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USAID MACEDONIA DEMOCRACY AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE OFFICE

The Republic of Macedonia separated peacefully from Yugoslavia in 1991 but has not yet completed the political and economic reforms required for European integration.  USAID supported Macedonia in its implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which brought the 2001 ethnic conflict to an end, by helping to enact the legal framework for decentralization, by supporting peaceful and fair parliamentary elections in 2002, and by facilitating an accurate and widely accepted national census.

In more recent years, USAID efforts focused on helping the Macedonian Government and civil society combat corruption, enhancing democratic political competition, supporting government decentralization and promoting the rule of law. USAID also supported the Government of Macedonia in developing a comprehensive State Program for the Prevention of Corruption with a detailed performance management system. 

In 2007, USAID worked directly with 60 of Macedonia’s largest municipalities - representing 95 percent of total local tax revenues - to develop modern finance and tax administration systems, and to move to the second phase of decentralization. Our rule of law programs streamlined the internal operations of Macedonian courts and provided the judiciary with direct responsibility over court administration and resources. USAID is proud to have contributed to Macedonia’s success as it went from 105 to 84 in Transparency International’s annual index and, in a cross-cutting effort with economic growth activities, was a top 5 global reformer under the World Bank Doing Business Survey 2008.

Below, you will find more information about our projects. Please feel free to contact us directly with any questions or comments!

Dwaine Lee, Director of the Democracy and Local Governance and Education Office, dlee@usaid.gov
Biljana Velickovska, Acting Director of Communications , bvelickovska@usaid.gov

Ongoing projects

USAID's programs to increase citizen participation in political and social decision-making are:

• Civil Society Strengthening Project (CSSP)
• Judicial Reform Implementation Project (JRIP)
• Parliamentary Development Project
• Political Party Support Project
• Macedonia Local Government Activity (MGLA)
  

Completed projects

• Making Decentralization Work Project
• Macedonia Court Modernization Project
• Roma Citizenship/Rule of Law Project
• Labor Union Project