Citizens’ Priorities and New Local Administrations

on Dec 17, 21 • by NVO Infocentar •

FORUM FOR CIVIL DIALOGUE – 2021 LOCAL ELECTIONS On the eve of the Local Elections 2021, six partner civil society organizations (NGO Info-center, Youth Cultural Center-Bitola, Community Center of the Municipality of Struga, Glasen Tekstilec, Multicultura and Idea SEE), in cooperation with three other civil society organizations – Spektar, Civic Initiative of women from Sveti [&hellip...

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FORUM FOR CIVIL DIALOGUE – 2021 LOCAL ELECTIONS

On the eve of the Local Elections 2021, six partner civil society organizations (NGO Info-center, Youth Cultural Center-Bitola, Community Center of the Municipality of Struga, Glasen Tekstilec, Multicultura and Idea SEE), in cooperation with three other civil society organizations – Spektar, Civic Initiative of women from Sveti Nikole and the Center for Media Development, formed the Forum for Civil Dialogue.

The main goal of this Forum was to encourage the direct participation of citizens in the public discussion, in identifying local problems and needs, as well as in determining the main priorities in their local communities. The forum realized a series of activities that included nine municipalities: Centar, Bitola, Stip, Tetovo, Struga, Kavadarci, Kriva Palanka, Sveti Nikole and Demir Hisar.

Through 18 consultative meetings with the citizens, 9 public debates and meetings with the candidates for mayors and candidates for councilors, 9 meetings with the elected mayors and councilors in the local self-governments, as well as online polls, the Forum covered the opinions and views of over 500 citizens who identified a total 250 priorities in several areas.

The main priorities that the citizens expect to be solved by the new local authorities are:

Construction of parking towers and underground parking lots and ending traffic chaos

conservation and/or recovery of landfills
Efficient waste management
Construction of waste-water processing facilities and collector systems.
Establishing communal order with communal wardens and communal police
Adoption of new general and detailed urban plans.
Establishing public green spaces and parks.
Construction of pedestrian/walking and cycling lanes.
Construction of urban streets and local roads in the rural areas.
Reconstruction and construction of the water supply and sewage collection networks.
Protection of rivers from pollution and regulation of river banks.
Attracting investments for local economic development.
Promotion of entrepreneurship and creation of social enterprises.
Financial stimulus for the youth and efficient youth policies (support for young entrepreneurs, scholarships for talented students).
More efficient, transparent and accountable municipal offices and authorities.
Regular live broadcasts (using online streaming technology) of sessions of municipal councils.
Greater participation of citizens in creation and implementation of local policies.
Increased financial support for socially vulnerable families and citizens.
Revival of local rural and urban communities.
Construction of homes of the elderly.
Construction of sports and recreation facilities.
Resolving the problem of stray dogs.

Read the full report on the work of the Forum, as well as the specific priorities by municipalities. The Report is available in Macedonian language.

The Forum for Civic Dialogue was conducted within the project “Civic Alliance for Progressive Change at the Local Level”, supported by the International Center Olof Palme from Sweden, in the period August – December 2021.