the former Yugoslav Republic of MACEDONIA

Huge Development Disparities among Regions in the Country

The official launching and the presentation of the People-Centred Analyses Report findings, took place at the Holiday Inn Hotel, on Thursday. Implementing organization of the second issue is the South-East European University, in close cooperation and with the sponsorship and support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“In order to better meet the needs of accurate and valuable monitoring of the new socio-political context in the country, the project Early Warning System was transformed and upgraded with the new project entitled People Centered Analysis (PCA),” said Mr. Alajdin Abazi, Rector of the South-East European University. “The new reports continue monitoring people’s perception through regular surveys, but complement this with additional sources of data, including statistical indicators and apply more in-depth, policy oriented analyses that will simultaneously look at facts and perceptions to identify the correlations and recommend effective policy actions,” he added. 

The new issue of the People-Centered Analyses Report that builds upon the first edition (launched March 2008) goes one step further, examining regional disparities regarding social exclusion and quality of life throughout the country. This publication has been written on the basis of the first Research on Quality of Life ever conducted in our country and it focuses on measuring and comparing the quality of life and citizens’ perceptions. The survey was done on a representative sample of 3.000 respondents.

This issue is focused on: Regional Development, Local Government and Quality of Life, and it is a result of the extensive survey that captures citizens’ perceptions at regional level on the above mentioned topics. It also draws lessons on how to reduce the spatial disparities through effective regional policies, while deepening the analysis of trends in quality of life which was initiated in the previous edition.

“We are all unfortunately aware that one of the effects of transition has been a very significant increase in wealth disparities among peoples and locations, which the country has still not been able to reverse.  Worse still,” Ms. Maria Luisa Silva Mejias, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative stated, “inequalities in the country are among the highest in Europe and this has a very negative impact on people’s happiness and satisfaction. More importantly,” Ms. Silva Mejias added, “it is about opportunities such as those opened by the instruments for Regional Development that the EU has at the disposal for its more disadvantaged regions and which will soon be able also to pre-acceding countries. So the question is how to start preparing now to be able to benefit as soon as possible from this development opportunity, putting together the policies, priorities, structures, systems, capacities, instruments and resources that will allow the country to benefit as much as possible from the EU Regional Development instruments”.

Key findings of the People-Centred Analyses are:
1. Regional policy is an extremely important instrument for achieving equity in development and quality of life;
2. The survey showed that the quality of life improves people’s overall satisfaction and the level of happiness, but also that the mean level of life satisfaction and happiness is greater for those who live in urban areas compared to those who live in rural areas;
3. Citizens in the country have expressed themselves as most unhappy in the region, which may be attributed to the influence of the standard of living, as well as the low social inclusion and cohesion.
4. Municipalities and Regional Development Centres need more resources to fulfil citizens’ needs, especially in the area of environment protection;
5. The research has once again accentuated the disenfranchised position of the Roma community, which puts up with significantly poorer incomes, lower life standards and greater and deeper levels of poverty. All of the above makes them the most unsatisfied and unhappy citizens of the country.   

The People-Centred Analyses Reports represent an attempt to initiate a broader discussion on the social inclusion concept in the country context and further examine the socio-economic dimensions of exclusion. It analyses both the status of Macedonian society in that regard, as well as citizens’ perceptions of the quality of life, quality of governance, and their social cohesion concerns. Finally, the new series and the indicators behind it are supposed to provide a tool for the policy makers in effectively pursuing the social policy in the country.

Experts' team that have prepared the second issue of People-Centred Analyses Report
 

The report is published in English, Macedonian and Albanian, and it is available on UNDP website through the section Resources > Publications. 

The previous report series Early Warning Report are available at www.ewr.org.mk.