On June 30, 2025, an online introductory training was held for the selected grantees of the call for Action Grants in Support of the 2025 Local Elections. The event trained representatives of the organisations that will implement projects aimed at strengthening democracy in the country through an improved electoral process with a focus on increased transparency, credibility and inclusiveness.
With a total fund of approximately 110,000 euros, these grantees will contribute to the strengthening of civil society organisations and citizens, through their active participation and engagement in the monitoring of the Local Elections planned for October 2025. In addition to monitoring the election process, these grantees will work to address various challenges, including monitoring hate speech, hybrid threats in the digital space, monitoring public procurement by municipalities in the election year, but will also focus on specific target groups such as women, youth, the inclusion of minority groups such as Roma, rural communities, people with disabilities, etc.
“The goal of our project is to contribute to increased transparency and accountability in local government by monitoring public procurement expenditures in municipalities during election years, reducing the opportunities for misuse of public funds to gain electoral advantage,” said German Filkov, president of the Centre for Civic Communications in Skopje.
The project consists of several components, he added: “Improved transparency through monitoring and reporting on trends in public spending in municipalities, which reduces the possibilities for their misuse in elections; Increased public awareness through better informing citizens and the media about public procurement costs in the election year, which leads to greater public scrutiny and accountability; Increased media engagement through media reports and coverage of findings on public procurement trends that contribute to balanced and fact-based discussions on election year spending and Increased accountability for vulnerable categories by assessing whether increased procurement improves the living and working conditions of women, youth and marginalized groups, which contributes to improved accountability in the allocation of public funds in relation to these people.”
The Institute for Social Change InSoK from Tetovo will implement its project: “Fair Elections - Opportunities for Smaller Communities” in partnership with the Association for Rights and Humanity INTEGRA NAU from Skopje. “The project aims to improve transparency, inclusiveness and accountability of the local elections in 2025, by reducing electoral manipulation and strengthening the electoral rights of smaller communities and vulnerable groups,” said Samet Skenderi from InSoK. “Within the framework of this project, which we will implement in Tetovo, Shuto Orizari, Kumanovo, Shtip and Bitola, we will work on increasing the awareness of citizens, especially from smaller communities and vulnerable groups; strengthening election monitoring; providing legal protection through the establishment of two legal advice centres to assist citizens with an emphasis on representatives of smaller communities and vulnerable groups, as well as improving media transparency through monitoring election reporting and identifying disinformation,” he stressed.
More details about all eleven action grants in support of the 2025 local elections are available on the website of the Civic Resource Centrе.
At the training, grantees were introduced to the key rules and procedures for implementing projects funded by the European Union, such as financial operations and the necessary supporting documents for financial reporting, procurement of goods and services within the project, as well as monitoring and reporting processes, communication and visibility.
The action grants in support of the 2025 local elections are part of the project "EU Support to the Civil Society Resource Centre - Phase 2" funded by the European Union, and implemented by the National Civil Society Development Foundation Civic Resource Centre, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, Media Plus, Shtip and the Association for Democratic Initiatives - ADI, Gostivar.
