ECNL supported Dr. Natasha Gaber-Damjanovska, Macedonian expert in CSO legislation, to develop a study of the Macedonian legal framework and practices concerning participation of citizens and CSOs in policy and decision making process.
The first draft of the study was presented at a conference on the topic organized by ECNL in December 2007. The analysis was published in March 2008. The study is based on a research of existing laws and regulations affecting public participation in policy and decision making processes. It also summarizes results from interviews with CSOs, throughout the country, which reflect on their experiences, current practices and challenges CSOs face in these processes. The study concludes that the current system provides “guarantees” but it does not “oblige” state institutions to make these guarantees effective.
There is a lack of clear rules or guidance for the state bodies on how to involve citizens and CSOs, how to consult and when to include citizens and CSOs in these processes. CSOs are considered and mentioned in the numerous laws and documents, which underline their role in the process of participation-consultation in the course of passing laws and decisions. However, the mechanism to ensure that CSOs are indeed consulted is lacking. Part of CSOs are dissatisfied from the lack of clear possibility to act and contribute meaningfully, and feel their participation is sometimes limited to ad hoc interventions with the aim to decrease potential negative effect of some provisions. Therefore, they feel the need for a clear legal framework for participation which would ultimately ensure that adopted laws are of higher quality and reflect the needs of targeted groups. The study outlines concrete recommendations for legislative reform to ensure that citizens and CSOs right to participate are not only guaranteed but effectively exercised and implemented.
The study was developed and published under the Civil Society Strengthening Project, supported by USAID/Macedonia, and implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities, in cooperation with ECNL, CIRa and the Macedonian Institute for Media.
Study on CSO Participation in Macedonia