A decade dedicated to the development

Overcoming the crisis, reconciliation, recovering and development

In 1993, in the middle of the war that tore apart the ex-SFRY, the World Council of Churches, with its ecumenical presence, was making efforts to reduce the consequences of the fratricidal war in that region. In the system of leading WCC agencies, Macedonia was under the authority of the Dutch Inter-church Aid, whose attention was to establish a long-term presence in our country in order to help the people in need.

In September 1993, DIA opened an office in Skopje. The office had existed until the DIA operational partner in Macedonia, that is the Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation was established.

The MCIC Founding Assembly took place in December 2003.

So, this year is a very important jubilee for the MCIC - 10 years of growth and development for the development of Macedonia. On that occasion, in the next four editions of "Civic World" we will publish two-page texts dedicated to the activities and the development of the Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation.

This time we present the activities that the MCIC implemented in 2000 and 2001.

How can the crisis that the Macedonian country went through be overcome? How to alleviate the consequences of the war and contribute to the overall development of the country - starting from the economic recovery, to the social cohesion, reconciliation of the opposed parties, disarming, rule of justice? And in that context, how to project the personal development through the prism of a new, three-year strategy and the prism of a long-term vision?

In the period between 200-2001, the MCIC had to face all these, as well as other challenges. An, if now, two years after, we recall this period, we can clearly see that the MCIC managed to meet those challenges. Even more than that...

2000: Stabilization after the Kosovo crisis

In the beginning of the new millennium, the MCIC was faced with a question of returning the focus on its main activities - both its personal and the country's development. While in the past (especially in 1999), the focus of the MCIC's activities was directed towards one big task - help in overcoming the refugee crisis caused by the Kosovo conflict and overcoming the consequences of the war in Yugoslavia, 2000 called for an evaluation of the MCIC's mid-term plan and projection of a new periodical strategy. For the MCIC, the intervention for overcoming the refugee crisis meant a huge experience and a chance for self-affirmation, as well as a test for their potentials and capacities. The chance was successfully used, and the tests brought positive results. At the same time, it was a chance to grow and become more mature in the best possible way - through hard work, learning through practice and facing unpredicted challenges. The process of a mid-term evaluation (both internal and external), showed some positive effects.

After a years' break, the activities in the civil society and democracy sector were renewed in 2000. The Programme for Strengthening the NGO and the Programme for Strengthening the Women NGO for Health Education, the pilot projects for dialogue, tolerance and human rights, that were somehow "inherited" from the campaign "Celo e koga ima se" (It is whole when there is all), meant a focused turn towards the domestic civil scene. The civic associations received several trainings. The magazine for women associations "Perspektivi" (Perspectives) was distributed. In that period, the MCIC got recognition from the journalists - ecologists for their role in the protection and promotion for the environment. The activities for supporting the national church kitchens continued. Much attention was paid to the handicapped - one of the most important MCIC target groups. We will mention the project for re-qualification of 20 handicapped people from Prilep, who were employed at "Protection workshop for professional training "Megal", as well as the opening of a Club for Handicapped in Debar by the Roma Association "Mesecina" from Gostivar, with financial support from the MCIC. The MCIC managed to receive money for buying a Braille Alphabet printer for the blind children from "Dimitar Vlahov" Institite in  Skopje.

More than 10 million denars were donated for improving the water supply in the villages Bucin, Presil, Milosevo, Vorboec and Svetomitrani in the Krusevo municipality within the Programme for Water Supply of the Villages. It provided enough clean and healthy drinking water for 2,278 constant and 100 temporary inhabitants of these villages.

The Macedonian Enterprise Development Foundation (MEDF) placed six loans in the form of credits for 788 individual farmers and several small enterprises. It also granted credits, in cooperation with "Moznosti" for the micro-enterprises. Several activities for relating the Skopje-Thessaloniki enterprises were also implemented in the field of economic support, such as consultations, publishing brochures in 4 languages (Macedonian, Greek, German and English), opening a Business Support Centre, the web-site www.thessko.gr , a seminar for entrepreneurs' training. This programme ended at the end of October 2000, but it was not stopped - its realization continued in a new institutional home - the Office of the German Economy in Skopje.

At the end of the year, the MCIC in cooperation with 13 other civic associations, organized the first NGO reception in order to pay contribution to the civic associations for their success in dealing with the two previous, rough years.

2001: Recovering and going further

The Macedonian crises meant a disruption of every kind - the country was faced with an armed conflict within its territory and then came the peace process and the reconciliation. Many things in the country were put on test, and the MCIC had to adjust its work to the new conditions.

In 2001, the MCIC initiated the new, three-year mid-term period that will last by the end of 2003. In accordance with the new conditions, some significant programme changes were introduced - from the introduction of new programmes to the alternation of the existing ones.

MCIC was one of the initiators for stopping the conflict. Some public events took place, such as signing the Declaration for Non-Violent Solution of Conflicts, in cooperation with several other organizations (the Centre for Multicultural Understanding and Cooperation, El Hilal, "Mesecina", the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Nansen Dialogue Centre, etc. However, when the conflict occurred, one of the most important activities in that year was the humanitarian help. MCIC was the first organization that gave a hand to the displaced people from the regions of crisis. A humanitarian convoy was organized in cooperation with the organizations Milosrdie, El Hilal, the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Islamic Religious Community, which gave an urgent support to the inhabitant of mixed-nationality municipalities Vratnica and Sipkovica. Packages with food and hygiene products were distributed to the collective centres for the displaced, water - supplying systems were repaired, a brochure for the displaced was published and a web-site was opened dedicated to the humanitarian help and stabilization of the displaced condition.

The Programme for Enabling the Communities provided construction of water-supplying systems in 15 local communities. At the same time, the local inhabitants received training, technical and institutional support. The Small Development Initiatives Programme covered 6,600 inhabitants from the municipality Mogila and the village Bardovci. A Computer Centre was opened in Mogila. In that period, the MCIC published several important publications: the Civic World magazine, the Address Book of Civic Associations in Macedonia, as well as the collection of projects of the civic organizations in Macedonia.

In this period, the Macedonian Enterprise Development Foundation covered 1,985 beneficiaries. Loans were given to 443 individual farmers and 27 small enterprises, as well as trainings, services for preparation of business-plans, information and grants. Towards the middle of 2001, MEDF started a new programme in cooperation with the Canadian Centre for International Studies - CECI, aimed for the rural businesses support and their easier integration in the market economy. In this period, after a two-year work, the MCIC terminated all humanitarian activities in Kosovo. The Programme for building relations in the community was directed towards the peaceful coexistence of citizens in the multicultural Macedonian society. A training course was provided (in cooperation with MNNI - Mediation Network for Northern Ireland) for mediation and conflict management - skills that were more than necessary to the citizens in post-conflict Macedonia.

Prepared by: Marijana Ivanova