On 24 January 2020, the Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Naser Nuredini, and the Executive Director of the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia Fani Karanfilova-Panovska signed a Memorandum of Cooperation.
The Memorandum of Cooperation is a commitment between the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MoEPP) and the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia (FOSM) to enable civil society participation in key sectoral environmental reforms and climate change as part of the EU accession process.
Given the importance that these issues have for FOSM, i.e. issues related to the effects of climate change, but primarily environmental protection, the project “Dialogue with CSOs – Platform for Structured Participation in EU Integration”, through this cooperation with the MEPP, FOSM will implement activities which will enable these topics to become more visible on several levels. As part of this collaboration, the project will provide increased visibility to the Sector Working Group on Environment and Climate Change and will actively support its work by providing meaningful and structured participation of civil society. The Sector Working Groups are an inter-sectoral forum for conducting sectoral policy dialogue, setting out priorities for EU financial support and coordinating all external assistance.
With the Memorandum of Cooperation, FOSM is committed to developing the platform www.dijalogkoneu.mk as a focal point for sharing essential and relevant information from institutions and CSOs. The platform contains information on sectoral policies, EU accession chapters, as well as the competences and mandates of each sectoral working group. In addition, FOSM will build the capacities of institutions and CSOs, carry out sectoral consultations, prepare 27 reports on the work and functionality of the sectoral working groups, and implement other activities relevant to the structural dialogue.
Within the framework of the established cooperation and partnership, and in the framework of the structural dialogue, the MoEPP will share and exchange essential and information relevant to civil society for its participation in sectoral policies and national consultative processes. In addition, it will enable MoEPP representatives to attend workshops and conferences as well as representatives and researchers (part of civil society of the sectoral working groups) who will prepare an independent annual report on the work of the sectoral working group.
The project “Dialogue with CSOs – Platform for Structured Participation in EU Integration” is funded by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of North Macedonia, implemented by FOSM in partnership with Eurothink – Center for European Strategies, Center for Civil Communications and Reactor – Research in Action, as well as in cooperation with the Secretariat for European Affairs.
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24 January 2020