In the program Human Rights and Democracy, CCI has 81 approved projects implemented on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Balkan countries. There are more than 40 donors for the realization of the projects in this program.
The beginnings (1997 – 2002)
In the 90’s and the beginning of the new century the communities in our country were facing the transition period and introduction of the new order and values of democracy and human rights. Experiencing something new, the community, especially the youth were in a need of new knowledge and skills for the improvement of life. Therefore our activities were directed towards:
Human rights education – introduction to the basic human rights within the Babylon centres and the school activities that served as focal points for learning and practising of human rights.
National elections – as the right to vote is one of the basic human rights, and taking into consideration that our country was building a new democracy where the people have right to express their own opinion, we have been working on awareness rising of the population and monitoring of the election process.
2003 – 2006
The period after the military conflict in our country and the Kosovo crisis that we have been using as a starting point for our human rights approach we have started with the peacebuilding activities in our country and in the region. The communities were in a need of a guided action for overcoming the trauma and finding peace within themselves and with the others.
Social inclusion of vulnerable groups – Implementing activities of rehabilitation and reintegration of refugees, humanitarian and health programs, providing education through specifically designed manuals and workbooks.
Conflict transformation – due to the fact that the violent conflicts are leaving behind troubled communities, we have dedicated our work in the region on how to deal with the ghosts of the troubled past and the feeling of guilt through practicing of the modules of cultural aspects of trauma educating the children and the teachers within the schools including the methods for conflict management and cultural cooperation. These were our beginnings in the field of conflict transformation.
2007 – 2010
Following the development of the country and the region, the fragile interethnic relations and the long process of reconciliation and the process of European Union integration we have upgraded our human rights program with more issues specifically addressing the needs in the Balkan region.
Human trafficking and irregular migration – as one of the specificities of the military conflicts is the lack of rule of law and implementation of the legislation, the Balkan region among other things suffers from a high number of human trafficking and irregular migration.
Reconciliation and conflict transformation – the troubled past, the traumas, the hate, the suffering are part of the reconciliation process that will last for lots of years. We have been addressing the process of reconciliation through the development of a mechanism that measures and identifies the critical points that are causing conflicts in the communities in order to provide more structural approaches and define specific methods for overcoming of the conflicts.
Human rights, equal opportunities, non-discrimination – on the path towards the European Union, our country and the Balkan region have to respect the human rights especilly equal opportunities and non-discrimination. In additon, we have developed a specific mechanism for pursuing all forms of discrimination on the local level addressing different target groups and supporting the institutions in practising the non-discrimination principles.
Corruption – the high level of corruption in our fragile communities is showing the lack of rule of law and the continuous process of development. We applied series of activities that led to practicing of anti-corruption strategies and increase the level of transparency and accountability of the local government.
Current and future perspectives
Conflict transformation – we are currently oriented towards providing knowledge, skills,to policymakers, practitioners and citizens’ through development of training programs specifically designed to address the shortcomings and the challenges of the conflict prevention, gender-based violence, management and resolution addressing the cultural diversity and the development of multicultural mindset in the divided societies in the Balkan region. This includes prevention, peacebuilding, identification of best practices and transferring of new methods and tools for conflict transformation.
Social inclusion – we are oriented towards the support of the juveniles within the penitentiary system practicing the human rights method through development of training materials in support of their reintegration within the society and prevention from returning in the system. We will continue with our efforts in this direction as the children are the most precious asset of the community. We will also continue with our efforts of social inclusion of other vulnerable groups’ underlining the practice of the non-discrimination principles and equal opportunities for all.
Legal aid – in the course of the support of human rights we will continue to provide legal aid for the victims of police ill-treatment and in the future expand it within non-discrimination and equal opportunities.