DIALOGUE – CENTRE FOR DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY – PRILEP

Total budget: MKD 328.000

Timeframe: 5 months

CONSTITUENTS

Constituents of the project are the Macedonian emigrants abroad, citizens of R.N. Macedonia, citizens of the Municipality of Prilep, the local self-government of the Municipality of Prilep, CSOs, political parties, government institutions.

ON THE PROJECT SUPPORTED BY CIVICA MOBILITAS

Emptied nest

BACKGROUND

The failure of the 2011 census has left R.N. Macedonia without official population statistics for almost twenty years. Still, from various comparative data one can conclude that there is massive emigration of the population in the last decades.

The State Statistical Office shows a very small number of emigrants (less than three thousand), while the World Bank informed that more than 500,000 citizens had left the country from the 1950es until 2013, while Eurostat calculates that more than 100,000 Macedonians have become European citizens by passport. One of the cities where such accelerated emigration is visible is Prilep, where, according to the census there were 69,704 people in 2002. There is almost no home from which at least one member has not emigrated in the last two decades. This emigration remains unregistered because the citizens do not report to the police nor the embassies of the R.N. Macedonia in the countries where they immigrate.

It is necessary to make an analysis of the experience of the people who have already emigrated with respect to their civic participation at local and national level before their leaving. What was the response of the institutions of the system, what were the main obstacles and what would be the possible solutions. It is necessary to transmit the messages to the citizens and encourage them to use the tools for participation in policy creation, especially by using the local and foreign funds for the CSOs.

GOALS AND RESULTS

Goal: Raising the awareness with the Macedonian citizens on the problem with massive emigration from the country.

Objective:

Increasing the civic participation in the R.N. Macedonia as a means to decrease emigration and have faster Euro integration.

RESULTS

1. Reasons for the massive emigration of the Macedonian population detected;
2. Citizens of the Municipality of Prilep are educated and informed about the ways of direct involvement in the public policy creation at local level;
3. Starting a debate on the issue with massive emigration from the country.

ACTIVITIES

1. Public opinion research of the emigrants on the problem with massive emigration;
2. Seminar on “Ways of involvement of the citizens in the public policy creation at local level”;
3. Campaign on the importance of civic participation in the public policy creation to decrease the massive emigration and faster Euro Integration.

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