CONCEPTS

Responsibility for social issues

In the issue 64 the Civic World started presenting parts of the publication “Trust, responsibility for social issues and charity in Macedonia”, published by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation. The publication is, in fact, a report made on the basis of two questionnaires and the results of four focus-groups. The questionnaires and focus-groups have been carried out by the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Researches. The publication in PDF format is available on www.mcms.org.mk

 

Ways of solving social needs

Citizens, taking into consideration the expectancies from the role of the state in solving social needs, think that increasing the responsibility of the state and the business sector can help most.

 

Chart 1.

Meeting the citizens’ social needs can mostly be helped by:

Education and training of citizens for employment is a way of solving social needs (e.g. employment), contrary to small expectancies from the socio-humanitarian help.

Increased responsibility of the state and the private sector	36,3%
Education and training of the citizens for employment	35,9%
Citizens’ influence on decision-making in institutions	13,8%
Social and humanitarian help for groups with needs	10,0%
I don’t know	3,9%

There are differences in attitudes only on educational level. Those with incomplete primary education (23,7%) believe in socio-humanitarian help. Those with higher education believe in increasing the responsibility of the state and business sector (43,5%), contrary to those with incomplete primary education (21,1%) and primary education (30,5%). It is important that in terms of education and training of the citizens’ there are no differences between different educational structures and those with incomes over 12.000MKD/member (49,4%) believe in them most.

These attitudes towards socio-humanitarian help are supported by the replies to preferences between the above mentioned options.

 

Chart 2.

Nothing is solved with social and humanitarian help, but people need to be educated and trained to solve the problems themselves.

I completely agree	37,3%
I partly agree	36,8%
I partly disagree	12,9%
I do not agree at all	7,7%
I do not know	5,3%

Those with incomplete primary education (I do not agree at all – 21,1%) least agree with this attitude.

Conclusions

Social and humanitarian help are not solutions to the problems, but employment is

Most (completely and partly) agree that social and humanitarian help are not solution to the problems (74,1%). Those with incomplete primary education least agree with this attitude, most likely perceives as a group in need.

35,9% believe in citizens’ training and education for employment.

Such attitudes of the public can be supporting for bigger attention on the development contrary to social help.

On the other hand, in the motives, objectives and target groups of charity, reverse strivings by the citizens can be seen.