Objectives;
Situation Analysis;
Strategy;
(Expected) Results / Outcome;
Major activities |
Background: Since establishing a multi-party system in 1990, Macedonia has undergone a series of drastic
institutional and political changes to further deepen democracy. Peaceful resolution of the conflict in
2001 gave opportunity to address equitable representation of ethnic minorities in the public sector
and engage political forces in a series of reforms of the electoral framework. These were consolidated
in 2006 by the introduction of a new electoral code.
Although international observer reports indicated drastic improvements in the conduct of the 2006
elections, they also pointed out numerous violent incidents and serious cases of irregularities. Voting
procedures were not always followed, including safeguards against multiple voting, and group voting
remained a major problem and was observed in one out of five polling stations visited. Family and
proxy voting was widespread in some areas affecting principally marginalized groups, in particular
women, who are very much vulnerable to electoral malpractices. Objectives: I. Placing the problem of proxy and family voting firmly on the political agenda through a series
of seminars with high-level stakeholders.
II. Strengthening of election authorities and other stakeholder capacity through 1) separate
training-of-trainers programmes (TOT) for the State Election Commission (SCE), political party
observers and domestic observer groups, 2) training of municipal Gender Equality
Commissions, 3) capacity building of the media through the roundtable discussions and 4)
capacity building of the SEC to co-ordinate reforms to the legal, regulatory and organizational
framework governing elections.
III. Strengthening of voter awareness through 1) NGO stakeholder forum on electoral integrity, 2)
development of a capacity of the State Election Commission for a state-wide media-based
voter information and education, and 3) engagement in initiatives undertaken in schools and
universities to raise citizen’s awareness, with special emphasis on female new/future voters. |
| Local and Implementing Partners |
State Election Commission, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education and Science, Bureau for Development of Education, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy
|
