CIVIL demands uncompromising efforts for social justice

World Day of Social Justice in Macedonia, this year again, confronts us with the question of what kind of social state we live in. The answer is obvious.

As a human rights and freedoms organization, CIVIL has been for many decades alerting the public and the institutions about the difficult situation in the sphere of social justice, which includes social protection and workers’ rights. Dealing with poverty, social and economic exclusion and unemployment are just part of the long list of major challenges that the citizens of our country face.

We are witnessing systematic and continuous violation of human rights and freedoms, despite efforts to improve workers’ rights, to reduce poverty and to reform the unions all in a short period of time.

The non-functioning of the system is causing daily morbid and tragic consequences for the lives of people, not even sparing the children. The widespread corruption and the criminal ruling are taking a toll every day, although the dreadful ruling of Gruevski and his coalition has lost power for a year now. The slow reforms, compromising solutions, the politicist approach, but also the objectively complicated situation and processes in the country, do not allow for conditions related to the social (in)justice to improve in Macedonia.

We also witnessed abuse of social issues in the electoral and political context at the local elections, as a continuation of a deeply rooted tradition of using the socially vulnerable categories of citizens with vote-buying and pressures.

And in terms of the social protection and the institutions that are supposed to take care and protect all those who have found themselves in such a position, we are witnessing not only the non-functioning of institutions, but also the covering up of criminal actions, who have destroyed the lives of people and children. The research and analyses that CIVIL carried out with the project “Social justice now!“ and “Promises and abuses“, along with the numerous texts and cases in which we reveal social injustices, point to the fact that the abuse of social issues in Macedonia stems from the captivity of the state and the unscrupulous political manipulations in the struggle for power.

Nothing can justify the horror through which the children go through in the inhuman system of the institutions in charge of their care, raising, education and well-being. The latest horrible information about the rape and seducing of a 12-year-old child has pulled the last straw, is stated in CIVIL’s announcement about the case with the girl in care of the public institutions for care of children “25 May” and “Ranka Milanovik”.

On November 26, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe February 20 as a day dedicated to social development, solidarity, equality and harmony as fundamental values in achieving social justice, namely, “a society for everyone”, with equal opportunities for everyone.

In Macedonia there is still no equal opportunity for all children to live cared for and with, at least, minimum opportunities for a normal development, education and life.

Social welfare, gender equality, eradication of poverty and equal rights for all seem like distant and unreachable dreams in these dark times.

CIVIL is demanding an uncompromising effort for social justice and is encouraging all citizens of Macedonia to speak boldly and freely, and to join us in the uncompromising efforts for humanity, dignity and solidarity.