Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, in cooperation with the NGO “Common values” and the former NGO Support Centers is organizing workshops for promotion of the publication “Guide to the national legislation in the sphere of the use of languages of the ethnic communities in the Republic of Macedonia”,

published in the languages of the communities in the Republic of Macedonia and in English language. The workshops on the topic of “Use of the languages of the ethnic communities on a local level” will be held according to the following schedule:

• September 1, 2009 (Tuesday) from 12:00 to 14:40 in the Teteks House of ARM, Tetovo;
• September 2, 2009 (Wednesday) from 11:00 to 13:40, Hotel “Kichevo”, Kichevo;
• September 2, 2009 (Wednesday) from 16:00 to 18:30 in the amphitheatre of the Culture centre in Debar;
• September 3, 2009 (Thursday) from 12:00 to 14:40 in the hall of the Kumanovo municipality.

Keynote speech will be delivered by Darko Janevski, author of the publication and representatives from the Secretariat for implementation of the Framework agreement. The experiences from the application of the languages of the ethnic communities on a local level will be discussed by representatives of the local authorities from the region and the Deputy Ombudsman from the appropriate regional office.

The Guide and the workshops for its promotion are part of the project “Living in a multiethnic community – citizens with equal rights, opportunities and protection”, financed by the European Commission and FOSIM. The goal of the project is to improve the status of the minority groups and to strengthen the capacities for active participation in the creation of the public policies on a local and national level.