The Center for Change Management (CCM) is an independent and non-profit think tank organization dedicated to fostering good governance and public administration reform through research, analysis, debates and direct support to institutions in building and strengthening their capacities. CCM's research, which has a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach and thorough methodology, represents a serious basis for improving public policies, the management of institutions and organizational processes. Key areas in which CCM works are: Good governance and public administration reform (transparency, accountability, public services and public policies), optimization and digitalization of processes and systems, introduction of quality standards in operations, parliamentary democracy and European integration.
More about us keyboard_arrow_rightOn September 25 and 26, a discussion was held in Veles to note the challenges in the Law on Public Sector Employees and the Law on Administrative Servants. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Public Administration, the Agency for Administration and the State Administrative Inspectorate. The meeting was organized by the Center for Change Management within the framework of the project "Promoting Good Governance and Reforms in Public Administration" supported by the National Endowment for Democracy NED. At the meeting, in an atmosphere of constructive dialogue, possible solutions that will be defined in the by-laws arising from the Law on Public Sector Employees and the Law on Administrative Servants were discussed. The discussion was aimed at noting the key elements that should be part of the by-laws, and on the basis of which a strategic approach to human resources management in the administration will be ensured, based on merit, clear and precise criteria for employment, promotion and mobility in the public service, appropriate indicators for measuring the effects of the work and the achievement of institutional priorities, as well as defining the mechanisms for responsibility, accountability and transparency in the proceedings. The meeting was preceded by the analysis of the Public Sector Employees and Administrative Officials Act (ZAS) and the Public Sector Employees and Administrative Officials Act (ZVJS) prepared by the CUP, which you can read at the following link: https://cup.org.mk/publication/policy-paper-analysis-of-laws-on-public-sector-employees-and-administrative-officials
The subject of this analysis are the new solutions in the Law on Employees in the Public Sector and the Law on Administrative Officials. The purpose of the analysis is to make a comparative overview of the solutions in the previous and new laws that regulate the area of the public sector, and to assess the points of progress or regress. This overview is a condensed text of the long-term efforts and opinions of the Center for Change Management (CUP) towards improving the system that regulates issues in the area of public administration, which are presented in the analyses, policy documents or reports that the CUP has prepared, namely: Policy Paper – Recommendations for Improving the Legal Framework for Public Administration[1] Expert commentary and proposals on the draft laws regulating employment in the public sector, published on ENER on 27.12.2024[2] Analysis of corruption risks in public sector employment procedures[3] Analysis of discretionary powers in the appointment and appointment of management structures in state administration bodies[4] Ethics and inconsistencies in the work of state administration bodies[5] Report on monitoring employment and the manner of allocation and implementation of budgets by public sector institutions[6] What are citizens interested in? Report on monitoring the implementation of the law on free access to public information[7] Type of education - the only criterion for employment in the administration?[8] Analysis of the Law on Employees in the Public Sector[9] Analysis of the Law on Administrative Officials[10] Analysis of the modalities for establishing an Academy for professional development of administrative officials[11]. The analysis focuses on the most significant changes brought about by the new legal solutions in terms of public sector organization, human resources management, employment and promotion based on merit, accountability, results-based management, etc. The analysis does not address in detail the provisions regulating salaries and other remuneration of administrative officials. It must be noted that in many areas of human resource management, and especially in the processes of selection, employment and promotion, an in-depth analysis cannot be made at this stage because there are no by-laws developed that should regulate this matter in more detail. Hence, the opinions and recommendations given in this analysis should be taken into account when creating by-laws, in order to support the principles of good governance and merit-based management. The views and recommendations presented in this document were the subject of discussion with the competent institutions in the process of preparing the legal solutions, some of the proposals of CUP are part of the previous versions of the laws, and some have been accepted and incorporated into the new legal regulations. This analysis refers to the solutions in the laws after their adoption in the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia. The comparative analysis of the previous and new Law on Employees in the Public Sector Employees (LEPS) focuses on the following points: Application of the law, Principles of law, Classification of jobs in the public sector, Employment and promotion. The comparative analysis of the new and previous Law on Administrative Officials (LAO) focuses on the following points: Work experience in the profession, Status and competencies of the Agency for Administration, Category "A" Secretaries, Cabinet officials and external advisors, Selection and employment of administrative officials, Promotion and evaluation of administrative officials, Professional development and training, Disciplinary and material responsibility, Salaries, allowances and supplements, Code of ethics. The tabular presentation of the previous and new legal solutions, accompanied by the appropriate opinion and position of CUP, provides a clearer and systematized presentation, which makes it easier for readers to follow and understand; and it is contained in Annex 1 and Annex 2. The analysis was prepared within the framework of the project "Promoting good governance and public administration reforms" funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). [1] https://cup.org.mk/publication/policy-paper-recommendations-for-improving-the-legal-framework-for-public-administration [2] https://cup.org.mk/publication/expert-commentary-and-proposals-on-the-draft-laws-regulating-employment-in-the-public-sector-published-on-ener-on-27-12-2024 [3] https://cup.org.mk/publication/analysis-of-corruption-risks-in-public-sector-employment-procedures [4] https://cup.org.mk/publication/analysis-of-discretionary-powers-in-procedures-for-appointing-managerial-structures-in-state-institutions [5] https://cup.org.mk/publication/ethics-and-inconsistencies-in-the-work-of-state-administration-bodies [6] https://cup.org.mk/publication/report-from-monitoring-of-employment-allocation-and-implementation-of-budgets-in-public-institutions [7] https://cup.org.mk/publication/what-are-the-citizens-interested-in-report-on-the-implementation-of-the-law-on-free-access-to-public-information [8] https://cup.org.mk/publication/type-of-education-the-only-criteria-for-employment-in-the-public-administration [9][9] https://cup.org.mk/publication/analysis-of-the-law-on-public-sector-employees [10] https://cup.org.mk/publication/analysis-of-the-law-on-administrative-servants [11] https://cup.org.mk/publication/analysis-of-the-modalities-for-establishing-training-academy-for-administrative-servants
The Center for Change Management (CCM) begins the implementation of the Project: "Support for the Establishment of the Academy for Professional Development and Training of Administrative Servants" supported by the Embassy of the Republic of France in the Republic of North Macedonia and in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration. The project officially started with the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Public Administration and the Embassy of France in North Macedonia. The implementation of the activities began with the holding of the first meeting of the working group at the premises of the Ministry of Public Administration. The working group is comprised of experts from the Center for Change Management as well as officials from the Ministry with many years of experience in the field. The working group will aim to draft the key acts for the establishment of the Academy, and the coordinator of the activities is the Center for Change Management. The project will contribute to public administration reforms through capacity building, and its implementation includes two components: Support for the establishment of an Academy for training and professional development of administrative officials within the Ministry of Public Administration and Sharing experience and developing modern pilot training programs. Additionally, experts from the National Institute of Public Administration of France (INSP) and the Directorate General for Administration and Public Service (DGAFP) will participate in the project by sharing the experiences and expertise of the French administration.
Our goal as an organization is to contribute to positive changes in society through better public policies.
Our research and analysis relate to the following areas:
This project aims to contribute to the reform of public administration by supporting the establishment of the Academy for Professional Development and Training of Administrative Servants. The implementation of the project is supported by the Embassy of the Republic of France in the Republic of North Macedonia, and the project activities will be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration. The project also aims to strengthen the capacities of administrative officials by piloting training programs for public administration. Foreign expertise will be involved in the implementation of the project, experts from the National Institute of Public Administration of France (INSP) and the Directorate General for Administration and Public Service (DGAFP) will share experiences and good practices from the French administration.
Period: 01.08.2025 - 30.07.2026
Donor:
Embassy of the Republic of France in North Macedonia
In the second phase in the period from 2024 to 2026, the project aims to improve gender equality and gender responsive budgeting (GRB) in North Macedonia through continuous support and development of the Resource Center for Gender Responsive Policymaking and Budgeting. This initiative, led by UN Women and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP), and implemented by the Center for Change Management (CCM), aims to improve the capacity of civil servants in integrating gender perspectives in policy-making processes. and budgeting. The main objective is to ensure that government policies and budgets reflect and respond to the needs of both women and men, particularly focusing on the most vulnerable groups.
Period: 01.06.2024 - 01.06.2026
Donor:
UN Women
The project “A Cross Regional Predictive Model for Youth Policy Shaping - Youth Observers” is a 24-month initiative aiming to create a new model for youth engagement in politics and society named “Y-Os” (Youth Observers). This project includes participants from Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Italy, encouraging policy dialogue, cooperation, networking, and the exchange of best practices. It aims to raise the capacities of youth and promote strategic cooperation between youth organizations across these regions.
Period: 31.03.2024 - 31.03.2026
Donor:
European Union
The UNICEF country programme 2020-2025 focuses on policies relevant to children, primarily health, social protection and education, and the porposed collaboration falls within the expected outcomes related to health. UNICEF detected that "in the health sector, there has been insufficient emphasis on preventative and primary care, and the government has mainly focused on building hospitals, buying expensive equipment, and benefiting from fraudulent procurements. The input by CCM will cover aspects related to institutional organisation and development, human capital development, more specifically systematization of working positions, job descriptions and competences (general and professional), as well as performance management and appraisal. Improved functioning of the Patronage Service as part of the health sector will significantly indirectly contribute to the wellbeing of children in the country.
Period: 01.11.2021 - 01.06.2022
Donor:
UNICEF
The focus of this project will be to further digitalise services in the education sector, which are used frequently and can have a larger impact both on the users, and the MES as a service provider. The project will encompass full digitalisation of these services (reaching transactional level according to EU benchmarks), providing support in reorganising the internal processes in the MES for these services, building capacities of the administration in the MES for administering the services, and designing and delivering promotional campaign to motivate the relevant user groups in using the e-services.
Period: 01.10.2021 - 31.03.2022
Donor:
This project is funded by the Government of the United Kingdom, through the British Embassy Skopje
The impact of the project will be to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the MoD through functional public procurements’ management. In the mid and long-term, the developed e-system for management of public procurements should enable timely planning and preparation of procurement and successful implementation of tender procedures with standardized documents, while minimising the risk of corruption and conflict of interest. The actual public procurement process is undertaken by the Bureau for Public Procurement, so this project will improve the planning and coordination of procurements.
Period: 15.09.2021 - 31.03.2022
Donor:
This project is funded by the Government of the United Kingdom, through the British Embassy Skopje
This project will address the challenges and the future development for 9 women owned businesses, affected by the Covid-19 economic downfall. They will go through a process of structuring and restructuring their business model, some of them (informal businesses) formalizing activities especially those in the field of the agricultural sector. Not only that, know-how techniques that will be developed and knowledge and skills improved but also woman will be encourage to modify and introduce innovate products and services. Furthermore, innovative manufacturing and selling techniques will be introduced, with the sole purpose of strengthening, improving the sustainability and profitability of the businesses. Also, progress in digital skills will be introduced, especially since the coronavirus crisis has shown that adequate digital skills are crucial for the business to be able to connect and adapt to the new digital economy.
Furthermore, the project will be focused on creating policies and measures for alleviation of the economic consequences arisen form the COVID-19 crisis specifically considering women owned businesses and women entrepreneurs, as one of the most vulnerable group to the health crisis. By the end of the project, it is expected measures and different policy changes to be proposed to the local and central governmental bodies with all the activities to be undertaken in the next 12 months
Period: 15.07.2021 - 15.10.2022
Donor:
The Balkan Trust for Democracy
The Center for Change Management is supporting SIGMA Mission for annual assessment of public administration in the Republic of North Macedonia for the year 2021, by providing local expertise and logistics of the staff and international experts engaged by SIGMA. The activities inlude support of the Ministry of Information Society and Administration in organization and coordination of meeting with relevant institutions, providing relevant documents, review and assessment of submitted documentation by institutions and support in preparation of the report by SIGMA.
Period: 15.03.2021 - 30.06.2021
Donor:
SIGMA - OECD
Period: 15.03.2021 - 30.06.2021
Donor:
SIGMA-OECD
The project Youth involvement in a constructive dialogue: Communist Past in Contemporary Western Balkan (YOU-WB) is a project funded by Europe for Citizens Program, European Remembrance.
It involves students, practitioners, and academicians from Albania, Macedonia, France, and Italy and aims is to foster national and transnational youth activist's dialogue about the reflection of past communist regimes in contemporary Western Balkan (WB).
The project activities are envisaging different thematic 4 workshops in 4 different countries tackling the topics that reflect the past communist regime (such as rules, norms, rights, practices, and customs); the national Identities and collective memory in an enlarged Europe; political culture and social changes in post-communist transition, finalizing with the conference that will focus on the Post-Communism and Democracy in WB.
The project is a partnership among Center for Comparative and International Study (project leader) CCIS; Mesdheu Center (MC) Qendra SHKENCE DHE INOVACION PER ZHVILLIM (SCiDEV) (from Albania); Center for Change Management (from North Macedonia); Patrimoine sans Frontières (PSF) (France) and PERIPLI - Culture e Società Euromediterranee (Italy)
Period: 01.02.2021 - 01.07.2022
Donor:
Europe for Citizens Program
The institutional grant is awarded by the Civica Mobilitas programme financed by the Swiss agency for development and cooperation (SDC) represented by the Swiss embassy in the Republic of North Macedonia. The grant is intended to support CCM in conducting activities for institutional development and organizational strengthening.
Period: 01.07.2019 - 30.06.2022
Donor:
CIVICA MOBILITAS programme - Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
The PSP will support the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia (the Assembly) independence efforts through consensus-building, structural reform, and capacity building in the Assembly’s institutional development; its legislative and oversight roles; and its institutional transparency and accountability.
The PSP will be implemented by the National Democratic Institute, Center for Change Management and the Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis Skopje to support the Assembly’s strategic planning; human resources management reforms; improved regulatory impact assessment and procurement processes; commitment to open data, and, by gauging public opinion and monitoring reform efforts, including greater civic engagement in policy-making processes.
Period: 01.07.2018 - 31.08.2027
Donor:
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Platform for monitoring pre-election commitments - odgovornavlada.mk
Portal for women entrepreneurship - womenpoweron.mk
National open data portal - data.gov.mk
Web portal for monitoring results in good governance of the municipalities - оpstina.mk
Web portal for connecting SMS with multi-national companies - kompanii.mk
Web portal for investigative stories - istrazi-fakti.org.mk
Web portal for assessing public services - javni-uslugi.mk