On March 6, 2019 in the Sirius Hotel a workshop was held for representatives of non-governmental organizations from the eastern and southeastern regions in order to define common problems and proposals for solutions that are important for young people. During the implementation of the project, the need for networking of young people i.e. youth and other existing NGOs was confirmed, as a way to include them in the efforts for Macedonia’s integration into the EU and on the society in general. Therefore, the workshop focused on the goals and activities of the existing umbrella organizations at the national level, namely the National Youth Council of Macedonia (NYCM) and the Coalition of youth organizations SEGA, which represent national platforms for youth organizations committed to lobbying for needed changes in the legislation, supporting youth activism, access to information and youth participation, as well as the organization Youth Work Union (SRM), which aims to regulate and standardize youth work, support for youth workers and raising public awareness about the importance of youth work. Also, the participants were presented with the criteria for full and associate membership in these networks and the benefits from it.
In addition to the networks at the national level, the offices of regional importance for the youth were promoted, including the Youth Club Shtip, which works in the areas of health and social issues, development of volunteerism and youth activism, culture and art; as well as the regional office in Stip of the “Civic Resource Center” that exists for capacity building and financial and institutional support for small non-governmental organizations.
The workshop resulted in the signing of a joint proposed and accepted declaration for networking, i.e. creating a regional platform for joint action with the obligation to monitor, identify and translate the needs of youth in coordinated action to achieve maximum effects. For the beginning, a list of recommendations from all present organization was created to be delivered to different stakeholders in the east and southeast region.
