Skopje, 23 August 2023 (MIA) — The United States Agency for International Development's Get Together for the Community program, to be implemented in six municipalities in the country, is expected to encourage residents to help solve their everyday challenges within their communities, organizers told a press conference Wednesday.

The USAID project, implemented by the Konekt Association together with the Apolinia Foundation, Indigo and EVN, will be carried out in Gostivar, Ohrid, Struga, Strumica, Gevgelija, Chair, and Shuto Orizari.

At the press conference, Konekt executive director Nikica Kusinikova presented research showing that the connections between local institutions, civil society organizations, businesses and media were very weak.

"It is important to work on these connections and for each municipality, community, neighborhood or village to put all of their resources into their own sustainable development and solve their own issues. We should not wait for solutions from above. we have to create them through meaningful cooperation. No important change can be made by one sector alone," Kusinikova said.

USAID Country Representative for North Macedonia Jeri Dible emphasized the strong 30-year partnership USAID has had with North Macedonia.

As the country continues its journey toward full Europe Atlantic integration, Dible said, USAID's focus has increasingly shifted to collaborating with local organizations to empower communities to address their most pressing needs.

The program will first identify CSOs that have the potential to serve as "Local Action Hubs" so that citizens can get actively involved in identifying the problems and needs of local communities and establish partnerships between CSOs, the private sector and municipalities in order to use all local resources to improve people's lives in those municipalities.

In addition to Local Active Hubs, Konekt will provide municipalities and citizens an app that will enable direct communication between citizens and municipalities so that they can solve their previously identified priorities.

The goal is to strengthen and facilitate funds from local donors for such initiatives in an inclusive, efficient and sustainable way.

A report assessing capacities for self-sustainability in the previously selected municipalities, that showed the level of cooperation between local self-governments, companies and CSOs, and availability of local resources, was also presented during the conference.

The general conclusion of the report was that there was a lack of a systemic cross-sectoral cooperation between companies, CSOs and local self-governments.

"Companies are part of the communities and they should be actively involved in local development and decision-making processes. On the other hand, the report also notes that there are domestic resources that could be mobilized from the private sector, as well as resources that could be mobilized through cross-sectoral activities of the public, private and civil sectors that will contribute to the self-sustainability of communities," Risto Karajкov, chief researcher and report author, said during the presentation. ssh/mr