Fostering critical debate in evidence-based budgetary processes and fiscal transparency

Goal: Scaling democracy by expanding fiscal transparency at the national and local level in North Macedonia.

The proposal aims to contribute to the International Budget Partnership’s (IBP) objectives by fostering transparency in the country. This overarching aim is broken down into specific objectives involving concrete interventions on two fronts.

  • Specific outcome 1: To advance data-driven policymaking.
  • Specific outcome 2: To increase municipal transparency and strengthen citizen engagement, by making publicly available and updating 3-digit Budget data for all 80 municipalities in North Macedonia.

Donor / Partner: International Budget Partnership

FISCAST Network – Enhancing dialogue for higher municipal financial transparency, with focus on parafiscal charges

The overall objective of the project is “To strengthen FISCAST network’s monitoring of and partnering with local stakeholders on LSGUs’ financial transparency, with reference to parafiscal charges.”

This overarching aim is broken down into specific objectives involving concrete interventions on four fronts.

Specific objective 1: To enhance capacities of local CSOs and of the FISCAST Network to become active stakeholders in the municipal financial transparency processes;

Specific Objective 2: To improve municipal budget and parafiscal charges transparency;

Specific objective 3: To establish evidence-based, multi-stakeholder policy dialogue for monitoring of financial transparency and building effective municipal policies;

Specific objective 4: To increase public awareness about the benefit that higher transparency, accountability and sustainability have for citizens and businesses, in their roles and capacities to act at the local level.

Duration: January 2021 – July 2023

Donor: European Delegation

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Calls and tenders

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST OF THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT UNITS IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA AND THE CITY OF SKOPJE

Call for tender for design and printing of materials 03-156-01 IPA-2020-420-727-01

Call for tender for tax expert for verification of collected parafiscal charges 03-162-01 IPA-2020-420-727-02

Call for tender for an expert / group of experts for preparation of studies on financial transparency and accountability at the local level 03-346-01 IPA-2020-420-727-03

Call for tender for an expert / group of experts for preparation of studies for municipal parafiscal charges 03-370-01 IPA-2020-420-727-04

Rapid assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on selected local programmes and support local planning and budgeting in response to the immediate socio-economic needs of women and men

The objective of this project is to provide support in the development of rapid assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on selected local programmes and support local planning and budgeting in response to the immediate socio-economic needs of women and men.

This proposal envisages the following activities:

  • Desk analysis of the LSGUs budgets for 2020 in order to map the envisaged gender-based program, their categorization and comparative analysis with the local policies and strategies for equal opportunities between men and women, in order to evaluate how many local programs and funds were allocated directly for women, before the Covid crisis.
  • In-depth interviews with LSGUs’ officials to discuss in details the LSGUs response interventions to address the local citizen’s needs, with reference to the gender impact.
  • (Online) focus groups with local citizens to assess their experience and attitudes toward LSGUs’ response measures that tackle the Covid-19 impact.

All activities will result in short gender budget policy analysis (15-18 pages) for each LSGU separately, with included assessment of the LSGUs response interventions from gender perspective, as well as policy and recommendations for improving the gender-budgeting process in the post-Covid period.

Client: UN Women Skopje

Gender equality in the workplace: Monitoring at the local level

The main objective of the project is to promote and encourage gender equality and non-discrimination in hiring and in the workplace.

The short-term goals of the project include: 1) assessing employers’ attitudes to gender inequality and discrimination in hiring and tin the workplace and the mechanisms for their prevention and protection; 2) to examine the experiences of workers in relation to gender inequality and discrimination and to assess whether they are reduced to isolated cases or systematically occurring; 3) to help policymakers make informed decisions based on evidence, data and recommendations; 4) to encourage social dialogue between key stakeholders (workers, employers and policymakers); 5) to raise public awareness of the regulatory framework for protection against gender inequality and discrimination in hiring and in the workplace.

 

Donor: Foundation Open Society

Duration: November 2019 – May 2020

 

Capacity and innovation of tourism services for sustainable local economic growth – New approach through development of alternative tourist attractions

The overall goal of the project is to improve local economic development by building capacities of local stakeholders involved in the supply chain, increasing quality of services and development, launching and selling alternative tourist attractions.

The indirect expected benefits include the development of new local brands and unconventional tourist attractions for the regions that in the long term will strengthen regions as tourist destinations, attract more tourists, and thus increase revenues and promote local traditional values as a key to reducing poverty and inclusive economic growth.

 

This general objective is divided into specific objectives that involve specific interventions on three fronts:

  • Specific objective 1: Economic to encourage municipalities by improving skills and strengthening the capacities of local stakeholders (tourism service providers, business sector, non-governmental organizations) for: communication, service delivery, service culture / behavior, leadership in tourism, branding, promotion and tourism guidance;
  • Specific objective 2: To develop alternative tourist attractions that promote traditional culture and environmental aspects of municipalities;
  • Specific objective 3: To launch and promote developed alternative tourist attractions in five destinations, and to develop a large network of links between local, regional and national stakeholders.

 

Donor: Local and Regional Competitiveness Project (LRCP) (World Bank & EU)

Duration: January – September 2019

 

Tenders

Call for expert – Terms of reference

 

 

360o monitoring of the provision of social services at the local level: Experiences from the municipalities of Prilep and Dolneni

The overall goal of the project is to improve the delivery of social services at the local level by increasing the capacities of local stakeholders and involving citizens in this process in the municipalities of Prilep and Dolneni.

The short-term objectives of the project are:

  1. To analyze and monitor the provision of social services from local public institutions in all aspects (hence, 360 degrees monitoring), with a key emphasis on the PI Inter-municipal Center for Social Work – Prilep.
  2. To understand the extent to which the provision of public services is assisted by the private and civil sector.
  3. To assess the level of cooperation of local stakeholders and public institutions in delivering social services.
  4. To understand the perceptions and experiences of the local population regarding the delivery of social services.
  5. To encourage local policy-makers to make informed decisions based on evidence.
  6. To strengthen the capacities of all stakeholders for better delivery of social services.
  7. To increase public awareness about the impact of social services on personal and social well-being.

 

Duration: November 2018 – March 2019

Donor: European Union through the Foundation Open Society Macedonia and Eurothink