Agenda Three Focus Groups (Struga-30 May, Bitola-30 May and Strumica-1 June 2009)

Venue: 1) Red Cross Educative Centre, Struga; 2) Hotel Epinal, Bitola; 3) Hotel Sirius, Strumica

Date and Time: 30 May 2009 (Struga: 11:30 – 13:30h and Bitola: 15:00 – 17:00h); 1 June 2009 (Strumica, 11:30 – 13:30h)

Moderators: Anne-Marguerite Appel, International Consultant

Support provided by: Project Staff – Svetlana Cvetkovska and Ljiljana Asenov and Local Consultants – Olgica Apostolova and Soka Popovska

Counterpart/MLSP Representative: Elena Grozdanova, Focal Point, State Counsellor

EOC and Municipal Administration representatives present: 20 – 25 from 20 – 25 municipalities from all statistical regions

Methodology (Annex 2): During the fieldwork mission 3 focus groups will be conducted targeted at EOC members, coordinators and their main counterparts among municipality personnel from finance/HR/legal/social protection/infrastructure in the 3 representative municipalities^[1] to assess their capacity to enhancing the effectiveness of gender equality and equal opportunities structures at local level of governance. In addition, one or two EOC representatives (president and one member) from the representative municipalities selected for the self-assessment questionnaires will be invited. In consultation with the project team, the local consultants will prepare a list of invitees for each focus group discussion on 21 May, taking into account multi-ethnic and gender balance, send out invitations and follow-up and confirm appointments.

Each focus group discussion will take an estimated 2 hours and will be conducted by the assessment team (local and international consultants). In the planning some time should be allocated prior and following each focus group to allow for preparations, observations and adaptations among the team. The size of each focus group should be limited to a maximum number of 20 participants, involving EOC presidents, selected members, coordinators on Equal Opportunities and key local administration officials (municipal secretary, personnel responsible for strategic plans, etc.).

Each focus group will follow the interview topics and guide questions (Section 4).The international consultant will mostly act as the moderator, keeping the discussion on course to ensure all topics are adequately covered. The local consultants will take the role of observer and note taker, including translations if required. It is essential that the note taker is fluent in the local languages, as the discussion may contain nuances which will be missed otherwise. It is important to capture the information from the focus group discussion as accurately as possible. Material from audio tape-recording of the session can be used later to fill in gaps.

The group of participants should be as homogenous as possible, e.g. key representatives of local self-government units’ structures and mechanisms created to enhance gender equality and equal opportunities. The purpose of the focus group discussions is to obtain as much useful information as possible on a clearly defined topic and group interaction can bring out additional information. The moderator’s task is to make participants feel at ease and facilitate open communication by asking broad, often open-ended questions, probing for additional information when necessary, and keeping the discussion appropriately focused. The observer and note taker can and should ask for additional probes during the discussion and insert new questions.

The moderator will introduce the team, explain the purpose of the focus group, the process followed, confidentiality, explain the role of each team member and explain why a tape recorder is being used. This will be followed by an introduction of each participant, their position, background and experience. The moderator will generally follow the interview topics and guide questions, but participants should be able to express opinions, experiences, and suggestions and should be allowed to lead the discussion in new directions as long as they are relevant. The discussion may therefore not follow the interview guide in the suggested order. It is desirable that all participants will be able to raise their views, talk one at time and moderator, observer and note taker check points from time to time when translation is taking place.

It’s important to stimulate the group discussion, not taking a position on anything and considering every response valid. There is no attempt to resolve any issue, address any individual problem or concern or reach any conclusion. Both concrete information and opinions are relevant. Towards the end of the focus group the moderator will recap the main issues discussed which allows participants and observers to test the conclusions for accuracy and appropriateness. It may be appropriate at this time to highlight the strength of views expressed, point out some key differences that were apparent between group members or seek clarifications to statements that are still not clear, which permit members of the group to add or clarify their position.

For each focus group the local consultants will fill in a cover sheet, indicating the municipality / location, target group, interviewers and number of participants. The summary of the interview will include the setting, persons who were present and overall participation. The actual sequence of the discussion is being followed and the phases of questioning described. E.g. when people introduce themselves, enlisted maximum participation, etc.

Focus group discussions are more about collective understanding of issues and problem solving. Therefore a balance has to be maintained between individual responses and collective views. The summary might include actual quotes to substantiate a particular topic and will conclude with a note on how the focus group went and a tentative analysis of the discussion: the main issues emerging, existing capacities, disagreements, strategies and constraints participants face with regard to enhancing the effectiveness of gender equality and equal opportunity structures and mechanisms at local level of governance

Based on the compilation and analysis of the three focus groups made by the local consultants, the international consultant will prepare a note on key issues emerging, priorities and recommendations for the development of the training curriculum.

[1] Strumica, Struga and Bitola