04/05/2022
On May 4, 2022, in the Officers' House in Bitola, a ceremonial signing of the agreements for national co-financing of the approved projects was held within the framework of the IPA Program for cross-border cooperation Greece-Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020, among which is our project "Alternative tourist experience - ALTER TRIP”. The event was organized by the Ministry of Local Self-Government, which usually covers 15-20% of the budgets of these projects, and the contracts were signed by Minister Goran Milevski. Among the organizations that received projects within the framework of this program are mostly state institutions, and our association was one of the few non-governmental organizations/citizen associations with one of the smallest budgets. The prsident Dr. Niko Jankov, who signed the co-financing agreement, and project manager Ivona Jankova attended the event as representatives of Mobility Bitola. Each of the representatives of the organizations gave a short presentation on the activities and goals of their projects, and considering that the main goal of our project is accessibility, our project manager emphasized that the very location where the event was held still remains inaccessible. She reminded those present that even at the very entrance to the building, you can enter from all sides only through stairs, and the internal twisted stairs that lead to the upper floor are even more inconvenient. It is clear that in our country most of the buildings are old and built for a different purpose in other times, but practice in the world shows that even in localities that are thousands of years old (like the old city in Jerusalem - remember our article "Israel - a country without barriers"), however, a way was found to make them accessible to everyone, guided by the so-called universal design of all public facilities, which is part of all world and local standards, laws and regulations. That is why the local self-government plays one of the key roles in adjusting the environment so that it is available and accessible to everyone. The representatives of "Mobility Bitola" used the opportunity to talk personally with Minister Milevski, who on his own initiative gave instructions for the next call for grants from the Ministry of Local Self-Government that will be used for the renovation and rehabilitation of the premises of our association. He also accepted the invitation to attend our events, such as the Parade on Shirok Sokak, so it remains to be seen whether he will fulfill his promise. Activities continue.
