INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT ON FORMAL AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION SIGNED

Razvojni Centar Za Mlade UPOZ Sporazum 1

Trade union of workers in the administration, judiciary and citizens’ associations of the Republic of Macedonia (UPOZ), represented by president Peco Grujovski and Development Center for Youth from Belgrade, represented by program director Aleksandra Knežević, signed an Agreement on Formal and Technical Cooperation in Niš today. With this agreement, both sides have committed themselves to work on improving the capacity of the trade union both at the national level and in the international field.

After two years of joint activities, at the national and regional level, Development Center for Youth and Trade union UPOZ decided to raise their cooperation to a higher level and sign the Agreement on formal and technical cooperation and joint work in the international field.

The agreement emphasizes the capacity building of trade union members through various trainings, connecting the trade union with relevant international actors, as well as joint project preparation for national, regional and international donors, for the needs of the trade union and its members.

“Trade unions are an important link in civil society and the most organized structure whose capacities need to be properly directed and strengthened in order to better and louder represent the voice of their members and the entire society. We are aware that the basic funds of the union must be used for priority and daily activities, and we want to show that strengthened and with the right support, trade union can get additional funds for important activities, nominating their ideas to the international donor community. Our goal is not to spend, but to create and we will dedicate ourselves to that in the coming period together. As before, Trade union UPOZ will enjoy our full support, especially in the part that refers to more intensive work with women and youth”, says Aleksandra Knežević, program director of Development Center for Youth.

On the other hand, president Peco Grujovski “noted with satisfaction that the cooperation we had in the last two years with Development Center for Youth from Serbia brought the expected results. The signing of the Agreement on formal and technical cooperation, today in Niš, is another confirmation of sincere wishes and intentions to improve that cooperation. With this agreement, the Trade union UPOZ gets a partner with whom it will be able to raise the level of quality and capacity, both of the members themselves and the trade union in general. In this way, a new quality will be provided in the field of education of our membership, which is very important in the work and activities of the trade union. We will work diligently to ensure that this cooperation lasts for a long time in order to jointly achieve the desired goal and in this way especially improve the work of the Youth section and the Women section.”

This cooperation agreement was signed with a validity period of two years, with the possibility of its extension.