Project: Sustainable Development Goals in Western Balkan

Kick-off meeting for presenting the project

Data: 28 February 2018

Place: Rec Country Office Macedonia

Minutes of Meeting

Participants / At the kick-off meeting participated, upon the invitation of REC Country Office,the representatives from the following institutions/organizations:
•The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy,
•The Ministry of Finance
•The Ministry of Transport and Communications,
•The Ministry of Education and Science,
•The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning,
•The Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
•MANU,
•Economic Institute, Skopje
•UNDP – UN Coordination Sector,
•State Statistical Office and
•the NGO’s sector.
The list of participants is attached to these Minutes.
The following institutions were invited also, however at the meeting there were no representatives from the same:
  • The Ministry of Health
  • The Ministry of Economy
  • The Ministry of Information Society and Administration
  • The Ministry of Localself-government
  • The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy
  • Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia
  • Secretariat for European Affairs
•Economic Chamber of Macedonia
The purpose of the project/
The purpose of the project/purpose of the meeting / The purpose of the project is to help beneficiary countriesin their effortsto approachthe requirements of the Agenda 2030,through providing technical assistance for the carrying of the Decision regarding the priority Sustainable Development Goals on a national level, as well as support in defining national indicators for all sub goals for the priority SDG’s .
The purpose of the meeting was to include participants from all relevant Ministries and National Institutions for an open dialogue regarding the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on:
  • The past achievements in the area of the implementations of Sustainable development goals in the Republic of Macedonia and
  • Expected activities for realization at a national level, for the period from 2018-2020

Introduction / On 28 February 2018 (Wednesday) in the premises of REC Country Macedonia thekick-off meeting for presenting the regional project; “Sustainable development goals in Western Balkan” was held. The beneficiary countries within the project are the Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro.
The meeting was led byMilenaManovaIlikj, in the role of Project Coordinator of the project and JozheJovanovski, Technical Expert, both from REC Country Office Macedonia,who welcomed the auditorium in the absence of the Project Manager, Kornelija Radovanovikj, from REC HO Hungary.
Ms.Ilikj expressed gratitude for the response and interest shown by the participants and pointed out that in the interest of maintaining the continuity, previously established by the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (ZPVRM)in charge for economic affairs, as the competent institutionresponsible for managing the process of integrating the Sustainable development goalsof the United Nations (UN)in national trends, through the establishment of a National Technical Sustainability Support Group to support the National Council for Sustainable Development (in 2015), the project team insisted the participants at the meeting to be members of the Council and the Technical working group for sustainable development. Among other participants there were also representatives of relevant stakeholders and experts who were once involved in activities with this institution and worked on topics related to SDG’s. Unfortunately, up to the moment of realization of the Kick-off Meeting, the project team did not receive an official nomination of a focal point from ZPVRM, nor a representative was nominated to take part with a presentation and sharing before the participants, the status of all previous developments on a national level for integrating SDG’s into national context.
It was underlined, that the project will be implemented in the next 2-3 years, with the financial support of the Program for Advisory Assistance (AAP) intended for environmental protection of the German Federal EnvironmentMinistry (BMUB), intended for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia and other neighboring countries of the European Union. The implementation of the project will be observed by the German Environmental Agency (UBA).
During the meeting,participantswere introduced with the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), as an international organization responsible for implementing the project in all three beneficiary countries – representing its role and mission in addressing sustainable solutions for the improvement of the environment, areas of expertise etc.Among other things,several projects from the portfolio of REC Country Office Macedonia were presented, which demonstrated the way this organization works in the Western Balkan countries, and the contribution that REC and the national office in Macedonia have addressing in SDG’s and their application in the national trends(mainly through: capacity building and improvement of knowledge about SDG’s in all spheres of the education system, focusing on high school and secondary vocationaleducation; promotion of business opportunities subject to green ideas; encouraging energy efficiency in the industry; initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions from passenger cars, etc.).
In addition, the project team explained that, prior to the holding of the Kick-off meeting, more efforts were made, to ensure the presence of the Cabinet of Vice Prime Minister(ZPVRM).The Cabinet of ZPVRM for economic affairs was expected to share an information regarding:
  1. Priority areas on a national level
  2. A set of priority targets identified on a national level (if there is a preliminary assessment), with an overview of all previous activities that contributed to their identification
  3. The methodology used to identify them
  4. Institutional support in the process of determining the priority goals
  5. Present achievements and future needs on a national level;
in order to obtain an initial representation and a basic document that will be the basis for defining the terms of reference within the project.
Discussion / At the beginning of the discussion, and after the presentation of Project by the Representatives of the REC, participants(most of the members of the technical working group that carries out activities in accordance with the Council for sustainable development and the Coordinator(ZPRVM)) pointed that in absence of the representative from the Cabinet of ZPVRM for economic affairs, as the competent institution for coordination of the Agenda 2030 in the Republic of Macedonia, are unable tocommit on future needson a national level in the context of the requirements of Agenda 2030.
The participantsnoted that they realize the importance of the implementation of this project because the project insists on continuing the previously established practice ofcross-sectorial cooperation in the process of integrating the requirements of the Agenda 2030 on a national level, but the realization of the project and inclusion of the technical working group, should solely be in coordination with the Cabinet of ZPVRM.
By the representative of the UNDP Office in Macedonia, it was concluded, that it is a complex issue for whose further directions should be decided by the competent institutions,and only then discuss their operationalization and possible factors in the process.
Although in the introductory speech it was emphasized, that the project teamtried to obtain from the Cabinet of ZPVRM for economic affairs an information on the currentstatusregarding the implementation of Agenda 2030 at the national level,based on previous activities (as the findings of the so-called Rapid GAP Assessment – and other related information), additionally by the representative of the UNDP Office in Macedonia, it was noted that there are few previous analysis and discussions, such as, e.g.detailed GAP analysis prepared with the help of the UN in 2016, at the request of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia. The analysis was prepared by experts, but during its preparation, consultative processes were organized in which representatives of all UN agencies in Macedonia, the institutions and the civil sector participated. All these opinions were taken into account in the analyzesand recommendations contained in the document.
In addition, the representative of UNDP stated that,in determining starting point, it is worth considering that existence of the Partnership for Sustainable Development of the United Nations and the Government of RM for the period 2016-2020, as a document adopted by the Government of RM and already aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
In that sense, and in accordance with the mandate of UNDP in Macedonia, the United Nations will remain in close consultation with institutions, especially with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as their contact point pending further information and guidance on Sustainable Development Goals. And finally, the United Nations remains available for possible further contribution and support in the next steps that will be agreed by the competent institutions.
In the meeting, among other things , the participants pointed out that when determining the priority SDG’s on a national level, the priorities of the EU integration process, the recommendations of EC Progress Reports on the fulfillment of the criteria for EU membership should be taken into account, but also from the recommendations of the bodies for monitoring the implementation of the various UN Treaty Bodies in the field of human rights, social inclusion, fight against corruption, environmental protection, etc. where the Republic of Macedonia is a contracting party.
One of the questions was whether the project priority field will be the environment, mainly because the REC is an international organization that acts in the field of environment, but also because the donations comes from an institution that is closely related to the environmental issues;it was madeclear by the project team, that for selection of the priority area in the realization of the project activities, we are expecting to be guided by the Cabinet of ZPVRM.
The participants pointed out that the globally adopted UN SDG’s are relatively new, and the UN guidelines and methodology for their implementation are subject to constant updating and amending, so there is necessity for strongcommitment and engagement for providing continuous monitoring and compliance with the determination of our country.
In addition, they noted that they were invited as representatives of institutions, but also as members of the Council for Sustainable Development or as Technical Work Group, and in that sense, the support of the project and its realization should be in coordination with the Cabinet of ZPVRM. Once the support is provided by the Cabinet, it will be decided for the further course of the project implementation – and the project collaborators on a national levelwill be further defined.
In absence of the Cabinet of Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia, the Project Team tried to get directions for defining the Terms of reference – however participants were categorical,that the only competent institution forcoordinating the activities for the implementation of the Agenda 2030 is Cabinet of ZPVRM, so that in their absence they could not speak about future needs and directions towards which Republic of Macedonia should progress.
Next steps / Based on the maintained discussion, the Project Team recognized the following steps:
  • Project team will continue its efforts to provideadmission to the Cabinet of ZPVRM,
in charge for Economic Affairs, in order to continue the successful collaboration established at the moment of submitting the project proposal to the donor;
  • The project team will forward the Minutes of the Meeting to the Cabinet of ZPVRM for economic Affairs,in order to emphasize the necessity of their participation in the further activities.
  • The project team should make an effort that the Cabinet of ZPVRM for economic Affairs assigns a contact person, who will represent the attitude of the institution in terms of national definitions for UN SDG’s; as well as for achieving continuity in the process of cross-sectorial cooperation and joint determination of a national priorities for harmonization of the UN Agenda 2030 requirements with all competent institutions in the Republic of Macedonia.
  • Realizationof a new meeting with all relevant institutions and the Cabinet–fordefining the scope of the project in line with the future needs of Republic of Macedonia (the Cabinet)regarding the UN SDGs and financial allocation intended for the Republic of Macedonia.