Macedonia

Since 1995, ISC has worked with the people of Macedonia to help them build a strong and stable nonprofit sector that would be able to serve ordinary citizens and represent their interests. At the same time, we have worked at the grassroots level to help community groups work alongside government and business to solve pressing local problems.

Over the years, ISC has given grants, training, and assistance to welll over 300 nonprofit organizations throughout Macedonia and helped grassroots community groups address a wide range of issues. Today, we are working with a core group of nonprofits to help them become strong leaders that can support the sector as a whole long into the future.

Tangible Results

• We have worked with several Roma (formerly called Gypsy) organizations and communities to help them overcome extreme poverty, lack of education, discrimination, and poor living conditions. Today, we are helping two Roma-staffed nonprofits, one that advocates on behalf of Roma people, and another that provides support to other nonprofits in the area.
• As the number of people infected with HIV rapidly grew in Macedonia, ISC helped two nonprofits, HOPS and HERA, form a nationwide coalition that created the country's first national strategy on HIV/AIDS and went on to win a $6.8 million grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
• In 2003, ISC's Macedonian staff formed a new nonprofit, the Center for Institutional Development, that helps nonprofit organizations and local communities achieve social change. Today, the center is promoting domestic philanthropy as part of ISC's current program to strengthen civil society in Macedonia.