Key Macedonian CSOs Call on the Goverment to Stop Selection Process, Revise the Gov-CS Council

On the occasion of the public call for selection of members for the Council for Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and the Civil Sector, 89 CSOs have signed a Statement, asking the Government to:

• Stop the process of selection of civil society representatives to the Council for Cooperation between the Government and the Civil Sector (the Council);
• Make changes and amendments to the adopted Decision to establish the Council, and
• Open a consultative process with the civil society representatives, in which the different opinions and views of the Council will be taken into consideration and adjusted according to the comparative experience and practices.

On 17 May 2016, the Government adopted the decision for establishment of the Council, unexpectedly and without the possibility for substantial consultations with civil society. Immediately after the adoption of the Decision, a number of CSOs wrote a reaction to point out the weaknesses of the adopted document. However, on 23 May 2016, the General Secretariat of the Government published a Call for selection of 13 members of the Council coming from associations and foundations. With this procedure, the Government did not take into consideration any recommendations and indications of the CSOs regarding the establishment of the Council and thus additionally undermined the already fragile trust between the state institutions and the civil sector.

Convinced that the approach of unilateral establishment of this body will not give the desired results and is opposed to the goal for its establishment, with this joint statement, the undersigned organizations are reiterating the pledge of the CSOs regarding the adopted decisions, and are informing the Government that they will not participate in the process of selection of members of the Council coming from the CSOs.

The full statement is available in English and Macedonian.