Civic Impulse #4: Monthly Review of Grantee Activities

April 2025

The persistence of the CSOs to make concrete, real changes for the citizens was confirmed in April

The month started with a consultative workshop in Skopje, where the general practitioners of family medicine discussed the possibilities, needs and potential obstacles for their involvement in the implementation of the Screening Programme for Cervical Cancer. The doctors agreed that they should have an active role in the programme – via health care education of women, taking PAP or HPV smears, as well as via continuous cooperation with the gamily gynaecologists from the same region. Their role is especially important in the rural and remote areas, as well as in municipalities where there are no family gynaecologists. The workshop was part of the project “Promoted Health Care Rights of Girls, Women and Vulnerable Groups”.

On the occasion of 7th April, the World Health Day which is marked this year under the motto “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Future”, HERA, along with the Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women (ESE), the Initiative for the Rights of the Women from Shuto Orizari and the Association of the People Living with HIV – STRONGER TOGETHER, shows the importance of the state investments in health care prevention and quality and accessible health care, as the basis for dignified life. The four organizations sent clear demands to the institutions. From accessible gynaecological protection and strengthened patronage teams, to a bigger budget for preventive programmes and creating evidence based policies, at the same time announcing continuous monitoring until the budget rebalance is adopted.

Parallelly to this, in the Pelagonija region, the Centre for Civic Initiatives – Prilep organised lectures on the topic of ”Prevention for Better Health” in the municipalities of Mogila, Novaci and Bitola, where they spoke with the local population on the topics of diet, physical activity, mental health and especially about techniques for stress management.

In the environmental fields, the Center for Environmental Resources, Eco Logic and the association Florozon, apart from the regular workshops with students from Skopje schools in the Biotechnological Laboratory, also marked the Day of the Planet Earth this month. On 22nd April, they started the first Scientific Caravan at “Kliment Ohridski” primary school in Drachevo. As part of the project, they organised a practical demonstration of biowaste experiments, and the student actively participated and learned about the importance of sustainable waste management.

In the meantime, the Centre for Climate Changes, together with their partners, completed the screening visits to 15 municipalities in the Northeast, Southeast and Vardar regions. The meetings were intended for strengthening the cooperation among the municipalities and the civil sector, focusing on the implementation of the Green Agenda guidelines. The initiated visit of Kumanovo representatives to Prilep was especially important; in the field, they reviewed the long-term practices of communal waste selection and they visited the new sorting facility which is being built.

April also pulsated with youth energy. The Center for Education and Development (CED) from Tearce held a training in civic engagement with their partners at Europe House in Tetovo. The training was implemented with the young people from the Polog region as part of the project

“Youth Empowerment: Stimulating Civic Engagement and Entrepreneurship in the Polog Region”. Around 20 motivated young people discussed about civic engagement, researching the concept of volunteering and comparing how it is regulated in different contexts. At the end of the month, KRIK implemented a three-day training “Green Advocacy via Green Social and Youth Work” in Veles, where the participants were acquainted with the concepts of youth work, green advocacy and green social work. Via an interactive programme, they developed their own green initiatives that will be implemented in all eight planning regions in the country.

The combination of health efforts, green innovation, women’s economic empowerment and youth activism once again showed that CSOs are the movers of the society, turning the local needs into national priorities and specific results.