With British and Dutch support today, the office of the National Coordinator for Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorism in Macedonia has launched a programme aimed at strengthening the capacity of municipalities to combat violent extremism. Our ambassador Rachel Galloway spoke at the official launch of the programme along with the Minister of Local Self-Government Suhejl Fazliu, National Coordinator Borce Petrevski, Deputy Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands Andri van Mens and the mayors of Cair, Gostivar and Kichevo which will pilot the programme. Ambassador Galloway said:
Partnership is important. Communities, central government, civil society, police services, faith leaders, educators, business people, and families – we all need to work together. We share the responsibility to build stronger communities. That was a message, which emerged very clearly from the new National Counter Terrorism and Counter Violent Extremism strategy that Macedonia developed earlier this year. The UK is proud to be a partner of choice in supporting Macedonia building its resilience.
Three municipalities in Macedonia – Cair, Gostivar and Kichevo – will establish community action teams. These teams will be responsible for developing local plans, including activities, which will build partnerships and links between communities and central government. The programme will be piloted in these municipalities as outlined in the recently adopted National Strategy and Action Plan for Preventing Violent Extremism in Macedonia.
The programme is implemented by the Centre (Search) for Common Ground from October 2018 until October 2020. It is co-funded by the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The British Embassy Skopje works with Macedonia on various programmes ranging from reforms in public administration and judiciary, efficiency of Parliament, transparency and accountability of institutions, strengthening civil society and media. You can find more information about our programme work here.
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Source: UK & Macedonia