Training Inspired the Participants to Ask the Municipality of Delchevo about Some Election Promises

A total of 19 representatives of 14 CSOs from Delchevo were part of the training “Law on Free Access to Information of Public Character” that took place on 23 December 2022 at the offices of KHAM Delchevo. With the skills obtained at the training the capacity of the CSOs to use this tool is strengthened, as it can provide them more information important for their work. It also enables them to argument their advocacy in the interest of their target group.

The main promise to CSOs in the election period was the creation of a strategy for cooperation with CSOs for the period of 2022 – 2025. Apart from this, the local government has promised that it would increase the funds intended for support of the organizations that would be allocated in a transparent way. This is a reason for the reactions of the participants at the training that there has been no call for financing of CSOs for two years, while, on the other hand, the Municipal Council allocates funds to some organizations from time to time.

Before this training, the participants were not aware about the possibilities provided by the access to information of public character. Surprised by this information, Persa Stojanova from the association “Pijanec Voice” asked: “So, I can ask the Municipality next week how much money and to which CSOs was allocated in the period of January to the end of November 2022?”. The thinking of activist Haris Jasharov was similar: “So, I have the right to ask for a copy of invoices for rehabilitation of my street?”

Everybody agreed that this tool was useful both for the organizations and the citizens. They concluded that it was necessary to make some pressure on the municipality to fulfil their promises. KHAM Delchevo and the participants agreed that the next two trainings “Budget Monitoring” and “Open Finances” should take place immediately after the holidays.

The implementation of this debate schools is enabled by the project Support to Electoral Reforms in North Macedonia of the Swiss Government, implemented by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (ИФЕС), while the grants are administered by the Macedonian Center for International Support (MCIC).