Centre for Intercultural Dialogue

This youth-led citizens association teaches the skills necessary to build intercultural understanding by training young people from diverse backgrounds in project management, leadership, human rights through theatre, and each other's languages.

Overview

The Centre for Intercultural Dialogue (CID) is a newly established non-governmental young citizens association that has the following priority areas in the youth work field: non-formal education, youth participation and inter-cultural dialogue & understanding.

Intercultural dialogue is an important way to achieve cohesion in multi-cultural communities as well as to promote solidarity and cooperation. When founded the Centre for Intercultural Dialogue's mission was to improve intercultural dialogue through participation and exchanges, which the young team assessed as the most appropriate approaches for the post-conflict area of North Macedonia.

CID manages and supports the Local Youth Council in Kumanovo; it is a European Voluntary Service (EVS) hosting organisation which means that young people from other European countries can work with the CID team in bridging the divide between the students in Kumanovo for a period of 6-12 months. For more information about this service please check the EU website where CID’s reference is 2006-SI-68.

CID also regularly organises international training and exchanges for young people.

CID believes that it is always important to ensure active participation of the organisation's target group in the decision making of the organisation. Therefore CID is mainly run by young people and the average age of the project team is 22. Also good promotion and partnerships are the best way forward for a newly created organisation to become active and sustainable. That is why CID has created several cross-border, regional, international as well as local partnerships that help the organisation in capacity building, fundraising and exchange of experience.

What Services Are Provided?

• Advice and mentorship in the organisation of events such as local open air cultural activities for young people during summer, including concerts, exhibitions and graffiti writing;
• Training courses for youth participation, project design and management as well as use of EU funding;
• Training courses for promotion of human rights using the Forum Theatre;
• Inter-cultural language courses and leadership camps;
• The CID pool of youth inter-cultural trainers, available upon request to all interested local, regional or international youth groups and organisations; and
• Information for youth via an online database of over 200 members from the area.

Geographical Area of Operation

• Priority area 1: Kumanovo region;
• Priority area 2: National level in Macedonia and cross border level;
• Priority area 3: pan-European work.

Funding Resources

Mainly EU funding (through various programmes) but also local and regional funding and project based funding from Forum SYD (Sweden)and the East West institute.

What Further Information Would You Like?

Sources of funding, partnership proposals, and results and reports from relevant research, especially on methodologies of youth work.

What New Contacts Would You Like To Make?

Funding sources and partnership possibilities

Associated Organisations

• Local level: CID is a member of the youth organisation coalition for creating the local youth strategy and the youth council;
• National level CID cooperates with HERA, Institute for Sociological and Political research; and
• International level: CID cooperates with Generator Vranje- Serbia, EcoNova- BiH, Greek Youth Net- Hellas, Junak- Scouts Movement of the Czech Republic, Youth Association in Rzeszov Poland, CTP- Greece, Euro-Mediterranean Network for Youth Trafficking Prevention- Bulgaria, Pro Futuro- Latvia.

CID is working on becoming a member of international networks such as UNITED and SCI and aims to create sustainable partnerships for multiple projects and programmes rather than single project based partnerships.