On 8th of June, the second National Conference in N. Macedonia titled "Crisis Management and Strengthening Local Capacities for the Prevention of Violence and Violent Extremism" was held at Aleksandar Palace Hotel, Skopje. This conference was organized as part of the SMART Balkans project, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the opening of the event, introductory speeches were given by Mrs. Marija Risteska, Executive Director of the Center for Research and Policy Making - CRPM; Mrs. Hanne Malgaard, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Belgrade; and Mr. Metodija Dimovski, Secretary General of the Government of N. Macedonia.
Two panel discussions took within the conference where the panelists addressed regional issues such as youth violence, natural disasters, and global security challenges in the Western Balkans, including radicalization that leads to terrorism.
During the conference, grant contracts were signed with Macedonian organizations within the National Intervention grant line. Out of the 60 applications received from N. Macedonia for National Interventions, 11 organizations passed the first phase of evaluation, the pre-selection, and were invited to submit a full application. In the second phase of evaluation, four (4) organizations were selected to receive funding, totaling 1,982,006 NOK. The awarded organizations will implement their projects over a period of approximately two years.
Organizations awarded with National Intervention grant are:
- HOPS - Healthy Options Project Skopje ХОПС - Опции за здрав живот Скопје
- Coalition of youth organizations SEGA
- Center for Environmental Democracy - Florozon
- Хелсиншки комитет за човекови права - Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
We are pleased that our CSO, Center for Environmental Democracy – Florozon is one of the four granted/awarded organizations on national level.
For detailed information about the event: https://smartbalkansproject.org/smart-news/10614/
More information about the grant recipients: https://smartbalkansproject.org/grants/north-macedonia-grants/national-interventions-nm/
