Organisation overview

Centre for Civil and Human Rights (CCHR)

Ninoslav Mladenovik

Partizanski Odredi Blvd. No. 48/21

1000 Skopje

Macedonia

+389 2 3060 157

+389 2 3068 306

English; Macedonian; Albanian

Non governmental

1-8

9-20

Advocacy, Human rights, Research, Sexual education, Testing and counselling

National

General public, Men having sex with men (MSM), NGOs, People living with HIV (PLHIV), Sex workers, Youth

National, Regional, European

International donors

The Centre for Civil and Human Rights is a civil association, formed in 2002 in the Republic of Macedonia, exclusively devoted to serving the needs and advocating on behalf of L/G/B/T community. We are a non-profit and non-governmental association, organised on the principle of voluntary membership. Our members allied their forces in order to establish mutual cooperation in the area of civil and human rights, and in association with other local and international organisations to further our common goals. We are lawyers, journalists, economists, political scientists, psychologists, social care workers, and other dedicated professionals of different nationalities and diverse backgrounds. Our vision is to create in Macedonia a modern civil society in which L/G/B/T community is recognised as equal to the rest of the society regardless of its sexual preferences and in which L/G/B/T rights and freedoms are legally secured and publicly supported. Our mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of L/G/B/T people through information, education, outreach, advocacy, public policy work and maintenance of a nationwide resource and support network. Our mission is not ideologically based, but it relies on the concept of diversity and building a culture of respect for the L/G/B/T people.

Promoting and developing multicultural civil society; Reinforcing the existing democratic structure; Enhancing and strengthening the principles and institutions supportive of L/G/B/T people; Establishing a systematic legal approach to deal with discrimination issues; Extending the coverage of the human rights laws to the L/G/B/T people; Locating the basic obstacles in the public understanding of the right to choice of one’s own sexuality; Predicting the possible behaviour of different groups of people towards L/G/B/T individuals in case of a more open pro-L/G/B/T campaigning and in case of public manifestation of sexual orientation; Helping the victims of discrimination, those already identified and the potential ones; Informing the L/G/B/T community about the rights and freedoms which have been guaranteed to them, and in such way animating them to want to be protected; Finding out specific mechanisms for proactive participation of L/G/B/T people in the accomplishment of the objectives mentioned above.

- In cooperation with Macedonian Helsinki Committee conducted the first LGBT research in Macedonia (2002) - Organization of the first international LGBT conference in Macedonia (2003) - Organization of the first LGBT movie festival in Macedonia (2004) - Recipient of the IGLCN Grizzly Bear Award in co-share with Queer Zagreb(2004) - In cooperation with Macedonian Helsinki Committee, lodged appeal to the ECHR in Strasbourg and achieved change of the discriminatory legislation regarding the employment of LGBT individuals in the Macedonian military service (2005) - Through its advocacy and public policy initiatives managed to provoke public statement by the Macedonian Health Chamber for the first time officially disregarding homosexuality from the list of mental disturbances in Macedonia (2005) - Through its advocacy and lobbying initiatives managed to provoke public statement by the Macedonian Prime-minister for the first time officially putting the question of the protection and promotion of civil and human rights of LGBT people on the agenda of the Macedonian Government (2005-2006) - Publishing the first LGBT magazine in Macedonia (2006-2007) - Upon invitation of the Macedonian Government, actively participated in drafting the National Youth Strategy