United Nations Development Programme

Country: UNDP Macedonia Initiation Plan

Project Title: “Youth for Social Cohesion”

Expected CP Outcome(s): Output 2.4:  Frameworks and dialogue processes engaged for effective
and transparent engagement of civil society in national development

Initiation Plan Start Date: ___January 2016_________________________________

Initiation Plan End Date: ___December 2016__________________________________

Implementing Partners: Municipality of Kumanovo

Brief Description
This initiation plan is intended to articulate the preparatory phase for scaling up and building on UNDP’s past
experience in social cohesion and youth participation, as well as its long-standing partnership with Kumanovo, the
Ministry of Local Self-Government, the Ombudsman institutions and local youth councils and NGOs. The project
will also build on good teamwork with OHCHR, UNFPA and other UN agencies. In addition, the project will also
build on the existing social innovation efforts , including through the UNDP-supported Social Innovation Lab in
the country, both in terms of tapping on the tools/approaches as well as the human resources/network available.
It is both catalytic and scalable, since a successful model of youth mobilization for social cohesion will be a
breakthrough that should be easily transferrable to other municipalities. It is also interdisciplinary, combining
elements of peacebuilding, intercommunal dialogue and confidence-building, community security and cohesion,
resilience and innovation.

Total resources required 143,000 US$

Programme Period: 2016
Total allocated resources: 143,000 US$
Atlas Award ID:  Regular 43,000 US$
 Other:
Award 00065861, Project 00097285 Donor (IRH) 100,000 US$

Implementing modality: UNDP (DIM) Unfunded budget: _________

In-kind Contributions _________

Agreed by UNDP: Louisa Vinton, Resident Representative

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 UNDP Catalytic and Scaling-up Facility for Europe and the CIS

Annex 1–Project proposal template

Please make sure that the document is cleared by the DRR/CD of the office prior to the
submission.
Requesting UNDP Country Office in FYR Macedonia
Office(s)
UNDP Strategic Outcome 2: Citizen expectations for voice, development, the rule of law and
Plan Area of Work accountability are met by stronger systems of democratic governance
(Outcome/Outputs):
Output 2.4:  Frameworks and dialogue processes engaged for effective and
transparent engagement of civil society in national development
Outcome 7:  Development debates and actions at all levels prioritize poverty,
inequality and exclusion, consistent with our engagement principles
Output 7.8:  Governance institutional, and other critical bottlenecks addressed to
support achievement of the MDGs and other internationally agreed development
goals
Thematic windows 1. Sustainable Development
A proposal can ☐Sustainable Economies including Employment
select more than ☐Inclusive and sustainable social protection
one sub-area from
☐Sustainable Natural Resource Management
more than one
thematic window ☐Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation across sectors
☐Increased energy efficiency and universal modern energy access.
2. Governance and Peace-building
Public administration, local governance, effective delivery of public services,
and anti-corruption reforms
Human rights, rule of law and access to justice and security
☐Health and HIV related issues
Women’s participation at all levels of decision-making
3. Building Resilience and Managing Risks
☐Natural and human-induced disaster risk reduction and management
☐Strengthen national capacities in collecting, analyzing and using sex and
age-disaggregated data and in analyzing disaster risk from a gender
perspective
Peacebuilding and mediation
☐Disaster preparedness and recovery
4. Cross-cutting area
Sustainable Development Goals
Innovations
☐Partnerships/South-south cooperation

Focal person Name: Sonja Stefanovska-Trajanoska

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 Title: Programme Associate
Email:sonja.trajanoska@undp.org
Main location(s) of Municipality of Kumanovo, to be then scaled up nationally
the initiative
Start date / End 20th November 2015 – 20th November 2016
date
Duration 12 months
Total funding 100,000 US$
requested to the
Facility (in USD)
Partner(s) Main partner: Municipality of Kumanovo
Other partners: Ministry of Local Self-Government, Ombudsman’s office/the local
ombudsman’s branch, local NGOs, local youth groups, local youth councils,
Agency for Youth and Sports, relevant UN agencies (OHCHR, UNFPA,
UNWOMEN)
Total funding (in Total Project funds: 143,000 US$
USD)
100,000 US$ (RBEC Facility)
Please state the
43,000 US$ (UNDP MK Country Office, co-funding)
total requested
funds and other
contributions to this
project.
Problem statement Contemporary Macedonia is ridden by political and ethnic fault lines that imperil
social cohesion and stability. The ethnic divides are long-standing and have been
Please provide a
“frozen” rather than narrowed by the terms of the 2001 Ohrid Framework
short and concise
Agreement. The country’s political polarization has been deepening for years and
context analysis and
the steady “narrowing of the democratic space” has sidelined the opposition and
problem statement,
all but silenced civil society. The outbreak of violence in Kumanovo in May 2015
accompanied by
exposed the many risks this situation poses.
supporting evidence
for a good
understanding of the The transit of some 500,000 displaced people across the country so far in 2015
background, what has added a further destabilizing factor, particularly given the Islamic faith of most
the initiative aims to migrants.
change and why.
What is the issue
Addressing these challenges is central to the UNDP aim of preventing conflict and
that the proposal is
building inclusive, safe, peaceful and resilient societies. But it is extremely difficult
addressing and how
owing to national constraints on explicitly political activities and public impatience
the proposal is
with “reconciliation.”
linked to national
and regional
priorities. In this context, we aim to pioneer an indirect approach to social cohesion, defusing
(Max 200 words) conflict and addressing needs in the country’s most diverse and fragile community,
Kumanovo.

Young people are the only social group that over recent months has shown a
determination to bridge divides and defend diversity. So our project aims to create
a youth-friendly space for inclusive dialogue in Kumanovo that will serve as a
platform for youth-driven activities that satisfy substantive local needs while
bringing a diverse community together.

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Proposed The project builds on UNDP’s past experience in social cohesion and youth
approach participation (including its lead role in support to a new national youth strategy, to
be completed by year-end 2015), as well as its long-standing partnership with
Please provide
Kumanovo, the Ministry of Local Self-Government, the Ombudsman institutions
rationaleon why this
and local youth councils and NGOs. The project will also build on good teamwork
proposal is catalytic
with OHCHR, UNFPA and other UN agencies. In addition, the project will also build
and/or scalable.
on the existing social innovation efforts , including through the UNDP-supported Social
Please elaborate if
the proposal is Innovation Lab in the country, both in terms of tapping on the tools/approaches as well
issue-based and as the human resources/network available.
multidisciplinary. It is both catalytic and scalable, since a successful model of youth mobilization for
How does the social cohesion will be a breakthrough that should be easily transferrable to other
proposal address municipalities. It is also interdisciplinary, combining elements of peacebuilding,
the above-stated intercommunal dialogue and confidence-building, community security and
problem, including cohesion, resilience and innovation.
the use of
innovation, South- The project has four elements:
south/triangular
cooperation, among 1) Creating an inclusive space for youth-led activities that will engage all ethnic
others? Please communities and orientations in a spirit of diversity and human rights;
elaborate on how 2) Providing training and modest financial support to community activities
the proposal will prioritized and executed by young people themselves;
ensure that gender 3) Supporting volunteer youth activity in addressing the migrant crisis
related issues are (Kumanovo is the main exit point for migrants transiting the country) as a
addressed.(Max 300 tool for internal social cohesion; and
words) 4) Mobilizing young volunteers to identify and meet priority needs for young
women and girls, with an emphasis on community safety and security.

The project will promote gender equality in two ways: first, leadership and
participation in all components will engage both women and men in equal
proportions, with a special emphasis on involving women from minority
communities; second, one component of the project will focus explicitly on an
important gender-specific challenge.

The project will also integrate social innovation thinking based on the rich UNDP
Macedonia experience with application of social innovation models and tools
through the Social Innovation Lab and the exposure to other social innovation
experiences.

Expected  Establishment of a Youth Facility and implementation of youth driven

outputs community activities as an innovative intercultural learning and communication
platform for sustainable inter-ethnic dialogue and social cohesion
 Women’s Section created (specifically for women and girls from minority
groups) within the Youth Facility for addressing topics of interest particularly
related to security and safety
 Youth volunteer mobile groups created of various ethnic groups for provision of
assistance to migrants
 Knowledge kits created on the issues of interest of youth (human rights, social
cohesion, youth participation and gender) shared nationally
Risk Management Risk 1: Grave complexities related to the current political environment in the
country may have long-term negative repercussions on social cohesion, and affect
Please provide brief
the enthusiasm and readiness of young people to get involved

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details of any Impact Medium
serious risks to the
success of the Probability Medium
project and how Countermeasures Awareness raising, outreach to non-partisan
these will be groups; Continued attention on the equal
mitigated; consider importance of retaining the social cohesion
at which stage the issues on the development agenda.
risk should be
flagged up to IRH. Risk 2: Upcoming elections in April 2016 that may affect the readiness and
availability of the local and central institutions to participate and prioritize these
issues
Impact Medium
Probability Medium
Countermeasures Regular and systematic cooperation with youth
and CSOs
Knowledge The proposed activities are expected to serve as a vehicle for opening a dialogue
sharing among stakeholders on the specific social cohesion/human rights challenges
affecting young women and men in Kumanovo. The combination of NGOs, youth
Please describe
and media and the innovative youth outlets will provide a unique set of
how the knowledge
opportunities allowing an open dialogue in which new knowledge and ideas can be
generated from the
shared in a constructive environment.
project will be
shared. (Max 200 The youth classroom will serve as an online platform and a multiplier of knowledge
words) sharing. The focus will be on creative online expression through stop-motion
videos, graphically designed media campaigns that will ensure larger online
presence and participation. This will be one of the tools for national scale-up of the
project. The youth classroom will specifically tap into the experiences and
resources of the Social Innovation Hub in Skopje in designing and promoting the
knowledge sharing platform.
Based on the final outcome of the project, UNDP will target its future downstream
interventions in order to better translate the specific youth-led experiences and
recommendations into a knowledge kit to ensure broader outreach to youth and
other local communities.

The lessons learnt captured in a knowledge kit will also be fed into the future youth
policy making processes, thus ensuring that future interventions address the policy
and practice gaps identified in the UNDP-supported National Youth Strategy. New
priority interventions and possibilities for targeted youth and social cohesion
interventions may potentially be identified based on the outcome of the process.

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Budget Price Total Covered
  Administrative costs Unit USD USD* from:
Please provide
Project Specialist (50% of RBEC
below the 1 salary) 12 1,000 12,000 Facility
estimated Office costs (rent, utilities,
budget (in USD) landline, internet, car
with itemized maintenance, e-mail, RBEC
breakdown 2 firewall) 12 250 3,000 Facility
including the 3 Local Transport 12 250 3000 UNDP CO
30% of CO cost- RBEC
sharing. Please 4 Billing and ISS Lump sum 3,000 3,000 Facility
note that the   Subtotal Admin. Costs     21,000  
standard UNDP Planned activities
cost-recovery   2015/2016        
arrangements
regarding ISS 1. Research on youth 1 10,000 10,000 UNDP CO
and DPC apply. Youth Facility (refurbishing RBEC
2. and equipping) Lump sum 14,000 14,000 Facility
Trainings for core group of
young trainers on
intercultural learning and 6 2500 10,000 UNDP CO
human rights (at least one
third of trainers will be
3. young women) 5,000 UNDP CO
Women’s Section
1
(establishment, capacity
building, empowerment
and support activities) RBEC
4. Lump sum 10,500 10,500 Facility
Creative workshops and
public events led by the
core group of young
trainers on promoting
social cohesion through
intercultural learning,
understanding of human
rights issues, women and
gender sensitivity,
promotion of SDGs2 RBEC
5. 12 1,600 19,200 Facility
Mobile Youth Classroom
(online platform –web and
6. mobile app) Lump sum 15,000 15,000 UNDP CO
7. Building ground for Lump sum 10,000 10,000 RBEC
sustainable and long term Facility
cooperation between youth
and local authorities on
local service delivery 5,000 5,000
through Youth volunteer
1
Potential for partnership co-funding arrangements with UNFPA
2
Creative workshops will aim to ensure 50-50% participation between young women and men
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 groups of mixed
background addressing
migrant issues (support to
local services and
community mobilization/
awareness raising) – at
least one third of volunteer
group will be young
women
Materials for RBEC
8. workshops/trainings/events 42 150 6,300 Facility
Knowledge kit
development and RBEC
9. dissemination Lump sum 9,000 9,000 Facility
Publicity, advocacy and
outreach activities
(including media coverage RBEC
10. and design print) Lump sum 8,000 8,000 Facility
  Subtotal Activities costs     122,000
  Total     143,000  

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 Results and Resources Framework
INTENDED OUTPUTS
Output 1:
Establishment of a Youth Facility as
an intercultural learning and
communication platform for
sustainable inter-ethnic dialogue
and social cohesion
Baseline:
Lack of data on youth needs in
cross cultural settings
Low level of activities promoting
social cohesion/human rights
Lack of meaningful activities led by
women promoting social cohesion
Indicators:
 Number of workshops organized
to promote social cohesion
/human rights issues
 Number of people covered in
social cohesion activities
(disaggregated by sex)
 Number of women empowered
Targets:
 At least 10 events/workshops
organized related to social
cohesion/human rights among
youth in Kumanovo
 At least 200 young people
involved in social cohesion
activities
 At least 100 women
empowered to take lead roles
in promoting the social
cohesion agenda
Output 2:
Women’s Section created
(specifically for women and girls
from minority groups) within the
Youth Facility for discussing topics
of interest particularly related to
security and safety
INDICATIVE ACTIVITIES PARTNERS INPUTS
1 Activity Result: Establishment of a Youth
Facility and provision of capacity Municipality of $ 62,575
development to youth in Kumanovo for Kumanovo
improved inter-ethnic dialogue and social Youth CSOs
cohesion Youth informal
groups
 Baseline research on youth needs in
cross cultural settings conducted
 Youth Facility established and functional,
in cooperation with Municipality of
Kumanovo
 Trainings for the core group of young
trainers on intercultural learning and
human rights provided
 Creative workshops and public events
delivered and led by the core group of
young trainers on promoting social
cohesion through intercultural learning,
understanding of human rights issues,
women and gender sensitivity,
promotion of SDGs. The workshops will
also focus, to the extent possible, on
utilization of social innovation tools for
understanding social cohesion issues and
identification of solutions.
Activity Result: Women’s Section within the Municipality of
Youth Facility created and functional Kumanovo $ 22,675
Youth CSOs
 Women’s Corner infrastructure and core Youth informal
functions defined (establishment, groups
capacity building, empowerment and
support activities)
 Creative workshops and public events on
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Baseline: Women/gender empowerment
delivered (focusing initially on role of
Lack of women’s empowerment women in youth support to local services
initiatives to migrants and gradually broadening to
Low level of women in leadership issues of the role of women and girls in
roles local service delivery and local policy
making). The workshops will also focus
to extent possible on utilization of social
Indicators:
innovation tools for understanding social
cohesion issues and identification of
 Number of initiatives
solutions.
organized to promote the role
of women and girls in
promoting social cohesion
 Number of initiatives
developed and executed by
women
 Number of active young
women in the Women’s corner

Targets:
 At least 10 initiatives
organized to promote the role
of women and girls in
promoting social cohesion
 At least 3 initiatives
developed and executed by
women
 At least 50 active young
women in the Women’s corner

Youth volunteer groups addressing Activity Result: Youth volunteer groups Municipality of
migrant issues through support to established and actively involved in local Kumanovo $ 20,375
local services and community service delivery Youth CSOs
mobilization/ awareness raising Youth informal
groups
 Youth volunteer groups initially addressing
Baseline: migrant issues established
 Support provided to local authorities on
Lack of cooperation and cross- priority services to migrants by Youth
ethnic initiatives among youth from volunteer groups thus creating ground for
different ethnic groups sustainable and long term cooperation
between youth and local authorities on
Lack of youth inclusion in local local service delivery through Youth
service delivery volunteer groups of mixed background
addressing migrant issues (support to local
Indicators:
services and community mobilization/
awareness raising)
 Number of active participants
 Community mobilization/ awareness raising
in youth volunteer groups
activities implemented by the youth
(disaggregated by sex )
volunteer groups
 Number of awareness raising
activities implemented relating to

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 migrants
 Number of community
members involved in migrant related
activities
 Number of local services
relating to support to municipality to
address migrant needs

Targets:

 At least 50 active young

women and men part of the volunteer
group
 At least 3 awareness activities
developed and delivered relating to
migrants
 At least 100 community
members involved in migrant related
activities
 At least 3 types of services
relating to support to municipality to
address migrant needs
Activity Result: Knowledge generation, Municipality of
Knowledge kits created on the
codification and scaling up towards Kumanovo $ 37,375
issues of interest of youth (human
rights, social cohesion, youth sustainable nation-wide youth led social Agency of Youth
participation and gender) shared cohesion models and Sport
nationally Youth CSOs
 Mobile Youth Classroom created and Youth informal
functional (online platform– web and groups
Baseline: mobile app) and social innovation Online and print
approaches integrated in the design and media
No integrated and innovative tools implementation.
for learning and participation of
youth in social cohesion issues  Knowledge kits developed and disseminated

Indicators:  Knowledge kit recommendations and lessons

learned shared with policy makers at
 Number of active users of the central and local level
new online platform (disaggregated
by sex )  Publicity, advocacy and outreach activities
 Number of local youth organized
organizations using the new
knowledge kit
 Number of municipalities
trained/informed of the new toolkit

Targets:
 At least 500 young people
actively follow and participate
in the “Mobile Youth
Classroom”
 Knowledge kit created and

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 shared nationally (with at least
10 municipalities)
 At least 10 local youth
organizations use knowledge
kit into their work

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