Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) gladly presents the 2021 Civil Society (CSOSI) Sustainable Index for North Macedonia. The report is a part of the latest edition of the Civil Society Organization (CSOSI) Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, prepared by USAID and FHI 360, covering developments during the last year, which will be published in the upcoming period.
The report examines seven specific dimensions of sustainability: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, sectoral infrastructure, and public image.
In 2021, overall CSO sustainability in North Macedonia remained largely unchanged.
A slight improvement in the legal environment with the adoption of several strategies and other legislative changes balanced out a slight deterioration in financial viability that was negatively impacted by a decrease in state funding from both central and local budgets.
All other dimensions remained unchanged. Concerning capacity building, the report records limited support for institutional and strategic development, such as financing the drafting of strategic documents, facilitating long-term strategic planning, or targeted staff training. Similarly, the infrastructure supporting the sector did not change significantly in 2021. CSOs are largely funded by foreign donors, raising questions about the longterm sustainability of that support. CSOs continued to engage in wide-ranging advocacy and service provision efforts in various domains in 2021, despite the decline in financial viability and the ongoing pandemic restrictions. The sector’s public image remained unchanged, and the positive media coverage and CSOs’ presence continued.
Stay tuned and regularly check our webpage for the upcoming event announcement on the presentation of the main findings of the 2021 CSOSI Report for North Macedonia.
The report is available in English and in Macedonian language.
