On 26th September, the Mobile Resource Centre held a meeting with the local organisations in the municipality of Dojran. The organisations were informed about the opportunities and services offered by the Civic Resource Centre. Local organisations expressed the greatest interest in strengthening their capacities for writing project applications and implementing projects, as well as in ways to motivate and involve young people in the work of their organisations.
Representatives of the organisations stated that cooperation among the organisations themselves and with the municipality is at a satisfactory level, and some of them boasted that they also cooperate with similar organisations from the region and beyond. However, the small number of active organisations in the municipality includes sports and cultural associations, the pensioners’ association, the mountaineering club, and the women’s association. There is a lack of interest among young people in volunteering and getting involved in the work of the local organisations.
The municipality provides financial support to local organisations, but mainly, these funds end up with sports associations. The public call opens in December, and the decision is made by the municipal council. According to the Mayor of the Municipality of Dojran, Mr. Ango Angov, the interest of the organisations is weak, and they are not active in the municipality. He also confirmed the lack of interest among young people and pointed out several activities planned for the next period to motivate and actively involve young people in the municipality. The meeting with the mayor also emphasized the municipality’s obligation under the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policy to establish functional youth councils, appoint a youth officer in the municipality, and open youth centres.
This event was organised under the project “EU Support to the Civil Society Resource Centre – Phase 2,” funded by the European Union and implemented by the National Foundation for Civil Society Development, Civic Resource Centre, Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation (MCIC), Media Plus, Stip, and the Association for Democratic Initiatives – ADI, Gostivar.
