Xhemail Çupi, PhD - Lecturer at UBT College in Prishtina, Kosovo, Trajçe Dukovski n.3. , xhemail.cupi@ubt-uni.net
Fisnik Muça, PhD - Administrative officer in the Ministry of Justice of Macedonia, 29 Noemvri n.5 fisnik.muca@hotmail.com
Abstract
The growth of caivil society organizations and associations that are independent and their increasing participation in political processes, has led the civil sector to play an important role in the public policy processes. Through this research work, we aim to highlight the mass impact of a coalition of civil sector organizations in a concrete public policy, compare to the impact of a single one, namely we will elaborate the impact of unified non-governmental associations in Debar in encouragement its sister organizations abroad, against a government project for the construction of a hydropower plant using the Radika River water called “Field of Lukova”. The voice of the protests in the protection of biodiversity organized in Debar as a result of the widespread involvement of local organizations, raised the collective civic awareness with protests through other actors in other cities not only in the region as it was in Skopje, Tirana, Peshkopia but also outside it country, as was the protests organized before the UN headquarters in New York, US and the protest in Mestre, Italy, organized by the Diaspora, but by not avoidance in this process also the role of other actors such as the media and social networks. All these non-governmental actors influenced that even the local government and the Municipal Council not to remain indifferent but to support the civil sector and to react against the financing of this government project, although the Mayor and the Municipal Council leadership of the Municipality of Debar are the structure of a Government partner implicated in this public policy process.
Keywords: “Field of Lukova”, Radika River, civil society, public policy, protests.
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