In the mystical continent of the south eastern part where you can still sense, see and feel the natural beauty and humanity’s strong hand, you will find Grahamstoun in the South African Republic.

In that small South African town, in which the racial and economic dividedness is drawn up with a thick red line, physically and psychologically is the modern university Rouds. With a wealth of profiles and interesting programs, the University supports the program of the Center for Social responsibility and monitoring.Two representatives from NRCwere privileged to learn about the center’s methods and work. Professional trainers for 11 days transferred their experiences to a group of 20 people.

The Center for Social Responsibility is an independent institute within the frameworks of the Rouds University, settled in the Eastern province of Cape.

CSR’s vision in institutionalization of the right of social responsibility and realization of social and economic rights through effective management of public resources.

Its vision strives to implement in the South African region generation, dissemination and sharing of knowledge and skills about the right of social responsibility and necessary tools that would be effective for realization of this right

The purpose of CSR’s academic program is to institutionalize the request for social responsibility among future leaders of civil associations and activists and the creators of policies in the South African region. CSR aims to achieve this result through integration of materials from the Social responsibility course in the curriculum of the region’s universities.

CSR’s midterm goal is to ease the facilitation of creating of a network of SADC-A South African developed community for academic needs that will represent the materials of the course for the right of Social responsibility within the frameworks of their institution and the setting of the system.

CSR justifies its work based on the fact that every living being has the right to enjoy in its basic human rights which are the right if a home, education, and the right of dignified life.

This system works in Republic of South Africa and cases have been won in court. The cases that have been in court have treated the issue for receiving of information from a public character. CSR has won cases for lack of information, i.e. insight in the complete documentation for observation of the entire process for spending of the money that come from citizens.

They have achieved success in the area of education. A complete report has been made about irregular spending of money intended for education. In the field of health an analytical report was prepared for the work of health institutions and the way of spending of money as well as the quality of services for the citizens in the field of health and as the latest case, parliamentarians have been brought to court to monitor spending of public money for travel costs.

We could create detailed analyses on the strategy from the area of health in order to monitor the yearly report of the Government and to see what the budget for health is and how it is spent. To review all documents and legal acts that come from working contracts for all employees, dividing of working positions, money spent of medical aids up to audit reports. All incomes and outcomes for the work of each clause must be followed by documents and facts that would justify the work, the ways of implementation and the quality of service for the citizens.

The way to do this is through a court procedure, public presentation of facts identified during the monitoring – public announcements and advocacy in front of institutions.

This would represent a challenge for this area, to see publicly and transparently where the citizen’s money is going. The round figures of the budget and the unclear showing of clauses that are being shown to the citizens are insufficient. The challenge would be to create detailed analyses and to work on realization of the needs of those who require services.

All of these rights in many documents (conventions, declarations, etc.) produced under the United Nations are only a base on which we can call upon for realization of basic human rights and freedoms, documents that call on and promote that each living being has a right and a responsibility in front of the state, but the state as well has a responsibility to enable decent life.

According to the Human rights convention, all states that have signed this document need to provide conditions for its citizens for a proper life, a proper home, education and a possibility for realization of basic human needs. This is why the process of monitoring of social responsibility covers 5 stages:

First stage: Process of planning and application of means

All of this will be realized if the state identifies its available resources, identifies the real needs through a real strategy that would cover the needs of the citizens.

In that way the services that the citizens use will be available and will be compatible to their real needs.

Second stage Ways of spending money

For each democratic system to function, it is necessary to monitor the expenditure of the intended means for providing services to citizens. Monitoring is an essential part to realize documents and concrete data about the ways of spending of the citizen’s money. In order to receive the services that are guaranteed by law, monitoring needs to be done on ways of realization of services, what are the external influences, whether there are enough people to deliver the service, whether it has good infrastructure. It also covers the process of management of implementing of the provided activities – third stage in CSR’s scheme.

The fourth stage of the process covers the evaluation of the public integrity of the service providers. A state has a good integrity if there is an announcement system on all levels, legal procedures, managing documents, determinations for functioning of all facilities as well as duties of all employees in administration, the government and the parliament.

This means that the hierarchy of duty should function regularly and to be suited to the needs of the citizens.

As a final tool in the cycle that needs to permanently function is monitoring of the system and the entire process. Of course monitoring needs to be internal and to be based on the products of each employee (different kinds of informing and notifications that have a material form – as well as externally, i.e. independent audit of all spent means). A tool must be used in a right way in order to perform quality monitoring with facts.

An interesting fact was that the awareness for social responsibility with the citizens in this country is on a high level. They know that they should receive timely and quality services. Everyone is talking about social responsibility; those that do not implement the services are openly named.

There is an open discussion in the media about public services in education, health, approach to information, necessary structure and what kind of infrastructure is necessary to implement them. Cases are being reported and there are public discussions about the lack and irresponsibility of realization of planed activities. Existing corruption is discussed in public. An administration employee during our stay there was sentenced to 15 years for corruption.

Civil movement works in raising awareness with the population.

The experience and effective programs for studying of practices really raise awareness for a real functional and democratic society.

The society should enable quality services for each citizens as well as adequate housing conditions, approach to adequate living conditions (appropriate infrastructure), quality health services. This should be done according to each state\s possibilities and to urge towards progressive realization of human rights.

If the process of providing of services does not function, then a question needs to be asked why it does not function and whether measures are being taken to enable realization of services. Also as part of this process is the task to justify and explain why each activity is made, what measures are taken and what will be taken if the service is not implemented for benefit of the citizens????

This is a long process that would represent a challenge for the civil sector as well as NRC to implement it in Macedonia.

A good example for lack of service is the health system in R. Macedonia, its reforms are under the level of normalcy and below European standards. We can freely compare ourselves with the African countries, where they face AIDS which has achieved epidemic proportions.

We have epidemics that appear in underdeveloped countries and we have a free vaccination system.

How regularly vaccinations are performed in our country and what is the method of follow up of vaccinated and non vaccinated children. We have free health services, but still everyone pays participation for any kind of a specialist exam, such as laboratory exams, ultra sound, PAP. On the other hand we face with a 30% unemployment rate. How the people that live on the edge of poverty can can afford any kind of health examination. Unfortunately those are the people that due to their social condition face serious illnesses. A question arises what are basic health services? Talks with doctors are all right, but what about more serious illnesses? The reality is that we face with inappropriate and inadequate providing of services, and very often lack of services that we should legally receive. Those services are for example once a year a free mammography for women, free examinations from a gynecologist, and free treatments of persons for malignant diseases. The medications are available with participation and most often state institutions face with the problem of equipment malfunctions …….

If we turn to the living conditions we could receive quality education for everyone, access to health services, access to employment.

A question remains directed towards all of us, what do we receive as service?

What is it what we need and is it being realized.

The state cash register is being filled from the citizen’s pockets. How much of that money is inteneded for the citizens and their real problems???

Sebihana Skenderovska