Local organisations, activists, and representatives of the Municipality of Vevchani met with the team of the Civic Resource Center (CRC) on 22nd March 2024 at the Multicultural Center in Vevcani. The participants were informed about the opportunities offered by the CRC as well as the civil society developments at the local and national level. This visit of the Mobile Resource Centre brings the CRC closer to local organisations in different municipalities and provides an opportunity to discuss the needs and challenges that organisations face in their operations.
A large portion of the active local organisations in the municipality of Vevchani work in the field of environment protection, ecology, cultural development, protection of tradition, natural and cultural heritage. Local organisations have different sources of funding for their activities such as individual donations, corporate donations, membership fees, funds from the municipality, and foreign donations. Attendees shared examples of individual and corporate giving to local organisations for organising cultural and traditional events. Part of the attendees agreed with the statement that donors are interested in donating for the development of the region, but the organisations do not have sufficient capacity for developing project idea and preparing project application. The organisations asked for support from the CRC for conducting training on this topic.
The representatives from the municipal administration emphasized that the municipality provides space for some of the local organisations such as the mountain lodge, and furthermore local organisations can request premises for organising ad-hoc events and meetings. However, the municipality does not have enough facilities to provide permanent offices for all local organisations. In the municipal budget, funds have been allocated for financing activities of local organisations mainly related to cultural heritage and tradition, however, the municipality does not announce an open call for financing activities of civil society organisations. The visit of the Mobile Resource Centre was organised under the project “EU Support of the Civil Society Resource Center – Phase 2”, financed by the European Union, and implemented by the National Civil Society Development Foundation the Civic Resource Center, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, Media Plus, Shtip and Association for Democratic Initiatives – ADI, Gostivar.
