Improved civil society environment for the first time in six years

More than 80 CSO representatives met on 9 July 2019, to discuss the 2018 Report on Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development in North Macedonia.

“The fact that Switzerland is continuing to support civil society speaks for itself about our dedication to create a stable environment for civil society, but it is even more important that the government and other institutions work in that direction as well”- said Ambassador Sybille Suter Tejada. She added that these positive signs speak about a changed philosophy within the state institutions and that she feels optimistic about the civil society future beyond the Swiss support.

The environment for the civil society in 2018 was significantly improved. The positive data is very important since after six years of monitoring, this is the first report with registered accomplishment contributing towards civil society support and development”, said Simona Ognenovska, one of the authors of the Report.

According to the Report, the basic legal freedoms are legally guaranteed and respected in practice. In this area, the most notable development was closing the inspections for 22 CSOs, which started at the end of 2016. The area of Framework for CSO financial viability and sustainability was partially improved, and the key changes occurred in the Profit Tax Law, where the CSOs are no longer subjects of the Law.

The most significant improvements were detected in the area of CSO-state relationships. Those include the establishment and effective functioning of the Council for Cooperation of the Government with CSOs, as well as the implementation of the Strategy for Cooperation with and Development of Civil Society 2018-2020.

One of the speakers in the panel was Gordana Gapik Dimitrovska, state counselor in the Ministry of Information Society and Administration, and co-chairman of the Council for Cooperation. She talked about CSO inclusion in the policy making, and she presented the results from the first Annual Report for Assessing the Consultations in 2018.

In addition, Biljana Spasovska from BCSDN shared the regional experiences regarding the shrinking space that CSOs on the Balkan are facing. She mentioned the negative campaigning against CSOs, activists and journalists, as well as the civil society resistance like some kind of counterbalance to the situation.

The recommendations in the 2018 Report on Enabling Environment include necessary changes in the Criminal Code, which treats CSO representatives like official persons; putting the current Law on Lobbying out of force; as well as simplifying the registration procedures for projects exempt from VAT. Regarding the expectations in the area of direct state support, it is necessary to establish a Civil Society Development Fund; to provide co-financing for projects supported by foreign donors; to switch from the current practice of yearly funding to multi-annual organizational and project support; and to increase the transparency, efficiency and accountability in the process of distributing funds.