The European Centre for Minority Issues , a German-Danish action-oriented centre of expertise in the field of conflict resolution, seeks to improve minority-majority relations by enhancing the dialogue between the relevant stakeholders in a given state or region. ECMI is therefore involved both in building capacities amongst minority organisations and in the enhancement of governments' institutional capacities, with a view to promoting minority-majority interaction according to international standards and best practices.
ECMI combines a strong research base with an action-oriented approach. All the Centre's projects are derived from detailed needs assessments, drawing both on the Centre's academic competence and its unique knowledge of, and access to, stakeholder communities in the regions of operation. While ECMI is mainly governmentally funded, it is fully independent in the choice of its projects and their execution. Given this unique status, ECMI can become active where intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) not enjoying this benefit find it difficult to operate. ECMI is also able to move very rapidly when the situation so demands.
The ECMI has been present in Macedonia as of the beginning of 2001, aimed at contributing towards the cooperation among key actors in the country in the fields of advancing inter-ethnic tolerance, respect for differences and dialogue among all living in Macedonia, being also aimed at concretely demonstrating how inter-ethnic cooperation contributes to achieving positive results for all communities.
Immediately after the 2001 ethnic conflict, the ECMI facilitated the establishment of the ECMI NGO Network for the Improvement of Interethnic Relations in Macedonia. At the time, the ECMI decided on working with civil society organizations, as the most acceptable channel and action partner in the field of inter-ethnic relations. Following its establishment, the ECMI NGO Network quickly developed into a dynamic Network managed by the members themselves, focusing on improvement of interethnic relations by promoting cooperation among member-NGO’s in identifying the common basis for action on issues related to inter-ethnic dialogue advancement. Furthermore, the Network having 78 field organizations continuously worked on enhancing the credibility of the NGO’s in their local communities and on building the capacities of the local NGO’s, by the conceptualizing and implementation of joint projects.
Although improvement in Roms' administrative status since 1989 and the absence of policies drafted for the purpose of excluding Roms are useful in distinguishing Macedonia from numerous other post-Communist countries, the post-Communist period has been marked by a continuation of the overall practice of neglect characteristic of the Yugoslav regime. This neglect leaves a considerable vacuum to be filled by actors outside government, with the absence of a government strategy and expertise (let alone an office) aimed at improving the lot of what remains the most disadvantaged population in one of the poorest countries of a disadvantaged region pointing to tremendous room for improvement not only in Macedonia, but also further afield. Additionally, efforts to date by international actors in Macedonia have been sporadic, and no global needs assessment had been performed prior to the one commissioned and financed by Sida in June 2003. The first global Need Assessment of the Romani's population in Macedonia was conducted by ECMI from September to November 2003. The research results indicated the necessity of mobilizing Roma experts to work on the integration of Roma in Macedonia. In mid 2004, the ECMI launched the project Romany Expert Groups for Romany integration.
In 2003, the ECMI recognized the realistic opportunities for cooperation with the system institutions, both at the local and at the national level. This made the basis to promote the Policy Dialogue Initiative in 2004. Under this Project, there were four Working Groups established focusing on issues of interest in the fields of education, economy, health care and human rights. The Working Group members are in fact a representative sample of the influential stakeholders in each of the above referred to strategic areas. The main goal of the Working Groups is problem identification and designing recommendations to help the decision making factors to formulate and implement inclusive strategies to improve the quality of services, enhance the rule of law principle and provide better economic opportunities for persons with different needs living in Macedonia.
Today, the ECMI has a developed multidimensional program for civic action, which also successfully involves governmental institutions, at the national and at the local level.
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