On October 29, 2025, the Civic Resource Centre organized an open day with civil society organisations and activists from the Pelagonia region, as part of the visit to the Mobile Resource Centre. The event was held in Bitola and aimed to bring the services of the Civic Resource Centre closer to local organisations, to inform them about current developments in civil society, but also to initiate an open discussion on the key needs and challenges facing organisations in the region.
The focus of the meeting was on the work of the Council for Cooperation between the Government and Civil Society, its competencies, composition and its role as an advisory body to the Government. The Council's work program for 2026 was presented to the attendees and they had the opportunity to provide their suggestions and comments on the content as well as proposals for challenges and initiatives to be considered by the Council members. Valentina Velichkovska, Emilia Gjeroska, Dragica Vuckovic and Monika Ilioska Kantardzioska, all members of the Council from the ranks of civil society organisations, opened a dialogue with the attendees and invited them to get involved in the work of the Council.
"The Council is here to strengthen the connection between the Government and the citizens. As an advisory body, we are the voice that should remind that policies are made for the people — and with the people! With the support of local organisations, we are fighting for the voice from the field to reach the Government and turn into real changes." — said Emilia Gjeroska, from the Citizens' Association for the Advancement of Development Processes Pro Local Bitola and a member of the Council for Cooperation between the Government and Civil Society.
The participants had the opportunity to actively engage in the discussion, share experiences and point out specific challenges from their daily work that could be on the agenda of the next Council sessions.
One of the challenges highlighted by most of the organisations present was the treatment of CSOs by banks and the imposition of a series of administrative requirements and obligations on organisations that often differ from one bank to another. Pece Trajkovski, from the Center for Strategic Research and Analysis, Bitola, pointed out several challenges, such as the long waiting time for receiving confirmation from the Ministry of European Affairs for registering projects/donations in the Central Database for Foreign Aid for the purposes of exemption from value added tax, as well as the limited possibility to submit a request for issuing a decision for registration of a taxpayer for projects only at the Skopje office of the Public Revenue Office.
The Mobile Resource Centre continues with regular monthly visits across the country, offering support and information to local CSOs, with a special focus on underserved municipalities.
The visit to the Mobile Resource Centre 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 Civil Society Development Foundation Civic Resource Centre, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC), Media Plus, Shtip and the Association for Democratic Initiatives - ADI, Gostivar.
