The Association for emancipation, solidarity and equality of women - ESE develops and assists women's and civic leadership for development and realization of human rights and social justice in our society.

To reach our goals we deploy various approaches such as: Budget monitoring and analysis; human rights monitoring and provision of assistance and information.

We advocate creation of budgets designed to meet the needs of the citizens, efficient use of available funds and consistent implementation of programmes and policies in the area of health care. We have improved this approach with the use of community monitoring through which we have mobilized the population and increased their knowledge of rights to health. We thus make it possible for the citizens to assess independently the work of health authorities and health care professionals, and in addition, we stimulate autonomous representation of their interest at a local and national level. We work in parallel to enhancing the level of transparency and accountability of public institutions, and in particular of institutions and facilities which are part of our health care system.

We monitor the degree of implementation of international obligations we have assumed and we document the identified areas of concern and recommendations thereto for the purposes of reporting to the international bodies responsible for human rights. We thus influence the changes and improvements in the laws and policies as well as the setting of higher standards of conduct.

We make possible a relevant and timely legal and paralegal protection and we inform and transfer knowledge to the citizens about the possibilities for protection of their rights.

What are the activities of the Association ESE regarding fiscal transparency and accountability of public institutions:

Transparency – openness in the procedure of planning, creation and implementation o state policies and in particular transparency of planning and execution of public finances is the key element of good governance. The budgetот is one of the most important documents and it is a lynchpin for all current government policies implemented through the execution of the budget. Budget transparency is defined as timely and systematic disclosure of all relevant fiscal information. 

ESE believes that  transparencyа is not obtained but created. One state will reach a high level of democratic governance when it will achieve a true transition from a conservative to an open government and the citizens will have the opportunity and the possibility to gain knowledge of the data regarding the activities of the state related to the money the citizens invest. The citizens will thus be informed as to how their elected representatives operate and what it is that they do and they will be able to understand the decisions made, exert an influence in policy adoption, participate in the design and in particular develop trust in the government with a feeling that they are equal members of the society in which they live.

Budget transparency and accountability should be a feature of every democratic state. A low level of transparency and accountability of the institutions of the state provides a stimulus to the associations of citizens, international institutions, experts and others to undertake activities and initiate modifications of the practices and operations of state institutions. Along those lines as a result of increasing closeness and decreasing level of transparency in the operations of the state institutions of the Republic of Macedonia, ESE employs various methods of assessment of the current state of affairs and trends in the Republic of Macedonia and engages in a series of activities aimed at improving and promoting the principles of Budgettransparency and practicing the right to information and participation in the work of public institutions, thus ensuring the respect thereof. 

We do all this by assessing the degree to which the widely accepted principles of operation and disclosure of budget documents are respected; we encourage transparent operation of state institutions by regularly practicing the mechanism of access to information of public character; we monitor the activities undertaken by other states with respect to enhancing their transparency of budget operation; we monitor the development of policies in the Republic of Macedonia concerning the transparency of operations and assess the degree of delivery on the obligations assumed concerning the transparency of operations; we inform the general public about the state of affairs in this subject area and their rights in this field; we assess the degree of participation of citizens in the work of public institutions and we encourage autonomous demands for inclusion and initiation of changes in the work of public institutions; we are a part of international movements for budget transparency; we are continuously building our capacities and the capacities of other civil society organizations.

We pay particular attention to transparent operations of the institutions in the health care system of the Republic of Macedonia and all other institutions which are involved in the operations of health care institutions. We dedicate attention to the participation of the citizens in the decision making processes and local budget processes.

Read more about ESE on the following link: www.esem.org.mk.