FINANCE THINK – Institute for Economic Research and Policies, Skopje

Total budget: 5,600,000 MKD

Implementation period: 1 July 2024 – 31 October 2026

Specific theme: Education

Partners:

Association Macedonian Centre for Civic Education (MCGO) – Skopje
Association of Citizens Youth Educational Forum – Skopje
Association for the Development and Promotion of Democracy, Media and Journalism Standards and Freedom of Expression in the Republic of Macedonia 360 DEGREES Skopje
Macedonian Medical Association – Skopje

Constituents:

Citizens residing in the Skopje region; youth from the Skopje region; education, health, economic, social, and youth policy decision-makers (MoE, BRO, MoH, IH, MLSP, AVR, MF, ME, etc.); political parties; civil organisations located in the Skopje region; economic journalists and experts located in the Skopje region.

For the project supported by Civica Mobilitas:

Civic Oversight: Bridging the gap between political promises and realisations in four development areas

ACTION DESCRIPTION

The action is designed to address identified issues related to the insufficient awareness among stakeholders regarding the importance of promoting credible, realistic, and feasible promises from political parties and their subsequent consistent implementation, as well as the inadequate involvement of citizens in identifying needs and problems in the four development areas. At the same time, the action focuses on areas crucial for societal development: education, health, social protection, and the economy, with a specific target group – youth. The activities are designed to directly influence citizens’ awareness of the realism of promises made, while also providing a tool for monitoring the implementation of those promises. In this way, citizens can exert pressure for political accountability. Indirectly, the mapped and prioritised policies for monitoring and the designed interactive platform are activities that will create changes that will be felt by citizens at the national level.

AIMS AND OUTCOMES

General aim:

To promote deliberative democracy in reforms in key development areas (socio-economic, education, and health) with a focus on youth, by engaging various actors in the prioritisation process of reforms and encouraging political accountability through monitoring the fulfilment of political promises.

Specific aims:

To identify to what extent politically defined priorities align with citizens’ priorities.
To create evidence of the gaps between political promises and needs, as well as the gaps in the realisation of political promises.
To promote political accountability and strengthen citizens’ awareness by monitoring the implementation of political promises using the Economic Compass as a digital tool.

OUTCOMES

Identified citizens’ priorities for reforms in four development areas: education, health, social protection, and economy, with a focus on youth.
A monitoring framework established with identified political promises and strategically set goals in the four areas and youth policies.
The digital tool Economic Compass upgraded to track promises regarding implementation in development areas, and to enable interactive civic engagement for identifying priorities.
Media and policy makers enrich public discourse through critical, reasoned, and lively debate on the feasibility, outcomes, and costs of political promises in development areas.

ACTIVITIES

Deliberative surveying – Surveys with at least 1000 respondents on various developmental aspects: key issues, needs, priorities, etc.
Thematic focus groups with citizens in the Skopje region.
Prioritising priorities, taking into account needs, the size of target groups, economy, and effectiveness.
Establishing a measurement framework for monitoring development goals and outcomes with identified political promises and strategically set goals.
Delphi questionnaire to achieve expert consensus on unquantified goals and outcomes.
Monitoring fulfilments, collecting data, and creating evidence.
Preparation of four policy briefs.
Upgrading the online platform “Economic Compass” with three additional areas (education, health, and youth).
Enhancing an interactive tool for citizens’ promises-expectations.
Panel debate/Forum “Promises-Priorities-Implementation”.
Four analytical stories in the 360-degree programme.
Visual tools: videos, charts, infographics, GIFs.