pirovska.
Government: The mandate of the members has ended, new ones will be elected
The mandate of the Council members lasts 3 years. They expired in July this year and now new ones need to be elected. Meta.mk asked the Government when the election should take place so that the Council can function again.
“The three-year mandate of the members of the Council for Cooperation between the Government and Civil Society ended on July 30 of this year. Now, a procedure is needed to amend the Decision on the Establishment of the Council, due to the need to harmonize it with the Law on the Organization and Operation of the State Administration Bodies, i.e. with the change of ministries. Then, the General Secretariat will publish a public call for the selection of 16 members of the Council from among civil society organizations,” they told us.
The Government’s work program for the period 2024-2028 briefly outlines the content of cooperation with the civil society sector. It states that the Government will provide money to support civil society organizations that apply for and are beneficiaries of projects from European and other funds. The program also states that a comprehensive reform of the sponsorship system for organizations that perform public activities will be implemented, and it is also stated that the Government will organize an Annual Conference of Civil Society Organizations.
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