REGIONAL ACADEMY FOR DEMOCRACY (RAD)

The project titled Regional Academy for Democracy: Shaping the European Future of the Balkans – Building a New Political Culture and Political Elite is being implemented by the CRPM from January 2013. This is unique initiative in political capacity building in the Western Balkans, supported by the European Union, Balkan Trust for Democracy and International Visegrad Fund. The project Regional Academy for Democracy (RAD) is being implemented by seven civil society organizations, members of the Network of Schools of Political Studies operating under the auspices of the Council of Europe. More info you can find at (http://www.radwb.eu/)

Funded by: European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights regional program

 

 

MILTON FRIEDMAN LEGACY FOR FREEDOM

The project Milton Friedman Legacy for Freedom Day was implemented by the Center for Research and Policy Making in July 2013. This project which is implementing second year in a row was supported by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.

Friedman Legacy Day is one way of remembering Milton Friedman and the impact he and his ideas have had in the world. The Friedman Legacy Day was organized on 31 July, the date on what would have been Milton’s 101st birthday. The project team organized two events in Skopje and Bitola attended by students and guests interested in the Friedman Legacy. Several guest speakers and professors talked about the “Legacy of Milton Friedman in the politics”, “Monetary policy”, “Educational choice” and “Individual freedom”. More info at (https://crpm.org.mk/?p=11665)

Funded by:Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

 

 

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY |MOTHER TERESA|

The School of Public Policy |Mother Theresa| is organized by CRPM from January 2011. The project is part of the network of nineteen schools of political studies organized in cooperation with the Council of Europe. From 2013 in the network of school are included three new schools from Tunisia, Morocco and the Vishegrad group.

From January till December 2013, our organization team organized the following activities: four seminars (weekend courses), thirty five weekly lectures on different topics related with the Public Policy and the World Forum for Democracy which was held in November 2013 at the Council of Europe.

The first three generations of participants in the school of political studies in December 2013 officially established the alumni organization on their own initiative, which is the result of the networking process between them in the past period. More info at (https://crpm.org.mk/?page_id=61)

 

 

SUPPORTING THE RECOM PROCESS

In 2013, the CRPM team continued to work in the field of transitional justice through its participation in the project aimed at enhancing respect for, and compliance with, human rights in post-Yugoslav states, through strengthening the RECOM process aimed at reaching a regional consensus about the past that is based on facts, and at advancing the process of reconciliation between different communities, groups and institutions, including civil society organizations, religious communities and political decision makers, which represent conflicting interests and views on issues related to wars in the Western Balkans in the 1990s. More info at (http://www.zarekom.org/)

Funded by: Council of Europe

 

 

DEVELOPMENT OF FUNCTIONAL MEDIA INSTITUTIONS IN WESTERN BALKANS – A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) in cooperation with Center for Social Research Analitika from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albanian Media Institute from Albania, Democracy for Development from Kosovo completed the project „Development of Functional Media Institutions in Western Balkans – A Comparative Study“ supported by the Regional Research Promotion Programme (RRPP) in the Western Balkans

Funded by: Regional Research Promotion Program

 

 

UNICEF-SITUATION ANALYSIS

During the months of January and February 2013, a team of CRPM researchers conducted focus group discussions with 6 target groups for the aims of UNICEFs Situation Analysis of children, focusing on three main areas: education, health protection and social protection.  Aiming to hear the voices of the marginalized communities, discussions have been conducted with: Roma children and Roma parents from Topaana, children with special needs and parents of children with special needs, rural children and rural parents, Macedonian children and parents from Topaana and GjorcePetrov, and Albanian children and Albanian parents from Tetovo.

Funded by: UNICEF

 

 

GENDER AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY

From April to September 2013, our research teams were dispersed all around the country (Skopje-Aerodrom, Sveti Nikole, Debar, Drugovo, Bogovinje and Topaana) conducting an in-depth qualitative research on the economic mobility prospects of men and women. The purpose of the study was to explore the main factors and processes which have influenced the economic mobility and the middle class, access to the labor market and entrepreneurship opportunities of women and men in Macedonia, and the gender differences in perceptions of the factors and processes. Thirty-six focus group discussions were conducted with employed and unemployed men and women, and female and male youth, along with eighteen life stories, eighteen key informant interviews and six community questionnaires. A comparative study on the issue analyzed, contrasting the results from 7 countries is expected to be released by the World Bank in 2014. In the meantime, some of the quotes from our focus groups found their place on the WB’s blog: http://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/roma-inclusion-agenda-action

Funded by: World Bank

 

STRENGTHENING THE CAPACITIES OF THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT UNITS FOR INTEGRATING THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN LOCAL POLICY MAKING

The CRPM with the support of the City of Skopje has implemented a project for strengthening the capacities of the local self-government units for integrating the principle of equal opportunities and non-discrimination. Training for members of the Council of the City of Skopje and the local administration was conducted in December, 2013. The goal of the training was to adequately equip local councilors and officials with the sufficient skills and knowledge to develop gender expertise and capacity, especially in key local administration units such as planning, budgeting and service delivery. Because local governments need to know how to establish meaningful consultation mechanisms to gather information from a wide range of women at the community level on their gender-specific needs and interests, this project prepared local government staff  to perform gender-sensitive analyses in order to understand the information they collect and devise policy, programs and budget plans accordingly.

 Funded by: City of Skopje

 

 

GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN THE SECURITY SECTOR

Within the framework of the project ‘Building Gender and Security Network in the Western Balkans’ supported by UN Women with funding from the Government of the Kingdom of Norway, the CRPM organized  THE REGIONAL DIALOGUE ON GENDER AND SECURITY: Uniting Governments’ and CSOs’ Efforts in Implementation of  the UNSCR 1325 Agenda. The dialogue among governmental and non-governmental leaders of promotion and implementation of UNSCR 1325 Women, Peace and Security in Western Balkans was held on the 25-26 April, 2013 in Ohrid.  By linking the participants of diverse professional and activists’ experience, we aim to create a platform for an exchange of real life challenges to the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and good practices rooted in the context of this region. Following the dialogue, a regional assessment report was launched which analyzes the main achievements and weaknesses in development and implementation of (national) action plans for implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. The study provides critical analysis on gender and security reform developments in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia.  The report is available here: http://bezbednost.org/upload/document/assessment_report_[web].pdf

Funded by: UNWOMEN

 

 

PUBLIC DIALOGUE FOR THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF ENERGY IN SEE

In 2013, CRPM concluded the second cycle of the Public Dialogue for the Sustainable Use of Energy in SEE. Eight regional debates in all planning regions in Macedonia were organized, at which more than 200 relevant municipal representatives as well as representatives of the business sector and non-governmental organizations who deal with energy and energy efficiency participated. The debates focused on the challenges, obstacles and problems which local governments, companies and NGO’s confront regarding the implementation of energy efficiency activities and projects.

Funded by: GIZ and KAS

MONITORING AND ADVOCACY OF NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT: THE RIGHT TO KNOW IN SEE

The key concept of OGP Initiative is to improve all aspects of accountability through greater openness of public sector operation. The political, administrative, fiscal and social accountability of governments very much depends on the data and information available in various areas of governance and service provision. So the focus on open data makes the OGP Initiative distinct from other programs. However, beside the transparency, the institutional and procedural conditions of accountability are also integral parts of the Initiative.

There is no ideal status of openness, but government accountability might be increased through the following steps:

  • Mapping of open government issues will help
  • Identify commitments  and specify actions
  • Civil society organizations should do monitoring
  • Advocacy goals should be specified and programs have to be launched

Funded by: DG Enlargement, Civil Society Facility

 

 

CONTEXT WATCH 2013

The main aim of the project was detecting the quality and quantity of the services offered by the Macedonian municipalities and the citizen participation in the decision-making processes on a local level. For this purpose, a telephone survey and a desk research have been conducted. The survey aimed at grasping the citizens’ views and opinions on each of four elements transparency, accountability, public services and participation in the decision making process. It had a sample of 1095 respondents, stratified by gender, age group, ethnicity and municipality, and it is representative for the entire population in Macedonia. Results showed the efforts of the municipalities to improve their work is not perceived as honest by the citizens, and in some cases the citizens are not wrong about this. However, it must be noted that the citizens’ lack of interest often prevents some very good ideas of the municipalities to be realized.

Funded by: Swiss Development Cooperation

 

 

CRPM Events

CRPM CONFERENCE: REGIONAL DIALOGUE ON GENDER IN SECURITY FORCES HELD IN OHRID

CRPM with its partners BCSP, KCSS, Zhenezhenama and IDM organized Regional dialogue on gender and security in Ohrid on 25-26 April 2013. The theme of the event was: Uniting government and CSOs in implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia.

The concept of the conference was to have non-conference and therefore most of the sessions were workshops that facilitated dialogue rather than featuring speakers and their lectures. The aim of the Regional dialogue on gender and security was the internalize achievements, challenges and discuss strategies on jointly implementing the UNSCR 1325.

 

 

CRPM CONFERENCE: “SHARING ALTERNATIVES PRACTICES FOR THE UTILIZATION OF CONFISCATED CRIMINAL ASSETS

Under the Project SAPUCCA “Sharing Alternatives Practices for the Utilization of Confiscated Criminal Assets”, funded by the DG- Justice, Freedom and Security-Programme on Prevention of and Fight against Crime (2007-2013)- ISEC, CRPM organized international seminar in Skopje, concerning the issues of fight organized crime and confiscated assets.

SAPUCCA is a European project with the objective to encourage, establish and develop horizontal methods and tools in order to define strategies aimed to prevent and to fight organized crime and the project has yet experimented through the model of Research Action (RA) a participated planning method in order to enhance through the involvement of territorial collectivity the re-utilization of confiscated properties.