Non-Governmental Organisations in Macedonia

They Exist, But Little Good Do They Do

Non-governmental organisations in Macedonia are numerous, but they do not gather a large number of members, they are divided on ethnic grounds, their activities in the past decade have had little effect... But hope is raised by some of them which prove that they know how to do what they have been founded to do.

AIM Skopje, 23 September, 1999

If wealth of Macedonia were to be measured by the number of its NGOs, it would certainly rank high among highly developed countries. But, if this social activity would be evaluated by its "productiveness", it would certainly be qualified as one of the many unproductive "branches" in this country. In the latest edition of the directory of non-governmental organisations in Macdeonia, more than three hundred addresses and names of NGOs are listed, but it is estimated that there are actually more than five hundred of them and that nobody knows their exact number.

In the end of the eighties when it had already become clear that the old system and the old state were splitting at the seams, initiatives appeared for various forms of organizing of citizens on grounds of comon interest. It was the time when the then Central Committee of the Macedonian League of Communists was headed by Petar Gosev who had on the one hand given Macedonia back its singularity on the federal (party) level, and on the other stimulated involvement of as many as possible intellectuals in what was then called "transformation of society".

At the time that preceeded it, non-governmental organisations were almost equal to heresy for the regime. Associations of citizens, guild organisations were allowed, but only within the system of the united front of the Socialist Alliance of the Working People of Yugoslavia. In the ambience of changes initiated by the communists with the ambition to reform themselves and their organisation, the first to appear were various forms of organising of the ecologists, as societies on the local level which were soon organised on the level of the republic as well. Of course, these ecologists were not concerned much with the protection of the environment, but in fact marked the beginning of multiparty political life which was later confirmed when their league transformed into the Democratic Party.

The first firmer form of civil non-governmental organising, establishment of the Committee for Protection of Human Rights by a group of prominent university professors, cultural workers, journalists and similar, was in fact the expression of their wish to be present in politics. The Committee did not become famous for investigation or publishing numerous cases of violation of human rights, but its presidents, first Ljubomir Frckovski and then Tomislav Cokrevski, did enter daily politics at the post of the minister of internal affairs! Then the Committee stopped operating, as its last president Cokrevski explained, because it had accomplished its mission, which is, perhaps, supposed to mean that with his entering the regime, violation of human rights has stopped!

The other form of establishment of non-governmental organisations was opening of local offices of international organisations with the intensity that varied in proportion with international interest for Macedonia, but especially with interethnic relations in it. Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA) was the first to form its Macedonian national committee. Its first activities went in several directions; apart from efforts to win recognition within HCA (organising of a big peace conference in Ohrid) it headed numerous activities, such as initiating the meeting with Greek intellectuals at the time of the full blockade of inter-state relations. In a way the organisation discreditted itself by frequently issuing public statements about support to the government and especially to the president of the state Kiro Gligorov which made the impression that this non-governmental organisation was just a cat's paw of the regime. This was intensified by the fact that HCA and some other organisations were receiving direct or indirect assistance from government institutions. Macedonian Committee of HCA does not operate for a few years already. Among the non-governmental organisations whose starting point is the Helsinki basket of human rights, with its statements concerning concrete cases, annual reports and reports on problems, Helsinki Citizens' Committee which is part of the international network of Helsinki non-governmental organisations has drawn special attention in the past few years.

It is interesting to mention that one of the characteristics of the first years of pluralism in Macedonia was establishing of numerous non-governmental organisations of women. The wide range of NGOs was broadened by formation of specialised ones for activities among children, the oldest among them being the Children's Embassy called Medjasi. At the time a truly large number of non-governmental organisations was founded. Their number increased to several hundred. It is a paradox that the large number of organisations did not mean that they gathered many people. The number of members of non-governmental organisations was in fact hardly larger than the number of NGOs. The reason for this is that every member of one organisation was at the same time a member of several others.

A small number of persons who formed the core of non-government organisations with the civil concept can be explained only by the fact that it is an ambience where everything is divided on ethnic grounds and that every political and public activity is taking place within separate ethnic collectivities. That is why it is no wonder that there are non-governmental organisations which are ethnically "pure", which have identical platform objectives, but their membership differs by ethnic origin of the members. There are, for example, parallel organisations of women for ethnic Macedonian and for ethnic Albanians, committees for protection of human rights of ethnic Macedonians and those of ethnic Albanians. This division was evident in reactions and activities, or rather lack of them, of non-governmental organisations concerning the crisis in Kosovo and the stay of 360 thousand Kosovars in Macedonia.

This is one of the main weaknesses of the activity of non-governmental organisations which have led to the situation in which the effects of their operation even ten years after formation of the first such organisations has remained marginal, and their influence in the society almost negligible.

The example of the operation of Soros Foundation in Macedonia since its beginning in the end of 1992 is an interesting one. Philantropist George Soros believed that by an aggressive approach through donating a lot of money for stimulating activities of civil organisations and promoting them in the media he could most efficiently and quickly advance his vision of the civil concept - accomplishment of the idea on open society. After a couple of years he realised that the effects of such an approach were minimal, so he chose the longer but more certain road of financing pre-school activities of children at the youngest age and during their further education.

By institutionalisation of activities of certain non-governmental organisations, their operation in Macedonia was saved. Although an institution in itself with its bureaucratic structure threatens to make the organisation a means to an end, some non-governmental organisations manifest envious efficiency and activity. Apart from Soros' foundation the great advantage of which is that it is not forced to squander its energy on providing its budget because it is financed by its founder, there are certain humanitarian organisations such as El hilal which was especially active during the Kosovar refugee crisis, or organisations such as the CRS. Macedonian Centre of International Cooperation is an example of long lasting, persistent and planned activities in a few fields which resulted in a broad spectre of successful activities. The Centre began with humble projects in the domain of agriculture, by helping rural environments (construction of waterworks and similar) financed by a few Dutch religious organisations. This was its visa to projects financed by some of the Dutch ministries. This year, the Centre has shown what it was capable of doing by successfully having organised refugee camp Radus and promoting tolerance among children from various entities.

Among these exceptions which give a chance to non-governmental organisations is the Centre of Multi-Cultural Understanding and Cooperation. Although it is one of the newest organisations, it caught attention primarily by its activities which disturb the ambience of division of the society on ethnic grounds. The Centre organised several camps in which by spending their time together, at seminars, summer school for young journalists as preparation for their work in the media, young people overcome stereotypical notions about each other. A series of debates titled "Let's Talk" was exceptionally interesting for the environments in which they took place.

After everything said, the fact stands that the so-called "third Sector" - NGOs and their activities, so significant for a democratic society, have remained on the margins of social life even after eight years of operation. Probably the reason for this is that around civil initiatives and activities of NGOs still circle those who wish to incline towards the "daily-political empire" - political parties. To be more precise, completion of this spectre of activities and organisations which help the citizens to be creators of the society outside political parties and even after elections, is still in the initial phase and in the claws of ethnic and daily political divisions.

AIM Skopje

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