Would you like to be able to check at any moment how your municipality spends its budget? Follow live the sessions of the municipal council with only one click? It would be a real advantage to be involved in the process of deciding what project will be implemented in your community. This is a story about how citizens of North Macedonia, a small country in the heart of the Balkan Peninsula, gained access to more information about the work of local governments and had an opportunity to engage in the decision-making process in their communities.
North Macedonia is divided into 80 municipalities with a population of 1.8 million. Most of the decisions made in the field of education, environment, infrastructure, social services, culture, are made by the municipal councils, whose members are elected directly. Gabriela Ilievska is a councillor of the city of Bitola, the first local self-government to record the council committee meetings.
Gabriela Ilievska, Councillor, City of Bitola
In the past, transparency was not a stronghold of the Macedonian municipalities, and even today it has remained a serious challenge that still requires a lot of work. However, in the past five years, major steps have been taken through our OGP action plans. In the course of 2016 – 2021, with the support of the Swiss programme “Empowering Municipal Councils“, 24 municipalities started using innovative tools for greater transparency and accountability.
In 18 municipal councils, equipment for live broadcasting of the councils’ sessions on social media was installed, while in the remaining six municipalities e-kiosks were set up to provide local services between citizens and councillors, and citizen involvement in the municipal budget process. Additionally, a web platform was developed for a simple and comprehensible presentation of the financial indicators of the municipal budgets, which is currently used by 42 municipalities and the City of Skopje.
Gabriela Ilievska, Councillor, City of Bitola
The next step was for the citizens to gain real experience of involvement in the creation of local policies via Community Forums, where teachers, farmers, artisans, students, and NGO activists discussed together how to improve the quality of life in their municipality. Over 8,800 citizens participated in a total of 126 forum sessions, with equal representation of men and women. The result of these forums is the realisation of 33 socially inclusive projects, selected directly by the local population.
Gabriela Ilievska, Councillor, City of Bitola
The second phase of the project “Empowering Municipal Councils” began in April 2022, and will include 40 new municipalities in North Macedonia.
Our vision is clear:
- We want to create transparent and accountable municipalities, ready to successfully address the challenges related to improving the living conditions of citizens.
- Empowered, efficient and autonomous municipal councils that make decisions based on relevant information are imperative for the inclusive development of local governments.
- We need Interested and actively involved citizens who contribute directly to policymaking and set priorities for the development of the municipalities in which they live.
Councillor Gabriela Ilievska hopes this is the beginning of a shift of mindset on how local government officials are selected:
