A group comprised of 26 NGOs, CSOs and higher education institutions advocating for environmental protection, in cooperation with the State Environmental Inspectorate (SEI), formed a Civic Inspection Council (CIC). CIC was established in response to the need for more efficient cooperation between SEI and civil society and citizens, as a central institution for control and penalizing pollution and environmental destruction.

Forging ahead in their cooperation, CIC and SEI will be guided by the need to continuously promote environmental protection and implement the rule of law principle. Civic activism should enable quicker and more effective handling of serious environmental pollution and the insufficient capacity of institutions to manage pollution due to understaffing of inspectors and trained personnel. Hence, the cooperation between CIC and SEI should contribute to the exchange of knowledge and experience, but also to greater civic influence on the Inspectorate and other public institutions to improve inspections and reduce pollution.

With the support of the Civic Inspection Council, the Environmental Inspectorate will have the opportunity to use the capacities of non-governmental organizations and higher education institutions that are members of CIC and to share information and expertise in order to solve current problems in environmental monitoring. The cooperation envisages CIC and SEI jointly analyzing and proposing amendments to certain laws and improving inspections, as well as encouraging debate on various issues related to environmental protection. The Civic Inspection Council should have insight and opportunity to influence the work of the SEI, to use its expertise in certain areas to resolve complex cases, but also to submit requests, objections and lawsuits to certain institutions and high officials who do not act according to laws for environmental protection and to inform the citizens about that.

By promoting the Civic Inspection Council, the campaign “Clear it Up” marks World Water Day – March 22. Valuing Water, which is the motto of this year’s World Day, fully corresponds to the goals of “Clear it Up” for the urgent need for protection and sustainable use of water and for more effective inspection of the depletion of natural resources in Macedonia.

The Civic Inspection Council for cooperation with the SEI, is established at the initiative of the Green Institute within the “Clear it Up” campaign, implemented by the Institute of Communication Studies and financially supported by the British Embassy in Skopje.

Founding organizations of the Civil Inspection Council:

1. Green Institute
2. Institute of Communication Studies
3. O2 Initiative
4. Eko svest (Eco-sense)
5. Macedonian Young Lawyers Association
6. Florozon – Center for Environmental Democracy
7. EA Zdrava kotlina (Healthy Valley) – Strumica
8. Eco Valley
9. Association for Protection and Promotion of the Environment Eco Life – Kavadarci
10. Institute of Biology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
11. Macedonian Center for International Cooperation
12. Ecologists’ Movement of Macedonia
13. ED Villa Zora
14. European Policy Institute
15. Center for Economic Analyses
16. Center for Legal Research and Analysis
17. Civil Society Organization Eco Logic
18. Resource Environmental Center (REC) – N. Macedonia
19. Art Point Gumno
20. Association for Social Innovation and Sustainable Development RADAR
21. Good Earth
22. NGO Green.org
23. Human rights journalists
24. Water4changes – Global Shapers Skopje Hub
25. Knowledge Management Center
26. National Roma Centrum