Introduction
European Projects Association (EPA), in collaboration with the Center of Intercultural Dialogue and the Macedonian Green Center presents "Civil Society for European Integration".
It is a project financed of 14 months co-funded by the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA),funding mechanism of the European Union.
Based on the fact that Macedonian civil society organisations are often missing the opportunity to link their advocacy work at the European level, the project is a response to enhance the focus on EU integration among these CSOs.
Objectives
The project main goal is to strengthen the capacity of CSO on Macedonia to support the EU reforms and advocate for EU integration, it is also aimed at reinforcing the cooperation of Macedonian civil society with the relevant European umbrellas as a step to motivate more intensive cooperation and European level representation of the ideas and visions of Macedonian citizens.
Activities
The project main activities are divided over 14 months including the creation of Joint Coordination Project Team, a Multipliers Training containing three modules, five Idea Labs, a study visit to Brussels, Advocacy Initiatives, the development of a CSO Platform, and a conference with the publication of the final project report.
How does it work?
The target groups identified by the projects are firstly the Macedonian CSOs that advocate for marginalized groups (such as Roma communities, disabled persons, LGBT people or ethnic communities), and secondly, CSOs working in rural areas and smaller towns.
The project starts with 20 Macedonian CSOs working with disadvantaged and marginalized groups, or operating in rural areas and small towns. Once they follow this program, the element of peer-learning will be introduced so that in the next phase the additional 20 other CSOs will be involved in Idea Labs. Once this phase is over, in the next one, the group of beneficiaries will double again with over 40 new CSOs that will be involved in the actions. In this way, the capacity building of the civil society will be done not only through external expertise but as well through peer-based learning and working together. With the active advocacy in this field, the CSOs are expected to increase the opportunities for direct involvement in decision-making at local and national level. CSOs advocating for marginalized group will have more opportunity to share their opinion and get involved in the national level coordination.
