Successfully closed the Day of civil society organizations

In the city part on “Skolka” in Skopje, a national forum of Civica Mobilitas titled “Citizens for changes – the Day of civil society organizations” was held.

“It is very important to remember that civil society organizations are the voice of their constituencies, and that the citizens’ trust is the cornerstone of their legality”, the Swiss Ambassador to Macedonia, Her Excellency Sybille Suter Tejada said at the opening of the national forum of Civica Mobilitas, “Citizens for changes – Day of the civil society organizations”. “In the past several years, we could see that civil society organizations have enjoyed greater trust of their constituents, the impact of their actions becomes stronger, and the results of their actions are more sustainable”, she added.

For the Ambassador Tejada, it is a positive sign that at the event we can see young people and citizens from different ethnic communities working together for joint interests. “I am pleased that Civica Mobilitas pays a great attention to building strong cohesion in the society and the country. I hope that this event will inspire the local authorities to establish closer relationships between the community and civil society because of the benefits for the whole community”.

The program covered about 30 events organized simultaneously, as well as performances of many musicians among which the choir Symbiosis, Shurbe, Dzun, Contact 59, RIB, and Tamara Todevska.

By this event, МCIC and Civica Mobilitas joined the campaign “Together we Speak” of CIVICUS – World Alliance for Civic Participation. Within this context, Zvonko Shavreski from Polio Plus and Silvana Penshova, an activist for labor rights, addressed the audience.

At this event, the visitors had the opportunity to be informed about the civil society organizations and their commitments and achievements, as well as to be actively involved in the activities foreseen for that day. The program was rich and diverse. Workshops and video projections were organized in parallel in three tents. In its workshop, Center for Climate Change encouraged the young people to see the waste as a resource, and not only as a polluter; Scout Association promoted the scout movement through many fun activities such as slingshot shooting, maze game, and building towers with sticks and rope; and through several exercises which emphasized the gender, religious, and economic differences to the workshop participants, the representatives of Мultikultura, successfully referred to some stereotypes, which are extremely important to be overcome in our multicultural society.

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights organized a debate about the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination stressing their requests: legal recognition of LGBTI community and gaining unambiguous institutional, legal, and political support. At the public discussion of Lokomotiva several models of development of public spaces in culture, through participatory management by civil sector participation, giving possibility to provide wider participation of the community, were presented.

There were also  rich contents for children comprised of workshops for drawing, making origami, and education in different topics. In the creative corner, the following exhibitions were organized “Refugees in your own country” of Public, “Monsters of Skopje” of the Youth Educational Forum, as well as the new urban action of the Center for Contemporary Art.

The civic forum was visited by a huge number of citizens, who talked to the civil society organizations and took part in the public debates, expressing their opinions and ideas. The forum proved to be successful in bringing closer the civil society organizations to the citizens.