The Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole, as a partner organization with the Youth Culture Center – Bitola, from October 2008, has begun work together on the Local Volunteer services that is related to the Volunteer Info Period. The Local Volunteer Services (LVS) is a structure which works on development and implementation of a quality system for volunteer management and at the same time gives access to resolving problems in the local community by forging a balance between the needs and offers of human resources – volunteers. LVS will be open for all citizens and potential users of the volunteer service. LVS with their own functioning, will have an impact on the positive development of the citizen’s society and their values through stimulating active participation of young people and all citizens in resolving the problems in the local community through active volunteerism.

The project activities will take place over the course of six months with a primary goal to facilitate the development of volunteerism in the Republic of Macedonia through integrating the volunteer programs in the public institutions, NGOs and state institutions and contribute in the implementation of the reforms in the educational system and social protection through implementing the Law of Volunteering on the local level.

The target group of the project is every citizen in the Municipality of Sveti Nikole – potential volunteers with a special accent on unemployed young people.

Over the course of the month of October, contacts were established with more public institutions/organizations and non-government organizations. (Local government, Kiril & Metodij Primary School, Goce Delcev Primary School, the House of Culture, Library, the Red Cross, Rahilka Goneva Kindergarten, citizens associations for handicapped and marginalized people, Poraka and the National Museum.) At these meetings, responsible institutions/organizations were informed of the Law of Volunteerism and the project activities.

The activities anticipated with this project will be practical implementations of the Law of Volunteerism in Macedonia that was established in 2 July 2007. The law facilitates new access for organizing volunteering and exceeding former conditions of unplanned and unorganized volunteering.

From 3 November 2008, registration of volunteers and institutions who will be part of the project will take place at the Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole.

Jasmina Trajceva
Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole

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Eco-Camp “Together for a Clean Municipality”

On the 26, 27 & 28 of September 2008, The Scouting Home – Orel held an Eco-Camp that was a part of the project activities of the project “Together for a Cleaner Municipality” whose bearer was Scout Organization Goce Delcev and Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole, in partnership with the local government, Citizens Initiative of Women, Association of Roma, Association of Vlach and the Ecological Society - Izgrev.

At the Eco-Camp 40 representatives, ages 15-25 years, from NGOs, educational institutions, and other citizen associations were included in realizing the activities of this project.

The participants had the following activities at Eco-Camp:

We hope that with the help of this Eco-Camp we will contribute to a greater education of youth regarding collecting, selecting and depositing of solid waste and their harmful impact on the environment.

Of course, these activities were not completed just by the Eco-Camp. Before this camp, the citizens of Sveti Nikole has an opportunity to participate in a Eco-Tribune (public presentation) that was held on the 19^th of September 2008 in the large hall of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole which included relevant participants from the Municipality: Communal Inspector, Members of the Advisory Committee. A goal of the tribune was through direct contact with the citizens, they will understand the rules for proper disposal of waste to dispel their bad habits.

On the 21^st of September, eco-actions were held for organizing cleaning of more wild dumps. These respective eco-actions continued with others on the 10^th of October 2008 where youth and older citizens together cleaned the new park of many small deposits of litter that have already created a bad picture of lack of care for the environment. Before this action, on the 3^rd of October 2008, there was an organized placement of containers by the schools in Sveti Nikole (primary & secondary) and by the Slavic University and in the center of the city.

By the conclusion of this justified training of an eco-camp, our activities were legitimized (with an official stamp and signature from the mayor of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole) by the eco-patrol. The assignment of every patrol will be to discover and make evidence of (via photo) of occurrences of citizens littering or creating wild dumps and to provide that information to the communal inspector with will need to take legal action for fining the person responsible.

At the end of the project activities from this project, according to the said results, there will be financing of the best eco-patrol and it will be acknowledged with a suitable award from the side of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole.

In the course of the largest anti-racism campaign in Europe – With Football Against Racism – FARE. The activities from the 2-day action week organized with the network FARE in 37 countries in Europe. The Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole through their children & youth center Vavilon from Sveti Nikole was included in this campaign for the 5^th time. On the 19^th of October 2008 at the sports hall Tsar Samoil in Sveti Nikole, a football tournament was organized with participation from the following teams: Society for Development of Volunteer Work – Jagodina Serbia, team from Vavilon Center Sveti Nikole and a team from the United States Peace Corps.

The teams were mixed by gender and ethnicity with participants ages 18-25 years. The manifestation was enriched with a performance from the ballet group from the primary school “Goce Delcev” and “Kiril Metodij” from Sveti Nikole. Once again the youth stated that the world is a beautiful place to live when we are equal and equally rejoice in the same things.

In the framework of 5 years of FARE in Sveti Nikole, there has been an exhibition in the House of Culture Kirste Misirkov Sveti Nikole with a theme of “With Sport Against Racism and Discrimination 2004-2008”. The first place in the tournament was awarded to the Vavilon Center Sveti Nikole.

With hope, next year we will be more successful, have more people involved. Until then, a big greeting goes out to all who helped the organization with these activities, the participants and the citizens of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole, the football team from Vavilon Sveti Nikole and the Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole.

Representatives from the Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole, the local government and current staff from the primary and secondary school from Sveti Nikole, during 21-24 August 2008, attended the training for mentors in the organization of Slovenian Philanthropy from Ljubljana

The participants of the training “Developing Volunteer Work with Children and Youth in the Territories of Southern Balkans and a Way to Prepare Citizens for a Democratic Society” shared their experience from their own volunteer work in their home communities. Participants were also introduced to the Slovenian model of volunteer work with youth in the schools and volunteer work with youth. The training was financed by the American Embassy in the Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, and Slovenia. The training was held in Novo Mesto in Slovenia.

At the training, alongside the representatives from Macedonia, the citizen organizations participated from Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Slovenia.

The participants from Novo Mesto called on the First Lady of the Republic of Slovenia Ms. Barbara Miklic Turk, and in Ljubljana they had a festive reception in American Ambassador to Slovenia’s residence.

The team of mentors from the Republic of Macedonia will work on a training session for 150 youth volunteers who, over the course of one year, will volunteer for social services for youth and children in the Municipality of Sveti Nikole.

Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole, in partnership with the Goce Delcev Scout’s Organization, and with other social contributors such as the Municipality of Sveti Nikole, JP Communal, Ecological Society Izgrev, Civil Initiative of Women, Association of Roma, and Association of Vlach realized the project “TOGETHER for a Cleaner Municipality”.

This project was implemented through the program SECTOR of the Regional Center for Protection of the Environment for Central and Eastern Europe. This program is financed by Swedish Agency for International Development and Cooperation.

Goals of the project are:

The activities that took place are: examination of the public opinion of the state garbage, cleaning up of the “wild” dumps and highlighting them with moral messages, maintenance of eco-camps for training of eco-patrols, organization of the eco-tribune (public presentation), distribution of eco-flyers, placement of the containers for selection of the garbage (for plastic & paper), all with a goal to exceed the current situation and planning of future community activities.

Expected results of the implemented activities are: Increasing the consciousness of the public regarding garbage issues, increasing green areas in and around the city, creating conditions for storing the selected garbage with the placement of containers, and decreasing the costs of transporting the garbage.

The final benefactors of the obtained results will be the citizens of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole.

From 01-11 July 2008 in Yundola, Bulgaria a multi-lateral youth exchange was held called “Friendship without Borders”. The goal of this youth exchange was to exceed prejudices and have a better understanding of people of the same age from different countries through concrete activities from diverse youth from four different countries. At the exchange were youth organizations from four different countries:

Bulgaria – EuroAlternative21

Macedonia - Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole

Bosnia and Herzegovina - ZG Lotos, Zenica

Turkey- Non-formal group of young people “Gocmenalemi”, Bursa

Additional information about the exchange change be found at

http://www.evroalternativi21.hit.bg/nastoiashti.html

http://www.womsvetinikole.org.mk/2007_YouthInAction-Activities.HTM

On 9-10 February 2008 at the Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole, a two-day training was held on how to write a project proposal.

25 youth attended the training as well as volunteers in the Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole. The training was delivered by Zlatko Talevski from the Youth Culture Center of Bitola and a member of the network of trainers for SEEYN. The training helped participants to translate their ideas for projects into concrete project proposals.

The participants were extremely pleased with Zlatko Talevski’s facilitation and the information they learned during this training. The participants were very grateful for the opportunity to attend this training

The training was facilitated by the Southeast European Youth Network (SEEYN) as a part of the newest model of training programs.

The Office of Free Legal Help for female victims of family violence has been open since the start of last year at the Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole and continues to work within the course of the 2007 project year. This office was an activity within the project “Improving the Position of Women” financed by Swedish Foundation Kvinna Til Kvinna.

Over the course of last year, there were 74 people who sought out free legal help from the office. Of that number, 23 of them requested official documentation to be drafted such as complaints, requests, appeals, and other legal documentation. Five people filed for divorce due to family violence. Also, there were 13 anonymous phone calls from individuals who were victims of family violence and free legal advice was provided to them. To increase the awareness of the public, regular advertisements for the office were broadcasted over the local television and radio stations.

In addition, an informative flyer was created to advertise to and inform the public of the office of free legal help. The flyer was distributed through the local, daily newspapers of Spitz and Utrinski. The flyers were also distributed to institutions that work with a large number of women. A poster was also created with the similar purpose of advertising the office. The interest of women from the Municipality of Sveti Nikole is large and every day female victims of family violence call the office. In January 2008, there have been 21 registered cases with the office where free legal advice was given.

Activities from the project “Only Healthy Citizens Build a Healthy Society” whose bearer is the NGO – EHO (Educative – Humanitarian Organization) are continuing throughout 2008. The goal of the project is to work within the regional strategy for preventative health protection in the Bregalen-Strumica Region and, at the same time, strengthen the capacity of non-governmental organizations from this region.

Active participation in creating a public process for health protection included participation from the non-government sector, representatives from the local authorities and health workers from the municipalities of Sveti Nikole, Kochani, Strumica, Vinica, Stip, Probistip, Berovo, Pehcevo, Delcevo, and Radovis.

A 3-day seminar entitled “Preparing the Local Action Plan for Promoting Health and Preventative Health Protection” was held 01-03 February 2008 in Vinica at the Hotel. Representatives from all municipalities worked together to create this plan.

Every group took the obligation to create a local action plan according to the results of a survey that was administered in their municipalities. The end goal is to create a regional strategy for preventative health protection but because a larger group from the NGO – Information Center from Skopje participated in this, there is a greater opportunity to extend the initiative to western Macedonia. In other words, the project will determine priorities in municipalities from western Macedonia that will be accepted into the national strategy for preventative health protection.

Daniela Paneva
Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole

The Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole, in the period of September 2007-January 2008, realized the project “Creation of the Local Strategy for Youth in the Municipality of Sveti Nikole” financed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Macedonia.

The general goal of the project was to improve the position of youth and their active inclusion in society. This active inclusion will be facilitated by youth who will focus on and resolve actual youth problems. With it, the youth will be able to be included in the creation of active youth policy that will facilitate improving the general position of youth in society.

Twenty youth, ages 15-30, were directly included in the project activities as well as individuals from:

· The youth center in The Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole

· Youth from rural areas from the Municipalities of Gorobinci, Ergelija, Mustafino, Amzbegovo, Crniliste, and Pesirovo

· The Scouts from “Goce Delcev”

· Ecological Society of “Izgrev”

· Students from Koco Racin High School

· Representatives from the local government

· 15 advisors and the Mayor of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole

The project was realized in three parts:

I – Promotion of the National Youth Strategy:

On 31.10.2007 a public presentation was held with a goal to promote the National Youth Strategy. 73 participants attended the public presentation. The presentation was organized in cooperation with the Agency for Youth and Sport of the Republic of Macedonia and Coalition SEGA. At the public presentation, the primary goals of the project were addressed and the activities that need to take place to improve the position of youth in society. The public presentation was recorded by the local TV and radio stations of Sveti Nikole.

II – Improving the Capacity of Youth

To strengthen the capacity of 20 youth leaders, a one-day seminar was held on 15.10.2007. The youth leaders were given new skills and experiences in team work and group decision making.

In the period from October 2007 to January 2008, 6 workshops were held with the themes: Non-violent conflict resolution, Democracy & Human Rights, Lobbying and Advocacy, Youth & Politics, Euro-Integration, and Illness of Dependence. At these workshops, the youth widen their understanding and knowledge of these issues.

III – Creating the Local Youth Strategy for the Municipality of Sveti Nikole

To introduce the way to create the youth strategy, on 14.10.2007 a one-day seminar was held under the title “Training for Creating the Local Youth Strategy”. 23 youth attended the training and gained this understanding. Here a survey was created with a goal to exam the needs and problems of the youth and their peers. The training was facilitated by the youth worker, Aleksandar Bogatinov. The work groups worked from 16.10 to 22.10.2007 and created the survey with 51 questions. The survey was then administered to 500 youth, ages 15-30 years, in the Municipality of Sveti Nikole. The results of this survey were analyzed and used to create the Local Strategy for Youth of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole.

The strategy was given to the public discussion on 18.12.2007 with a goal to also present the notes and suggestions of the strategy from the presenters. The Mayor of Sveti Nikole, Mr. Slobodan Danevski, attended this public discussion along with Advisors from the Advisory Committee of the Municipality. The Director of the High School Koco Racin attended as well as representatives from the culture institutions of the municipality, the health institutions and the non-government sector. At the public discussion, corrections to the plan were suggested and added into the overall plan. The final plan was given to the Advisory Committee of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole on 24.12.2007 and was adopted by them on 28.12.2007.

In January 2008, the group of youth leaders along with the representatives from the Organization of Women of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole gathered together with the Mayor, Mr. Slobodan Danevski, and the Representative from the General Assembly of the Local Government, Ms. Blagica Lasovska. At the meeting, the “next steps” were discussed for implementing the local youth strategy for the municipality.

Over the course of January, the local strategy was printed and distributed to all students at the High School Koco Racin with a goal to promote the strategy.

The local youth strategy (only Macedonian version) can be found at this link:
 Локална стратегија за млади на Општина Свети Николе (114 KB)