Skopje, September 11-12, 2014
On the first day of activities Petar Tzvetanov told of the history and development of the health mediation programme in Bulgaria, as well as about the Network of Health Mediators as a professional organization, setting standards and criteria on a national scale. Our Macedonian colleagues were impressed with the mediators’ achievements in Bulgaria. The steps taken to integrate the mediators’ work in government institutions caused a great interest. For the Macedonian mediators it seems impossible to achieve what we have acquired after years of advocating – health mediators in Bulgaria are municipality employees, included in the Occupations classificator, with employment contracts and on a guaranteed state budget. The sheer number of 150 mediators is impressive to our neighbours. With great interest our colleagues learned about the activities of the NNHM and the place it has in communication and coordination with local authorities, government institutions, NGOs and the business in Bulgaria in order to secure the sustainability of the mediator programme.
Dr. Radosveta Stamenkova proved to be the exclusive source of information during the rest of the training. Under her guidance the mediators went through the basic steps of creating a functioning organization. The Macedonian mediators had the opportunity of learning more and practically go trough every step of the strategic planning process and the concept of organizational development. Dr. Stamenkova’s efficiency was undisputable in view of the fact that by the end of the training process the mediators managed to work the vision, the mission and the goals of the future Macedonian Health Mediators network, having also done a SWOT analysis and an evaluation of the eventual supporters of the Network. Our colleagues already have an idea of their strong and weak points and a clear view of their goals and aims. We wish them success with all our hearts and support them!
