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!
Michael Stievater, Director of the Democracy and Local Governance office mstievater@usaid.gov)
Slavka Stojanovska, sstojanovska@usaid.gov
Antoaneta Skartova: askartova@usaid.gov
Melita Cokrevska: mcokrevska@usaid.gov
Sladjana Srbinoska: ssrbinoska@usaid.gov
Ongoing projects
USAID's programs to increase citizen participation in political and social decision-making are:
USAID Judicial Strengthening Project
USAID Parliamentary Development Project
USAID Project for Transparent Governance
Completed projects
USAID Judicial Reform Implementation Project
USAID Political Party Support Project
USAID Macedonia Local Government Activity
Human And Institutional Development Program
Civil Society Strengthening Project (CSSP)
Making Decentralization Work Project
Macedonia Court Modernization Project
Roma Citizenship/Rule of Law Project
Labor Union Project