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Can the citizens realize their right of public participation in the official decision-making?
We ask another At the "Civic World" Forum, which is as relevant as the ones before: how much can the citizens and the NGOs in our country realize their right of participation in the authorities work? How much public participation is there in the creation of country's policy, in the adoption of legal acts, decisions and solving important questions of mutual interest? Do the government bodies take into consideration the public opinion in the decision-making processes? Are there enough public debates, does the government organize tribunes and discussions on key issues? And if it does, how public and transparent they really are for every citizen?
We invite you to send your replies at the open Forum on the "Civic World" web-sites, at the well-known addresses: www.graganskisvet.org.mk and www.civicworld.org.mk. Please write your full name and surname, and if you are a member of an organization, state its name as well. Just to remind you, on our web-sites you can find the questions, announced in the previous numbers of "Civic World".
In order to encourage the discussion on this very important subject for the civil society in Macedonia, we asked an NGO representative to give her opinion:
Lidija Kekenovska - Pavik, Women Center
For the ordinary citizen or an NGO representative, it is almost impossible to enter the circles that have the decision-making power. Generally, I think that the citizens can express publicly their opinion, but not directly influence a decision or a policy. One positive example for the civic influence is what OSIMF did in the pre-election period with their campaign "The Power is in the People", but such examples are incidental and rare.
From the last month debate
Are we transparent?
Last month, at the "Civic World" Forum we chose the subject "transparency", which has been relevant for some time in the world of politics and economy. We asked you and we invite you to give honest, even self-criticizing replies to the question: Are we transparent? Are the NGOs open enough and are they ready to present their activities, finances, projects and information in public at any time?
How much do we exchange information about our activities? How open do we talk about them? Or, do we hide then under the veil of "confidentiality", fearing competition, abuse or something else?
We invite you to send your replies at the open Forum on the "Civic World" web-sites, at the well-known addresses: www.graganskisvet.org.mk and www.civicworld.org.mk. Please write your full name and surname, and if you are a member of an organization, state its name as well. Here is an opinion on this subject:
Irena Angelova, UMWO:
I think that the NGOs are transparent. Many of them publish annual reports and their projects, activities and grants are published. Anyway, the NGOs are much more transparent than the governmental sector - concerning the financial issues and the activities. The NGOs organize many seminars, trainings, campaigns offering their knowledge and information to the others.
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