North Macedonia: U.S. Government Has Provided Funding to Support Democracy Activities
Released: 2019-10-03T00:00:00

Letter

Background

U.S.–North Macedonia Relations

The United States has maintained a cooperative relationship with North Macedonia across a broad range of political, economic, cultural, military, and social issues since North Macedonia gained its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. The United States formally recognized North Macedonia in 1994, and the countries established full diplomatic relations in 1995. Following a civil conflict between the country’s ethnic Albanian minority and the Macedonian majority in 2001, the United States and the EU mediated a resolution and supported efforts to agree to a peaceful, political solution to the crisis, known as the Ohrid Framework Agreement. Figure 1 shows Macedonia’s location in southeastern Europe. corridor from Western and Central Europe to the Aegean Sea

2,118,945 (146th largest in the world, 2018 $31.03 billion gross domestic product in 2017

22.4 percent unemployment rate (2017 est.)

Macedonian, 64.2 percent; Albanian, 25.2 percent; Turkish, 3.9 percent; Romani, 2.7 percent; Serb, 1.8 percent; other, 2.2 percent (2002 est.)

In 2011, USAID and State assessed that North Macedonia’s conservative party, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization–Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (known as VMRO-DPMNE, or VMRO) was consolidating political power when it became the ruling party in 2006. USAID and State found that government control over North Macedonia’s judiciary, Parliament, media, civil society, and local government was increasing.

In December 2012, security personnel ejected members of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), the main opposition party, from the Parliament building, along with journalists who had been observing the session, after SDSM members protested VMRO’s proposed budget. SDSM boycotted Parliament for approximately 2 months after this incident but returned in March 2013, when the parties reached an agreement. In May 2014, SDSM boycotted Parliament again, accusing VMRO of having violated the country’s electoral code in April 2014 elections, in which VMRO retained its parliamentary majority.

In December 2014, USAID concluded that inadequate mechanisms for competition and political accountability represented the primary democracy and governance problems in North Macedonia. USAID noted, among other things, that the ruling party had deployed public resources and control of the media to limit competition; captured executive, legislative, and judicial institutions; and put pressure on, and excluded, civil society.

North Macedonia’s 2015 Political Crisis

In February 2015, the leader of SDSM began releasing phone conversations allegedly recorded by the government’s counterintelligence service that revealed widespread corruption and state capture by the ruling party, VMRO, triggering a political crisis. (See fig. 2 for a timeline of the crisis.) Street protests followed these leaks. The four main political parties invited the United States and EU to facilitate negotiations to broker a peaceful resolution to the crisis, known as the Przino Agreement, in June 2015. The parties agreed to, among other things, hold free and fair elections by the end of April 2016.

After two failed attempts to hold elections in early 2016, the United States and EU convened North Macedonia’s political parties for another round of negotiations in the summer of 2016. The parties reached agreement on a number of key reforms and set the conditions for parliamentary elections by the end of 2016. These elections took place on December 11, 2016, without a clear majority winner. Although SDSM leader Zoran Zaev formed a majority coalition in February 2017, then-President Ivanov refused to give Zaev the mandate to form a new government until May 2017, following a violent storming of Parliament by hundreds of protesters in April. In May 2017, President Ivanov authorized SDSM to form a government with a coalition of ethnic Albanian parties.

The new coalition government expressed support for North Macedonia’s accession to the EU and membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On February 12, 2019, the Republic of Macedonia formally changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, ending a longstanding dispute over its name with Greece, which had for years exercised its veto power in NATO to block North Macedonia’s membership (see the text box for details of North Macedonia’s NATO aspirations and name dispute with Greece). On February 6, 2019, NATO members signed an accession protocol with North Macedonia, paving the way for North Macedonia to become the 30th member of NATO. The EU states also opened the path to potential EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia in June 2019, contingent on the country’s full implementation of its agreement with Greece and its demonstrated progress in implementing EU-recommended reforms. However, the EU postponed the decision until no later than October 2019. On February 15, 2019, the U.S. government recognized North Macedonia’s name change.

North Macedonia’s NATO Aspirations and Name Dispute with Greece In 2008, having determined that North Macedonia met North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership criteria, NATO allies decided that North Macedonia would be invited to join NATO as soon as North Macedonia and Greece, a NATO member, resolved a dispute regarding North Macedonia’s name. A brief timeline of this dispute follows. 1991: The “Republic of Macedonia” declared its independence from the former Yugoslavia. Greece objected to this name, viewing “Macedonia” as representing territorial claims against Greece, which has a northern province by the same name. Because Greece has veto power in NATO, it was able to prevent the Republic of Macedonia from joining the organization. 1995: Greece and the Republic of Macedonia reached an interim accord in which Greece agreed not to block applications by the Republic of Macedonia to international organizations if made under the name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.” 2008: At a NATO Summit in Bucharest, Greece blocked the Republic of Macedonia’s bid to join NATO. Dec. 2011: The International Court of Justice ruled that Greece had been wrong to block the Republic of Macedonia’s bid to enter NATO in 2008, but the decision did not affect NATO’s consensus-based decision-making process. June 12, 2018: The foreign ministers of Greece and the Republic of Macedonia signed the Prespa agreement, whereby the Republic of Macedonia would change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, Greece would no longer object to North Macedonia’s Euro- Atlantic integration, and both countries would promise to respect existing borders. Sept. 30, 2018: The Republic of Macedonia held a referendum on changing its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, with nearly 92 percent of votes in favor of the change. Overall turnout for the referendum was about 37 percent, as opponents of the name change boycotted the referendum. Oct. 19, 2018: A two-thirds majority in North Macedonia’s Parliament voted in favor of the name change. Jan. 11, 2019: North Macedonia’s Parliament approved a constitutional amendment that renamed the country to the Republic of North Macedonia. Jan. 25, 2019: The Greek Parliament voted to approve the deal outlined in the Prespa agreement. Feb. 6, 2019: NATO’s 29 members signed an accession protocol with North Macedonia, paving the way for the country to become the 30th member of the alliance.

Feb. 8, 2019: Greece became the first NATO member to ratify the accession protocol. Feb. 12, 2019: The Republic of Macedonia formally changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia.

Feb. 15, 2019: The U.S. government recognized the Prespa Agreement’s entry into force and North Macedonia’s name change.

Overview of U.S. Democracy Assistance

According to State, democracy assistance seeks to advance freedom and dignity by assisting governments and citizens to establish, consolidate, and protect democratic institutions, processes, and values. These components include participatory and accountable governance, rule of law, authentic political competition, civil society, human rights, and the free flow of information. Democracy assistance falls into six program areas—Rule of Law, Good Governance, Political Competition and Consensus-Building, Civil Society, Independent Media and Free Flow of Information, and Human Rights—each with different program elements. See appendix V for descriptions of democracy program areas and program elements.

The U.S. government provides democracy assistance through multiple bureaus and offices in USAID, State, and NED. For a list of these agencies’ roles and responsibilities related to democracy assistance overseas, see table 1.

Agency Operational Policies for Assistance

Federal laws governing agencies’ use of contracts and grants seek to promote discipline in the selection and use of procurement contracts, grant agreements, and cooperative agreements; maximize competition in making procurement contracts; and encourage competition in making grants and cooperative agreements. USAID’s operational policy, the Automated Directives System, incorporates these requirements into agency guidance. Thus, in selecting recipients of democracy assistance, agency staff are required to guarantee the integrity of the competitive award process by ensuring overall fairness and considering all eligible applications for an award.

Strategic Objectives for Democracy Assistance in North Macedonia

Since North Macedonia’s separation from Yugoslavia in 1991, the United States has provided democracy assistance to support North Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration and the development of prosperous and democratic institutions. This assistance has focused on promoting rule of law, political processes, citizen engagement, and free media. In light of North Macedonia’s 2015 political crisis, as well as democratic backsliding observed in the years before the crisis, USAID narrowed its assistance goals for the country to focus on more inclusive citizen engagement in civic life, political processes, and the free flow of information to support better functioning checks on executive authority.

The USAID mission in North Macedonia’s strategic plan for 2011 through 2015 identified three primary objectives of U.S. democracy assistance in North Macedonia:

Promote greater checks and balances in democratic processes by empowering local governments, promoting greater equilibrium among the branches of government at the national level, and promoting political accountability.

Develop a basic education system that prepares youth for a modern economy and stable democracy by improving students’ basic skills, expanding workforce skills, and enhancing ethnic integration in the education sector.

Increase job-creating private-sector growth in targeted sectors by improving the country’s business environment in critical areas and strengthening key private-sector capacities.

Additionally, USAID and State relied on a broader strategic framework, the integrated country strategy, when developing democracy projects in North Macedonia. This interagency, multiyear, overarching strategy outlines U.S. policy priorities and objectives for North Macedonia. Its objectives include improving North Macedonia’s democratic and civil society environment to improve the country’s prospects for joining NATO and for completing accession negotiations with the EU.

U.S. Agencies Obligated More Than $45 Million for Assistance for North Macedonia, but Total State Department Obligations Cannot Be Reliably Reported

U.S. government agencies obligated more than $45 million in democracy assistance funding for North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017, according to agency award documents and data (see table 2). This assistance was provided to support U.S. strategic objectives for North Macedonia, including promoting the rule of law, political processes, citizen engagement, and free media. USAID obligated approximately $38 million, and NED obligated approximately $4.2 million. Additionally, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Skopje provided about $3.7 million in assistance. However, we are unable to report total State obligations for democracy assistance for North Macedonia because of uncertainty about the reliability of award data from State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). In addition, State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) provided democracy assistance in North Macedonia solely through regional grants and did not specify which obligated funds were provided for democracy assistance in North Macedonia. See appendixes II through IV for a full list of USAID, NED, and State awards for democracy assistance in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017.

USAID Obligated Approximately $38 Million for Democracy Assistance Program Areas

USAID provided about $38 million in democracy assistance for North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017. As table 3 shows, the majority of USAID funding—approximately $17 million—supported projects in the civil society program area, while more than $7 million supported political competition and consensus building.

Several USAID bureaus and offices provided democracy assistance in North Macedonia during that period. The Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance and the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia provided such assistance through contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. According to agency documents, USAID supported U.S. foreign policy in North Macedonia by promoting democracy and respect for the rule of law and human rights, through activities such as supporting civil society organizations and developing the capacity of independent media outlets in the country. USAID also promoted political competition and accountability by working with political parties and state institutions to enable an environment for free and fair elections.

In addition, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) provided short- term assistance to groups in the country. OTI established an office in North Macedonia in September 2015 to support reform processes outlined in the Przino Agreement. According to OTI documents, OTI supports U.S. foreign policy objectives by promoting stability, peace, and democracy through fast, flexible, short-term assistance targeted to key political transition and stabilization needs. The office works with civil society organizations, media groups, and government institutions to increase access to reliable information, promote free and open civic discourse, and support democratic reforms. In North Macedonia, OTI funded initiatives such as a televised debate series that presented civil dialogue and diverse viewpoints on issues affecting citizens of North Macedonia. OTI grants have also supported digital media initiatives and civic engagement projects.

USAID assistance supported initiatives in a range of democracy program areas. Table 4 shows examples of USAID projects across different program areas, some of which are related to democracy assistance.

NED Obligated Approximately $4.2 Million for Democracy Assistance Activities

NED awarded 72 grants totaling nearly $4.2 million in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017. Of these, six grants, totaling almost $1.7 million, were awarded to two of NED’s core institutes—the National Democratic Institute and the Center for International Private Enterprise— while 66 grants, totaling about $2.6 million, were awarded to other organizations. In addition, NED awarded 61 grants totaling more than $17.1 million for regional programs that included North Macedonia. NED does not disaggregate cost data by individual country due to the nature of the Balkan regional programs NED supports. Thus, we are unable to report the amounts NED provided in North Macedonia through regional programs during the period of our review.

After the onset of the political crisis in 2015, NED focused its democracy assistance in North Macedonia on three program areas: promoting good governance, supporting independent media, and fostering positive interethnic relations. NED grants supported a range of initiatives, including projects to improve investigative reporting on democratic reforms and rule-of-law matters, and to encourage youth leadership and activism.

NED’s funding to the National Democratic Institute and the Center for International Private Enterprise supported a range of activities in North Macedonia. The institute worked with the country’s Parliament to improve its management and organization of the legislative process by, among other things, assisting Parliament in reviewing its legislative and oversight procedures. Other National Democratic Institute initiatives included encouraging participation by various groups in the democratic process, including the Roma population, women, and civil society organizations. The Center for International Private Enterprise received funding for one grant devoted to developing youth leadership.

State Obligated At Least $3.7 Million for Democracy Assistance, but Some Project-Level Funding Could Not Be Determined

Several State offices—U.S. Embassy Skopje, INL, and DRL—provided funding for democracy assistance in North Macedonia, but only the funding provided by the embassy can be reliably reported. The embassy’s Public Affairs Section provided at least $3.7 million in democracy assistance in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017. INL was unable to provide reliable data on obligations on its awards in North Macedonia. DRL obligated more than $2 million to support democracy assistance activities at the regional level but due to the regional nature of its projects, was unable to provide country-level breakdowns of obligations.

U.S. Embassy Skopje Provided Democracy Assistance Grants to Organizations in North Macedonia

In fiscal years 2012 through 2017, Embassy Skopje’s Public Affairs Section obligated approximately $3.7 million in democracy assistance grants to organizations in North Macedonia. According to State officials, the embassy works with the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance for Europe and Eurasia to allocate democracy assistance and helps align assistance activities with the U.S. strategic goals for North Macedonia. The embassy’s Public Affairs Section also provides democracy assistance through other means, including media training programs, youth engagement projects, speaker programs, and the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program.

The embassy granted $1.8 million for 91 grants through the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program in fiscal years 2012 through 2017. According to the embassy, grants through this program, which cannot exceed $24,000, support nongovernmental organizations’ efforts to promote the rule of law, independent media, interethnic community building, the empowerment of women and youth, human rights, and the institutionalization of open and pluralistic democratic political processes. Examples of awards for Democracy Commission grant–funded activities include the following:

Women’s Rights Center ($22,900). This award funded a program to strengthen the capacities of organizations that are working with women victims of domestic violence.

Civil Lyceum Project ($17,830). This project aimed to mobilize youth in Skopje to become more involved in the civil society sector and to help create young leaders who understand the value of civic engagement and advance democratic values.

Way Out ($7,858). This award funded the maintenance and development of the online version of a student magazine.

The remainder of the embassy’s Public Affairs Section awards for assistance in North Macedonia supported activities such as youth engagement projects, speakers, and media training programs, which included short-term trips for journalists from North Macedonia to receive training in the United States.

INL Project-Level Funding Data Are Unreliable, but INL Reported Bulk Obligations for Democracy Assistance in North Macedonia

INL provided democracy assistance to organizations in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017. INL was unable to provide reliable data on project-level obligations; however, it reported bulk obligations for democracy assistance projects that supported efforts to reform North Macedonia’s criminal justice system to meet rule-of-law benchmarks for Euro-Atlantic integration. INL’s assistance in North Macedonia focused on three primary areas: developing the country’s criminal justice system, developing legal professionals’ skills, and professionalizing the police. According to agency officials, this assistance is intended to strengthen North Macedonia’s justice sector and independent institutions. Specific INL activities included assisting with revisions to the criminal procedure code to promote a more adversarial justice system, providing technical advisors and equipment to the Special Prosecutor’s Office, and promoting accountable policing efforts by providing training to local police on crime scene management.

In December 2017, we reported that INL funding data for democracy assistance projects were unreliable and we recommended that State identify and address factors that affect the reliability of its democracy assistance data. State concurred with this recommendation. As of July 2019, INL reported continued efforts to improve data quality and reliability, including ensuring that current and future transactions would maintain coding integrity. However, officials stated that, because of missing codes or miscoded items, they were unable to provide reliable data on obligations for INL awards for democracy assistance projects in North Macedonia for fiscal years 2012 through 2017.

Although we determined that data for specific INL democracy awards were unreliable, INL reported providing bilateral assistance of approximately $14.2 million in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017, including $6.9 million for democracy assistance.

However, we did not independently verify that INL provided this amount of bilateral assistance.

DRL Funded Regional Democracy Assistance Awards That Included North Macedonia

DRL funded four awards that benefited North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017. However, DRL awarded this assistance at the regional level and does not track country-level obligations for North Macedonia. One regional award with obligations of roughly $300,000 supported a project focusing on Roma populations in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia. A second regional award provided more than $2 million for a project promoting the rule of law in the Balkans. The two remaining DRL awards provided $25,000 to organizations supporting local civil society organizations working to promote human rights.

USAID Generally Followed Operational Policy in Selecting Recipients of Democracy Assistance in North Macedonia

Our review of 13 USAID grants and cooperative agreements for democracy assistance—representing roughly half of USAID obligations in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017—found that in selecting recipients, the agency generally followed operational policies intended to ensure a fair and transparent selection process. (See table 5 for a list of the awards in our sample.) We found that staff at the USAID mission in North Macedonia generally evaluated applicants against the merit review criteria stated in public notices. We also found that USAID considered and recorded the strengths and weaknesses of applicants in selection committee memorandums for 10 of the 13 awards in our sample. For three awards originating from the same public notice, we were unable to determine, on the basis of available documentation, whether USAID considered the strengths and weaknesses of all applicants. Finally, we found that USAID documented the review procedures it used to assess applicants in selection committee memorandums.

USAID Considered Published Merit Review Criteria in Selecting Recipients of Assistance

USAID’s selection committee considered merit review criteria that were consistent with those included in the agency’s public notices for 10 of the 13 awards for democracy assistance in North Macedonia that we reviewed. USAID’s process for selecting recipients of assistance for competitive awards requires announcing opportunities, reviewing applications, and making award decisions on the basis of published merit review criteria. USAID announces a grant opportunity by developing a notice of funding opportunity. Merit review criteria are developed by the USAID staff and reflect the agency’s strategic priorities for democracy assistance. After interested parties have submitted applications, a selection committee, also known as a technical evaluation committee, is appointed to review applications.

All 13 awards in our sample included merit review criteria in public notices during the concept paper phase of awards, while 10 of the awards included merit review criteria for the full application phase. Many of the awards required selection committees to consider some of the same merit review criteria in assessing applicants. Examples of commonly applied criteria include the following:

Technical approach. Reviewers are to assess the extent to which an applicant’s proposed activity is clear, logical, and technically sound and meets the objectives of the funding outlined in the public notice.

Management plan and key personnel. Reviewers are to assess the extent to which an applicant considered staffing, roles and responsibilities, and other management issues for their proposed activity.

Organizational capacity and past performance. Reviewers are to assess the extent to which the applicant demonstrated the technical and managerial resources and expertise to achieve their program objectives. Reviewers are also to assess the extent to which the applicant demonstrated technical and managerial resources and expertise in past programs and performed satisfactorily in similar programs executed in recent years.

We found that in reviewing the 13 awards in our sample, USAID generally applied the criteria published for each award.

Six of the 13 awards in our sample were two-phased awards, for which the mission required potential applicants to first submit an executive summary or concept paper for their proposed activity. For these awards, the mission published separate merit review criteria for concept papers and full applications, and selection committees assessed each type of submission against the relevant set of criteria. The selection committee memorandums for three awards showed that these merit review criteria were consistent with the criteria outlined in the public notices for each award. Specifically, in the first phase of the award process, staff at the USAID mission in North Macedonia applied the published criteria for concept papers in reviewing the submitted papers and selected those that best met the criteria. In the second phase for three awards, USAID solicited applications from the selected applicants and applied the published criteria for full applications in reviewing the submitted applications. In the case of three awards that originated from the same public notice, the notice lacked merit review criteria for the full application phase. The public notice for these three awards did not include the merit review criteria the selection committee would use to evaluate full applications.

For the remaining seven one-phased awards in our sample, the selection committee memorandums showed that USAID applied the criteria published in the award solicitations in reviewing the applications that were submitted, consistent with USAID’s operational policies.

USAID Generally Assessed Strengths and Weaknesses of Applicants for Democracy Awards

We found that USAID officials generally assessed applicants’ strengths and weaknesses when reviewing applications for awards for democracy assistance in North Macedonia. USAID operational policy requires selection committees to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each applicant for an award relative to the merit review criteria. The committee then prepares a written selection memorandum recording its assessments, which is then sent to the agreement officer.

For the 13 awards in our sample, selection committee memorandums show that officials generally considered and recorded their assessments of applicants’ strengths and weaknesses against the criteria outlined in the public notices. For example, in considering the applicants for one award in our sample, the selection committee assessed the strengths and weaknesses of applicants’ technical approaches by looking at the logical connection between their activities and stated objectives, their plans for community outreach, and their awareness of potential problems that might arise over the course of their projects. The committee also assessed applicants’ strengths and weaknesses with regard to management plans and key personnel by considering, among other things, applicants’ plans to train staff, their knowledge of the stakeholders they planned to engage, and the relevant experience of the organizations’ leaders. In addition, the committee assessed applicants’ strengths and weaknesses with regard to organizational capacity and past performance, primarily by examining whether applicants had successfully managed projects of similar magnitude, scope, and sensitivity in recent years. For this award, the selection committee provided an overall score for each criterion based on the numerical scoring outlined in the award’s public notice and ultimately recommended the top-scoring applicant to the agreement officer.

For three of the six two-phased awards we reviewed, selection committee officials considered and recorded their assessments of applicants’ concept papers as well as the full applications they received. For three two-phased awards that originated from the same public notice, we could not determine, on the basis of available documentation, whether the selection committee assessed the strengths and weaknesses of applicants relative to the merit review criteria.

USAID Recorded Review Procedures, Consistent with Its Operational Policy

We found that USAID documented its review procedures, consistent with USAID policy. USAID operational policy requires that the selection committee include in its review documentation a discussion of its procedures for reviewing awards. For all 13 awards, the selection committee memorandums included a discussion of the review procedures that the committee used to assess applicants. These review procedures included actions such as the following:

The establishment of the selection committee, including its purpose and composition

A requirement for selection committee members to sign a certificate regarding nondisclosure, conflict of interest, or rules of conduct Individual reviews of the applications by each selection committee member

A review of the rating system the committee used to assess

A joint meeting to discuss individual reviews and ratings of applications, resulting in consensus among selection committee members about the strengths and weaknesses of each application For the two-phased awards in our sample, the selection committee memorandums include documentation of review procedures for both the concept paper and full application phases of awards. The selection committee memorandum for the full application phase of these awards included other actions that the selection committee took, such as the following:

A summary of the committee’s procedures and results in the concept

An evaluation of the proposals from applicants who were invited to

A discussion of the programmatic weaknesses that USAID asked applicants to address before submitting their full applications We are sending copies of this report to the USAID Administrator, the Secretary of State, and the President of NED. In addition, the report is available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-3149 or gootnickd@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report are listed in appendix VII.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our objectives were to examine (1) U.S. funding for democracy assistance in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017 and (2) the extent to which the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) adhered to relevant operational policies in selecting recipients of democracy assistance in North Macedonia.

To identify the United States’ strategic objectives and goals for providing democracy assistance in North Macedonia, we reviewed USAID and Department of State (State) strategic documents and interviewed cognizant USAID and State officials in Washington, D.C.

To examine U.S. funding for democracy assistance in North Macedonia, we analyzed award data from USAID, State, and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) for fiscal years 2012 through 2017, the most recent 5-year period for which these data were available. To determine the data’s reliability, we interviewed agency officials and reviewed relevant documentation. We determined that USAID’s and NED’s data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of our reporting objectives. We further determined that State’s data on the U.S. Embassy in Skopje’s Public Affairs Section awards were reliable for these purposes. However, on the basis of interviews with State officials, our review of their data, and our prior work, we determined that the data maintained by State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) could not be reliably reported. We determined that data provided by State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Affairs (DRL) were reliable; however, we could not determine what portion of DRL funding went only to North Macedonia, because DRL made regional awards during this period that benefited several Balkan countries. Therefore, we report State obligations as approximations for awards for which we had more reliable data. To identify the recipients of democracy assistance in North Macedonia and describe the process through which the U.S. government grants such assistance, we reviewed award data, relevant award documents, and bilateral agreements and other communications between the United States and North Macedonia regarding this assistance.

We interviewed USAID, State, and NED officials in Washington, D.C., who oversee democracy assistance in North Macedonia regarding U.S. funding for such assistance. We also interviewed representatives of organizations that implement this assistance that have offices in Washington, D.C. In addition, during audit work in Skopje, North Macedonia, we interviewed USAID and State officials who manage democracy assistance. We also met with officials from the government of North Macedonia, including the Minister of Defense and members of Parliament, the State Election Commission, and the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Services, to determine the types of activities the U.S. government supported during the period of our review. In addition, we conducted individual and group interviews with representatives of 41 implementing partners of USAID, State, and NED in Skopje who received funding during the period of our review.

To assess the extent to which USAID officials followed operational policies in selecting recipients of democracy assistance, we analyzed award data and documentation for a sample of awards made between fiscal years 2012 through 2017. We excluded from our sample any contracts and other awards for which no public notice was issued, because these awards were not openly competed. We further excluded grants under contract arrangements that USAID entered into with local partners in North Macedonia, because these awards also were not openly competed. Such awards include those made by USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives and under the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening process. Our sample comprised the 13 largest- value grants and cooperative agreements that USAID made for North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017, constituting 46 percent of all USAID obligations in North Macedonia during this period. We analyzed USAID operational policies contained in the Automated Directives System (ADS) and other USAID policy documents outlining the agency’s strategic plan and assistance priorities for North Macedonia. We analyzed relevant documents for the awards in our sample, including the notices of funding opportunity and selection committee memorandums, and we assessed the extent to which these documents showed that USAID had met the requirements of its operational policy outlined in the ADS. In particular, for each award, we examined the extent to which the merit review criteria published in the notice of funding opportunity matched the criteria the selection committee used, the selection committee assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the submitted applications and recorded these assessments, and the selection committee included a discussion of its review procedures in its review documentation.

Finally, we interviewed USAID officials in Washington and Skopje regarding USAID’s operational policies in fiscal years 2012 through 2017 as well as its process for selecting recipients of democracy assistance.

We conducted this performance audit from May 2017 to October 2019 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Appendix II: U.S. Agency for International Development Democracy Assistance in North Macedonia

Table 6 lists the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) awards for democracy assistance in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017.

Appendix III: National Endowment for Democracy Assistance in North Macedonia

Table 7 lists the National Endowment for Democracy’s (NED) democracy assistance awards in North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017.

Appendix IV: Department of State Democracy Assistance in North Macedonia

Tables 8 and 9 list the Department of State’s (State) awards for democracy assistance to North Macedonia in fiscal years 2012 through 2017. These awards were provided by U.S. Embassy Skopje through its Public Affairs Section. Table 8 shows the grants that the embassy’s Public Affairs Section awarded through the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program, and table 9 shows other, non–Democracy Commission grants awarded by the Public Affairs Section.

Appendix V: Democracy Assistance Program Areas and Program Elements

Table 10 provides an overview of the program areas and program elements that fall into democracy, human rights, and governance assistance according to the Department of State (State). U.S. foreign assistance is categorized through a system called the Standardized Program Structure and Definitions, which comprises broadly agreed-on definitions for foreign assistance programs and provides a common language to describe programs. According to this system, democracy assistance includes the following six program areas.

Appendix VI: Comments from the U.S. Agency for International Development

Appendix VII: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Staff Acknowledgments

In addition to the contact named above, Rob Ball (Assistant Director), Cheryl Goodman (Assistant Director), Rachel Dunsmoor (Analyst-in- Charge), Parul Aggarwal, R. Gifford Howland, Ashley Alley, Justin Fisher, Christopher Keblitis, and Reid Lowe made key contributions to this report.