Promotions The values are the treasure of the civil society   On 24 April 2007, in front of about a hundred representatives from the civil sector, the state institutions, embassies, media and others, the Civil Society Index in the Republic of Macedonia (CSI) and the Government Strategy for Cooperation with the Civil Sector were promoted. CSI is part of the international action-research project, coordinated by CIVIKUS – The World Alliance for Civil Participation and is called “After 15 years of transition – from stabilization to civil participation”. “Both documents are a result of a long process of maturing of the democracy and the actors of both the civil and the public sector”, said Professor Ilo Trajkovski, one of the research promoters. “This events marks a new phase in the relations between the civil sector and the state authorities, the third phase in which the relations between the two actors become such of mutual completion and recognition”, added Trajkovski. According to him, this is a first attempt of applying a standardized methodology which provides for international comparability and makes the research extremely important in that context. Built on strong values, the civil society, even if its based on limited civil support, is rooted into some social groups (women, children with special needs, youth) and plays an important role. The civil society should be built on this success and try to broaden the civil participation in its initiatives. In that respect, the civil society will have to answer two key social problems – the fight with the poverty (unemployment) and the corruption. You will be able to find out more about the promotion and the tribune in the next issue of the Civic World. Both documents are available on www.mcms.org.mk and www.graganskisvet.org.mk.   G.J.