DeSo   >   About us
 

OUR WORK

Development Solutions (DeSo) is a dynamic organization based in Skopje, Macedonia which provides a range of services to clients and beneficiaries across Southeast Europe and beyond. DeSo was founded in 2008 and at present it employees 4 full-time staff and a number of external associates (trainers, researchers), and interns.

DeSo is a social enterprise and it has a for-profit arm (Development Solutions DOOEL) which provides services to a variety of clients at market rates, as well as a non-profit arm (Association for Equitable Development – Development Solutions) which provides public benefit services to beneficiaries region-wide. Part of the revenue from DeSo for-profit work serves to finance the DeSo non-profit development work.
DeSo services include project development and technical assistance related to EU and other donor funding programs, training, evaluation and measurement, and socio-economic research.
DeSo offers many of its services on an open market, serving clients throughout Southeast Europe, the European Union, Eastern Partnership (EaP), but it also bids for international grants and tenders and implements socio-economic development projects.
DeSo institutional clients and beneficiaries are local and national authorities (municipalities, regions, agencies and ministries), universities & research institutes, NGOs, and other public and private organizations.
In the period 2009-2023 DeSo regularly collected and published information on EU and other donors activity and support. This wealth of data can be found here.
 

OUR TEAM
Risto Karajkov PhD
FOUNDER
Risto Karajkov has over 20 years of experience of working with civil society and international donor agencies in the Balkans. He holds a PhD in international development from the University of Bologna and a masters in local development from the University of Trento. He has had fellowships, among other, with the Center for Civil Society Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and the UNU-WIDER in Helsinki. He often consults for donor agencies, think tanks, and international projects in the region. He teaches regularly on project management, NGO management, and EU funding. He has written extensively on NGOs, civil society, EU funds, and international development.
 

SELECTED CLIENTS & BENEFICIARIES

IBF International Consulting
Devex
Habitat for Humanity, Macedonia
Media Consulta
Faculty of Law, Skopje
ELEM
Dauti Komerc
Office Plus