On December 1st, as co-coordinator of the working group for Access to Justice within the process of preparing the National Action Plan for Open Government Partnership (OGP) 2024-2026, ESE organized a working meeting for development of specific commitments related to access to justice for vulnerable groups. Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), and civil society organizations Macedonian Young Lawyers Association (MYLA) and HOPS, attended the meeting.

Prior to the meeting, in the period between August and October, representatives of CSOs prepared three draft commitments aimed at improving access to justice for vulnerable groups of citizens, which were submitted to the relevant ministries before the event. Two of the commitments, initiated by MYLA and joined by HOPS, focused on simplifying the procedure for obtaining personal identification documents and facilitating the process of registering residence for vulnerable groups of citizens. The commitment prepared by ESE pertained to increasing the prevention of domestic violence through the education of practitioners from institutions and the judiciary, as well as the implementation of a national campaign to improve public understanding of the nature of domestic violence and legal mechanisms for protection.

After the presentation of the draft commitments, representatives of the relevant ministries provided their comments and suggestions for their finalization. Additionally, representatives of the MIA informed the working group members about changes and amendments to the Law on Identity Cards aimed at improving the procedure for registering residence and issuing identity cards for vulnerable groups of citizens. It was agreed that the commitments would be further discussed at the ministry level and finalized before the adoption of the National Action Plan for Open Government Partnership (OGP) 2024-2026 at the beginning of 2024.