As part of the project "Through women's activism and initiatives to gender-inclusive and responsive municipalities", we successfully implemented the workshops "Advocacy for gender-responsive budgeting and preparation of gender budget initiatives" in Delchevo, Shtip and Vinica, which included over 60 women from rural and urban areas, as well as decision-makers at the local level.
Through these workshops, the participants had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of gender-responsive budgeting, to become familiar with the mechanisms of citizen participation in the creation of local policies and to prepare specific gender budget initiatives. Special emphasis was placed on strengthening their capacities for advocacy, argumentative presentation of proposals and constructive dialogue with municipal structures, since in the following period they will submit gender budget initiatives to the mentioned municipalities.
The inclusion of women from different communities, both rural and urban, enabled the exchange of experiences and identification of real challenges they face at the local level. The presence of representatives from the municipal administration and other decision-makers contributed to building bridges of cooperation and opening space for further concrete initiatives.
These activities strengthen local women's leadership and lay the foundation for more inclusive, transparent, and gender-responsive municipal policies and budgets.
The project "Through women's activism and initiatives to gender-inclusive and responsible municipalities" is implemented by Glasen Tekstilec in partnership with the association EHO Educational-Humanitarian Organization Shtip and the association Initiative of Unemployed Intellectuals Vinica. The project is supported by the Government of Switzerland through the Civica Mobilitas program. Civica Mobilitas is a project of the Government of Switzerland to support civil society in North Macedonia, implemented by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC), NIRAS from Denmark and FCG from Sweden. The goal of the program is social changes in North Macedonia that are driven by a strong civil sector, active citizens and good cooperation with the authorities, resulting in an expanded civic space, more sustainable civil society organizations and more transparent, accountable and socially inclusive governance at the central and local levels. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Swiss Government, Civica Mobilitas or the organizations implementing it.
