Two Horizontal Facility Actions, “Strengthening the protection of the rights of sentenced persons” and “Enhancing Human Rights Policing”, were presented to approximately 30 representatives of the NGO sector in the country. The presentation took place on 21 September 2017 at the EU Info Centre in Skopje.

The event was opened by Mr Nicola Bertolini, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation, Ms Tanja Rakusic-Hadzic, Head of the Criminal Law Co-operation Unit at the Council of Europe, Mr Jovica Stojanovic, Head of the Directorate for Execution of Sanctions within the Ministry of Justice and Mr Sasko Gerasimov, Head of the Sector for Criminal–Operative Matters at the Department for Internal Control, Criminal Investigations and Professional Standards within the Ministry of Internal Affairs.  They all underlined the importance of strengthening the cooperation with the civil sector in the country, further-on, both beneficiaries expressed their readiness to increase the involvement of the relevant NGOs in their everyday activities. Mr Petar Jordanoski, Senior Project Officer of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje, presented the expected results, achievements, challenges and the way forward in implementing the two actions.

The presentation was followed by an open discussion with the civil sector representatives on enhancing their involvement in the Actions’ activities. As a conclusion, it was agreed that all interested NGOs, present at the event, will submit to the CoE Programme Office in Skopje proposals on expertise and additional assistance they could provide to the beneficiary, taking into consideration the overall aim to be achieved under the two Actions.