The Council for Cooperation Between the Government and Civil Society, at its 12th session, held in Skopje on 16 June 2026, adopted the Strategy for Communication of the Council.
This landmark decision of the Council followed a workshop held in Skopje on 15 and 16 June 2026, dedicated to finalising the Strategy for Communication of the Council and its accompanying Action Plan for 2026. The Action plan remains to be finalised and adopted at the next sessions.
The workshop was organised in cooperation with the EU-funded project “Technical Assistance for Improving the Enabling Environment for Civil Society Organisations in the Republic of North Macedonia” which has provided the Council since its onset with technical and expert support.
The Strategy envisages greater coordination and improved internal communication between Council members, as well as the Council’s communication and interaction with civil society organisations (CSO) and state administration at all levels.
Another big step forward, resulting from the adoption of the new Rules of Procedure at the session held on 28 October 2025, was the creation and now staffing of the Permanent Working Group for Communication and the Permanent Working Group for Cooperation with Civil Society Organisations Operating at the Local Level.
The key elements of this approach are to ensure closer and more effective communication between the government and the CSO sector, their partnership and increased involvement of CSOs in the Council’s work. It also aims to broaden the base of CSOs interested in the Council’s work and willing to engage with the Council, and to encourage CSOs to launch initiatives with Council members on policies and possible amendments to existing legislation or forthcoming legislative activities.
Another important element of the Strategy is to promote the Council’s work, activities, and decisions to the public in North Macedonia and raise awareness about the valuable opportunities and the necessity of stronger citizens’ involvement in policies relevant to their lives.
The Council comprising of 14 members from the CSO sector and 13 members from the state administration and their deputies, was appointed by the Decision of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia on 18 March 2025. The Council is an advisory body to the Government for promoting cooperation, dialogue, and encouraging the development of civil society. For its President the Council elected Ms Nikica Kusinikova, member from the CSO sector.
The Council’s constitutive session was held on 7 April 2025, thus ending the three-year impasse of activity of this advisory body. As it relaunched its work and cooperation between the Government and the Civil Society, in 2025, the Council held 12 sessions where current issues and public policies of importance to the civil society were discussed.
The materials and agenda items and the minutes of the Council’s sessions were published on the following website.
