FORUM

Are we transparent?

This time, for the Forum on our web-site, we chose the subject "transparency", which has been popular in the world of politics and economy for a long time. We ask you and we invite you to give honest, even self-critical answers to the question: Are we transparent? Are the NGO open enough and are they prepared to present their activities, finances, projects and information publicly in any time?

How much do we exchange information for our activities? How open do we talk about them? Or, do we hide them behind the veil of "confidentiality", fearing the competition, abuse or something else?

We invite you to send your replies at the open Forum on our 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 NGO or another organization, state its name as well.

In order to encourage this forum discussion, we asked some people active in the civic sector in Macedonia for their opinions on this subject:

 

Besim Nebiu:
In my opinion, transparency has two aspects: one of them is announcing the NGO financial data, and the other one is announcing the NGO results and activities. I think that there is a progress within the NGOs in Macedonia in the latter aspect, that is, spreading information and announcing the results from the organizations' work. However, there is no practice within the NGOs to announce the information regarding their financial operation, which strongly influences the NGO public image. I consider it to be directly related to the public perception of the NGO sector. I think that it is not only necessary to have good practice, but also to create a certain mechanism of (self) regulation of this aspect from the NGO sector work.  

Biljana Stevanovska, ORT:
Generally, according to the experiences from the NGO sector work so far, I think that the transparency in the process of giving information to one another has not been reached yet. There is awareness for cooperation, but there is also a fear of competition. In that respect, I think that there is a non-transparency among the NGOs themselves. On the other hand, in their financial operation, the NGOs are more transparent. They give information in public regarding the grants and the NGO financial condition is not hidden. 

Rosano Colakov, Komaja:
Of course we are transparent. For Komaja, and I believe for other organizations as well, transparency is the sense of existence. Openness to people and to each other should be the basic way of work for all NGOs . We are open for cooperation and open for information. We have demonstrated our transparency many times, with public performances, open activities and cooperation with other non-governmental and governmental organizations through different projects.

 

From the last month debate
NGO and the poverty - what can we do?

Last month at the Forum we open the question about the NGO sector role in the reduction of poverty. We invited you to think about the ways in which non-governmental organizations can contribute in the reduction of that huge problem in our country. What can we, as NGO do?

 

Aleksandar Krzaloski, MCIC:
NGO can help in overcoming the poverty, among other things, by various trainings (including requalifications) as well as raising the awareness with the poor (due to the NGO closeness to the poor as a target group) that they should do something more for themselves as people (from organization, through motivation and practical activity).

 

Maja Gligoroska:
Poverty is a very complex problem which has a historic, psychological, social, ethic, political and many other dimensions which should not be left to the government to solve them all. In the solution of this problem we should involve all segments of the society, citizens and NGOs, of course, together with the business-sector. I think that the NGOs are a very good example for reducing the problem of unemployment, which is one of the most important aspects of poverty. Many people managed to find jobs through the NGO, or provide a certain kind of existence. In my opinion, it is a very positive thing. NGO showed that they can find assets, investments and donations, hoe to find job. It is something that the business-sector can learn from them. NGO sector knows how to conduct projects and how to work by western standards, since their main donors are foreign organizations. That experience should be used for reducing the general poverty in the country - and here, I mean literally the poverty, but also the poverty of ideas and the poverty of spirit and understanding the modern way of work.