Day of the CSOs –An interactive get-to-know event in the heart of Skopje

The Civica Mobilitas Festival “Day of the CSOs” was held on the Skenderbeg Square and the Park Ibni Pajko on 14 September 2019.

“I sincerely hope that this event today will contribute towards stronger links and bigger trust towards CSOs”, said H.E . Sybille Suter Tejada, the Ambassador of Switzerland in Macedonia in hers opening speech and add that the presence of citizens “in so big number is clear sign that citizens realize more and more that CSOs are the best avenue to make their voice hard in the constant fight for their rights.” Apart from the ambassador Suter Tejada, welcoming speeches had Ljubica Jancheva, President of the Council of the City of Skopje; Zahir Bekteshi, President of the Council of the Municipality of Chair; and Klimentina Ilijevski, Executive Director of the CSO Public.

The program was consisted of more than 80 parallel events, as well as performances by the Dance studio “Eat the Beat”, fashion show by 15 students from Debar (Center for Sustainable Community Development – CSCD Debar), Goce SAF and Strajk.

The visitors had the opportunity to inform themselves about the civil organizations, their advocacies and achievements, as well as their chance to get involved in the activities of the day. The program was rich and diverse.

In the creative corner, Coalition “SEGA” organized a workshop on creating notepads from paper, so the youngsters went home with notepads in different shapes such as dragons, birds, smileys etc. “Creative Macedonia” held a quilling workshop where the participants learned how to create filigree art from paper. Also, “Artelj” had a pom-pom workshop for the youngest participants and they created keychains, hairpins, hairbands and animals only using wool. “Narodna Tehnika” showed the participants how to construct cars, planes, houses and trucks from paper.

The educational corner had a very diverse programme as well. “Biovita” from Kavadarci taught the participants the meaning of organic production, as well as the difference between organic, conventional and GMO production. The workshop was held by organic grape producers, wine producers from organic grapes, beekeepers etc. “Youth Can” held a quiz with more than 20 people answering on a variety of question on topics such as geography, food, sport and movies. The winners were awarded books. Also, “SCOOP” showed their investigative video stories as a presentation of their

In the youth corner, Geshtalt Centre Mladen Kostic “Aspekti” taught the participants in their training how to adapt during life changes. Similarly, “SOS Children’s Village” had a training on how to cope with loss, through a symbolic game with laces. “Multikultura” from Tetovo held a creative workshop with their quiz Vingo in which the participants were answering questions on civil society.

Apart from these, the CSOs in the park Ibni Pajko were organizing plenty of activities as well, ranging from quizzes, workshops on bicycle maintenance, handicrafts, games for young mountaineers, scout games, t-shirt exhibition, environmental monopoly, first aid, planting trees, HIV testing etc.

More than 1000 people attended the festival. For some of them, this was a unique chance to interact with the CSOs, share their thoughts and ideas, and even to join some of the initiatives. For others that were coming from the civil sector, it was a great chance for networking and finding potential partners. The participating organizations expressed their satisfaction because the event helped them increase their visibility and some of them even mobilized new members on the spot.