OSCE Mission to Skopje supports discussion on community-rights issues

Communities-related legislation and communication between communities and state institutions were key topics of an OSCE-supported meeting of the Participatory Forum, an informal consultative body for communities, that took place in Skopje on 22 May 2013.

The Participatory Forum was established in 2012 by the national Community Rights Agency, with support from the OSCE Mission to Skopje, to provide all communities in the country with an opportunity to participate in policy-making processes at the state level.

This meeting addressed amendments and interpretations of legislation related to communities and also identified mechanisms for communication with state institutions. Subsequent meetings, expected to take place in June, October and December this year, will tackle the issues of equitable representation of smaller communities at the central and local levels, their effective participation in cultural life and access to public-information tools.