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1. Information providers / counselling structures

2. Youth-targeted information campaigns about democratic rights and democratic values

3. Promoting the intercultural dialogue among young people

4. Promoting transparent and youth-tailored public communication

Information providers / counselling structures

The only public authorities that is responsible for disseminating information about the democratic rights for young people and every citizen of Republic of North Macedonia is the State Election Commission. Everyone can access a different type of information such as the democratic rights for voting on the website of the Commission. Prior to each election and referendum, the State Election Commission conducts an election campaign in order to inform the citizens about the elections and their right to vote.

According to the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies (Закон за младинско учество и младински политики) adopted in January 2020,the bodies of the state administration, the municipalities, the municipalities in the city of Skopje and the city of Skopje are obliged to appoint a youth officer, a person responsible for the operation of Youth Office to coordinate, implement and monitor issues of interest of young people within the competence of the institution. Based on a publicly available list of youth officers (Службеници за млади - Институции и општини) on the website of the Agency of Youth and Sports, 64 municipalities and 57  state institutions have appointed youth officers. It’s important to note that the Law specifies that they should be appointed by January 2021, within a year of the Law’s adoption.

Youth centers are places where programs aimed to improve the well-being of young people, personal, social and professional development of youth life, information of important interest to young people and other aspects of life of youth are prepared and implemented. The youth centers are established in cooperation between the municipalities, the municipalities in the city of Skopje and the city of Skopje and the forms of youth organization. Within five years (by January 2025) from the adoption of the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, each municipality should enable the functioning of at least one youth center on its territory. According to the 2023 Monitoring Report on the Implementation of the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, conducted by the National Youth Council of Macedonia, to date (September 2023) there are Youth Centers in 7 municipalities: Centar, Kumanovo, Probishtip, Shtip, Veles, Kavadarci and Ohrid.

Youth-targeted information campaigns about democratic rights and democratic values

The State Election Commission is the only public authority that is having a campaign for the election right by creating a video material on how the election process is implementing and how the citizens of Republic of North Macedonia should use their right to vote.^[1] Beside the State Election Commission, also the CSOs are making most of the campaigns for democratic rights and democratic values in Republic of North Macedonia.

^[1] http://www.sec.mk/edukacija/ (Accessed December 16, 2018)

Promoting the intercultural dialogue among young people

The Ministry of Political System and Inter-Community Relations (Министерство за политички систем и односи помеѓу заедниците) was established in 2019. The Ministry is responsible for ensuring smooth implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement.

Starting from July 2015 The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of North Macedonia (Министерство за култура на Република Северна Македонија) created and published 18 video public campaigns about Interethnic and Interreligious Coexistence where the main target were citizens of the Macedonian, Albanian, Roma, Serbian, Bosnian, Turkish and Vlach ethnicity. In the campaign were included celebrities and young people promoting intercultural values in the areas of sport, education, celebration and everyday life which was also the main objective and outcome of the campaign.^[1] No relevant measures or outcomes are available of the impact of the mentioned campaign.

Another project that promotes the intercultural dialogue among young people is “Building Bridges Fund” by the Ministry of Education and Science and the OSCE Mission to Skopje. The project was implemented in 2014 and it’s still ongoing. The purpose of the Fund is to ensure multi-ethnic experiences for all children and students from the earliest ages, thus contributing to building a society that cherishes and takes pride in its diversity, as well as in knowing the richness of shared values.

Promoting transparent and youth-tailored public communication

There are no guidelines on transparent public communication targeting young people.