Civikus moves on

Civil society defined

What is a civil society? What do we actually mean when we use that term? These are the questions that the National Advisory Group of CIVIKUS (Civil Society Index) has tried to answer. On its first meeting, at the numerous and long discussions, its member managed to come to agreement that the term civil society covers "all formal and informal civil society associations, organizations and networks that occupy the social space between the family, the market, the political parties and the authorities and which associate themselves in order to realize mutual goals and interests".

"No one defines the civil society when they talk about it. Simply, everyone assumes that the interlocutor share his/her understanding of the civil society", says Daniela Stojanova, member of the National Index Team, "perhaps that was the reason why the members of NAG needed more time formulate a proper definition".

Besides the definition, the members of NAG have agreed upon the categories of the civil society organizations, using the term civil society organizations (CSO) instead of nongovernmental organizations (NGO). These categories cover the religious communities and the trade unions as well.

"Regarding the other planned activities, we have also completed the review of the media", added Stojanova. Her first impression from the observation of articles on civil society published in the daily newspapers: Dnevnik, Utrinski Vesnik, Vreme and Fakti is that they are usually of informative character. Besides the daily newspapers, they observed Forum and Aktuel, as well as the articles published on A1 TV's web-site. However, the findings from the three-month observation are yet to be analysed by the National Advisory Group.

At the moment, the members of the National Index-Team are doing intense preparations of the other two activities: sample of the community, in which they will interview 700 citizens and regional consultations at which findings from the examination of the key personalities from the civic sector and the other sectors regarding the civil society conditions in Macedonia will be subject to discussions. The Civil Society Index will include a segment on socially responsible businesses. Information on 10 companies with the largest profits made in the previous year have already been collected, and the questions whether and how much they donated in the civil society will be a matter of further analyses.

The final national report is expected to be ready in the beginning of the next year.

 

G.J.