Economic Empowerment & Micro-Grants
Financial literacy, bookkeeping and business planning classes, followed by small grants of 30,000–60,000 MKD for women-led household enterprises.
Programme detailsServing women and families since 1991
Every woman in Skopje deserves a voice, a livelihood and a safe place to stand.
For more than three decades our members have worked street by street and neighbourhood by neighbourhood — running literacy and business trainings, accompanying women through legal proceedings, and bringing generations together around culture and health.
Who we are
A membership organization rooted in the neighbourhoods we serve
The Women's Organization of the City of Skopje Association was formed in 1991 by teachers, nurses, factory workers and lawyers who wanted a permanent civic home for women's questions in the capital. We remain a member-led association: our priorities are decided each year at the General Assembly, not in a boardroom.
Today we run a walk-in advisory office, a rotating micro-grant fund for women-led household businesses, and a calendar of civic, cultural and health programmes reaching Skopje, Tetovo and the surrounding municipalities. Our work is carried out by 9 staff and coordinators and more than 60 active volunteers.
Read our full historyOur work in numbers
Figures verified in our 2025 annual programme report, submitted to the Central Registry of North Macedonia.
5,200+
Women supported since 1991
128
Workshops and trainings delivered
15
Active local initiatives
63
Micro-grants disbursed in 2025
What we do
Three pillars, one continuous accompaniment
A woman who comes to us for a legal question often leaves with a business plan — and returns two years later as a volunteer mentor. Our pillars are designed to connect.
Legal & Social Support
Free first-instance legal advice, accompaniment to institutions, and referral to licensed shelters and social services.
Programme details
Community Advocacy & Culture
Youth civic clubs, preventive health campaigns, and cultural evenings that keep the association's public presence alive.
Programme detailsFrom the community
Latest news and stories
Programme14 July 2026
Summer micro-grant cohort closes with 21 business plans
The eighth cohort of our Economic Empowerment programme finished with a public presentation at the Tetovo cultural centre. Twenty-one participants presented plans ranging from a home bakery to a small tailoring workshop; fourteen have applied to the rotating fund.
Advocacy2 June 2026
Written comments submitted on the municipal gender action plan
Together with two partner associations we submitted twelve written comments on the draft 2026–2028 gender equality action plan, focusing on childcare hours for shift workers and on transport for rural women attending clinics.
Community8 March 2026
Three generations gathered for our annual 8 March evening
More than 180 members, families and neighbours joined the association's evening of readings, music and a photo exhibition documenting thirty-five years of women's organising in the city.
In their words
“I came in with a shoebox of receipts and no idea how to register. Eight sessions later I had a plan, and the grant paid for my second machine. Two of my neighbours now sew with me.”
“They did not decide for me. They sat with me, explained what each document meant, and came with me to the centre for social work so I would not be alone.”
“Our youth club started as five girls in a borrowed room. This spring we presented our own proposal to the municipal council.”
Partners and supporters
We work with public institutions, civil-society coalitions and donors. All grants received are listed in our annual financial report.
- City of Skopje
- Municipality of Tetovo
- National Network Against Violence
- Public Health Centre
- Balkan Civil Society Fund
- Skopje Bar Association
Your support keeps the advisory office open
A single day of the Tetovo advisory office costs roughly 4,500 MKD. Volunteers, partners and donors make that day possible.