ZELS

What ZELS does

ZELS (Заедница на единиците на локалната самоуправа на Република Северна Македонија / Association of Units of Local Self-Government of the Republic of North Macedonia) is a non-profit national association founded in 1972, headquartered at Copenhagen Street 5, Skopje. It is the sole representative body to which all 80 municipalities and the City of Skopje voluntarily belong, governed by a General Assembly of 90 delegates, a Management Board of 22 members, a Supervisory Board of 6 members, and a Committee of Councils with 9 members. The organization provides training, capacity building, policy advocacy, and digital tools to local self-government units across North Macedonia.

ZELS's core product is the ROB Platform (Платформа за родово одговорно буџетирање), a trilingual (Macedonian, Albanian, English) electronic platform for gender equality and gender-responsive budgeting, developed with UN Women support and maintained by technology partner Inteligentna. The platform includes an interactive map, statistics module for gender-disaggregated data, digital library, blog, and gallery. Supporting products include the ZELS Training Centre (delivering programs on gender equality, strategic planning, public procurement, and local governance), an E-Services portfolio (E-Faktura, E-Building Permits, E-Contract Tracking, E-Things), and publications including the Glashilo newsletter and annual reports. Additional project initiatives cover sustainable urban mobility and waste management.

The business model is non-commercial: membership is voluntary and funded through municipal contributions and international project grants from partners including UN Women, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the OSCE Mission to Skopje. The organization operates on a small secretariat (~12 listed employees) with a leadership team led by President Orce Gjorgjievski, Vice Presidents Izet Mexhiti and Goran Gerasimovski, and Executive Director Dushica Perishic. ZELS does not disclose revenue figures and has no private equity, venture capital, or external ownership.

Name

ZELS

Legal name

Заедница на единиците на локалната самоуправа на Република Северна Македонија

Website

https://zels.org.mk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ZELS is the sole national non-profit association in North Macedonia representing all 80 municipalities and the City of Skopje, delivering training, gender-responsive budgeting tools, e-government services, and policy advocacy to local self-government units since 1972.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Skopje

HQ country

North Macedonia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ZELS is a non-profit national association that represents all 80 municipalities and the City of Skopje in North Macedonia. It delivers capacity-building training, policy advocacy, representation before national and international bodies, and operates digital tools — including the ROB Platform for Gender-Responsive Budgeting, the E-Services portal, and the ZELS Training Centre — supporting municipalities in local governance, strategic planning, and gender equality integration.

Product overview

ZELS (Заедница на единиците на локалната самоуправа на Република Северна Македонија) is a national association of local self-government units representing all 80 municipalities and the City of Skopje. The organization offers a unified platform centered around its electronic services ecosystem, with the core product being the ROB (Платформа за родово одговорно буџетирање) - a gender-responsive budgeting platform that includes statistical analysis, interactive mapping, and a digital library. Supporting products include the ZELS Training Center for municipal capacity building, E-Services portal providing electronic municipal tools, and various publications including annual reports and newsletters. The organization also manages multiple projects including sustainable waste management and urban mobility initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ROB Platform: Electronic platform for gender equality and gender-responsive budgeting, a resource center for municipalities providing statistics, digital library, and good practices for gender mainstreaming

Products and services

• ROB Platform for Gender-Responsive Budgeting (ROB – Платформа за родово одговорно буџетирање) A trilingual (Macedonian, Albanian, English) electronic platform for gender equality and gender-responsive budgeting. Provides statistics tools for gender-disaggregated data visualization, interactive maps, digital library, blog, and gallery for municipalities in North Macedonia to track and report on gender equality metrics. Developed by ZELS with UN Women support and maintained by Inteligentna.
• ZELS Training Centre (ЗЕЛС Тренинг центар) A dedicated training center that delivers capacity-building programs to municipal officials, councillors, and gender equality coordinators. Courses cover gender equality, gender-responsive budgeting, budget management, public procurement, council functions, and local governance.
• E-Services (Е-услуги) Electronic services portal providing digital tools for municipalities including E-Faktura (electronic invoicing), E-Building Permits, E-Contract Tracking, and E-Things management.
• Publications (Изданија) Annual reports, newsletters (Glashilo / Гласило), manuals, handbooks, and guides published by ZELS covering municipal governance, gender equality, and local self-government topics. Includes the 2024 and 2025 annual reports and the 2025-2029 handbook.

Quantifiable outcome

• Training programs covering gender-responsive budgeting, strategic planning, public procurement, council functions, and local governance
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UN WomencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZELS has a longstanding partnership with UN Women for gender equality and gender-responsive budgeting. UN Women provided expert support for developing the ROB e-platform and co-implemented projects including 'Towards Gender-Responsive Municipalities' (2019-2021) and 'Promoting Gender Responsive Policies and Budgets' (ongoing). UN Women also supports ZELS in developing methodologies, training materials, and regional exchange of good practices.
• OSCE Mission to SkopjecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZELS works in partnership with the OSCE Mission to Skopje on organizing regional training for municipal representatives on integrating gender perspectives into local policies. The partnership focuses on promoting democratic governance principles at the local level through capacity-building programs.
• National Democratic Institute (NDI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNDI organized training for councillors from Commissions for Equal Opportunities from 20 municipalities under the WoMen Lead project, where ZELS had representation. The collaboration focuses on strengthening women's political participation at the local level.
• Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZELS participates in NALAS activities. ZELS's best practices on gender-responsive budgeting were included in a NALAS-published booklet featuring 16 best practices from the South-East Europe region, published with financial support from UN Women.
• Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEMR is the creator of the European Charter on Gender Equality, which ZELS promotes among municipalities. ZELS coordinates the adoption of the Charter by municipalities in North Macedonia. The Charter's revised version (with 9 new articles) was presented to municipalities through ZELS training programs.
• State Statistical Office of the Republic of North MacedoniaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe State Statistical Office collaborated with ZELS on training municipal coordinators on using statistical databases for gender-disaggregated data. The Office provides free consultations to municipalities on survey methodology and data collection.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• UN Women: UN entity focused on gender equality and women's empowerment. Long-standing core strategic and co-development partner to ZELS, supporting the ROB platform and GRB programs — relevant as funder/partner rather than direct competitor.
• OSCE Mission to Skopje: Field mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe supporting democratic governance at the local level. Core partner of ZELS on gender-integration training programs.
• BFC-SEE Network: Regional certification program under which ZELS facilitates Business Friendly Certification for municipalities. Ecosystem participant offering ZELS a fee-for-service line comparable to training and certification streams.

Broad incumbents

• United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG): Global umbrella of local government associations and cities. Overlaps with ZELS's representational role for municipalities at the international level and shares gender-equality and capacity-building programs.
• Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR): Pan-European umbrella association of national local government associations. Broader incumbent that creates the European Charter on Gender Equality, which ZELS directly promotes among North Macedonian municipalities.
• Local Government Association (LGA UK): UK national membership body for local authorities offering training, lobbying, and shared services. Established incumbent playing the same municipal-association role as ZELS in a developed-market context.

Direct peers

• Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS): Regional umbrella of national local government associations across South-East Europe. Directly comparable as a membership-based association of municipalities, and ZELS is itself a participating member whose GRB best practices have been featured in NALAS publications.
• Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia (ZMOS): Slovenia's national municipal association providing representation, training and services to all municipalities. Closest Western Balkan analog in EU membership context, with parallel EU-driven capacity-building mandate.
• Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities of Serbia (SKGO): National association of Serbian local self-government units offering training, advocacy, and capacity building to municipalities. Same institutional role as ZELS in a neighboring Western Balkan country, sharing NALAS and donor-funding patterns.
• Croatian Association of Local Self-Government Units: National association of Croatian municipalities offering training, advocacy, and capacity building under EU accession and membership frameworks. Comparable scope and donor mix to ZELS in a neighboring country.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zels

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ZELS