On the occasion of World Social Justice Day – February 20, the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia and LAG Agro Leader in Prilep held a round table on “Equality and Social Justice.”
This day is dedicated to the fight against poverty, unemployment and inequality. The United Nations General Assembly on November 26, 2007, designated February 20 as Social Justice Day, which has been celebrated since 2009.
The purpose of marking this day is to promote solidarity and equality, both within and between countries.
Kire Milovski participated in this event, as a representative of the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia. In his speech, he emphasized the global and European strategic priorities of the Open Society Foundations in order to contribute to democratic and economic development, the rule of law, justice and equality, and freedom of critical thought. In this regard, the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia remains committed to promoting economic and social justice. Macedonian society is still characterized by unbalanced development or imbalance on several levels and exactly those differences and that division has always been the main focus in the work of the Foundation, i.e. the main benchmark whose fulfillment has been worked on in the past years and will be worked on in the future, to help this imbalance the most when it comes to economic and social inequality of citizens. Here, first of all, the fight is aimed at inequality in access to education and access to health services. FOSM works with communities that are economically and socially depressed and need more help than anyone else. That is why the focus is on Roma, women, children and other marginalized groups in terms of access to basic services related to basic human rights.
Kire Milovski also referred to the support provided by the Foundation to LAG Agro Leader for the implementation of the project “Social Justice in Rural Communities”. The main goal of this project is to improve the social and economic position of women in rural areas by strengthening digital and entrepreneurial skills for building economically viable agricultural farms and rural businesses, establishing access to legal and advisory support and creating public policies for ensuring social justice. In the following period, the platform “domasno.mk” will be upgraded with digital space where programs for support of agriculture and rural development will be published, and free advisory support for the use of financial resources from existing programs will be offered. This platform was created through previous project support from FOSM to Lag Agro Leader.
Marina Tosheska from Lag Agro Leader shared data on poverty in our country, the growing “gap” between urban and rural communities in terms of access to basic rights and resources, inequality and social marginalization, focusing especially on the position and challenges of rural women (women farmers) and young people from rural areas. Lag Agro Leader with the support of donors implements initiatives to combat inequality, discrimination and unemployment by supporting women and youth (Domashno.mk; youth employment support services, etc.), but still, consistent social policies are needed that will meet the essential goals of social justice such as access to resources, equality, participation and respect for human rights.
The Attaché of the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Welfare and Consumer Protection, Mr Harald Fuger, presented the European Social Model as a concept that encompasses a combination of social, economic and employment policies aimed at social cohesion. The European social model is a vision of a society that combines sustainable economic growth with continuous improvement of living and working conditions, which means employment, quality jobs, equal opportunities, social protection for all, social inclusion, and citizen involvement in decision-making.
Dejan Tosheski, director of JUMCSR Prilep, spoke about the social reforms in accordance with the national legislation that is aimed at eradicating poverty, promoting equality and support for children, young people and the elderly.
The purpose of this event was to promote the concept of social justice by actualizing the need for a substantial fight against poverty, inequality, unemployment and social marginalization, emphasizing the dignity of every citizen and the pursuit of the common good of all are the fundamental principles of social justice. Аt the same time, it is necessary to promote social justice by creating equal rights and opportunities for all stakeholders in society.
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21 February 2022