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About the social reform

The long-term and strategic objective of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia is to reduce poverty and strengthen human capital as a basis for overall social development. Although the country has a relatively well-developed and functioning social protection and child protection system, in order to address the challenges of poverty a new set of reform activities was needed to improve the coverage, effectiveness, efficiency and overall delivery of social benefits and services in a more inclusive way. The new system of social and child protection will contribute to rescuing the most vulnerable citizens, but also children from poverty.

The principles on which the new system of social and child protection is built are the following:

  • Pluralism in social protection
  • Inclusion
  • Decentralization
  • Deinstitutionalization

Pluralism in the provision of social protection services means that, in addition to the state that is its main provider, other providers are also included in the social protection: private legal entities, natural persons and citizens' associations. The inclusion of these providers in the provision of social protection services means: (1) development of other forms of social protection in the home and in the community – i.e. expansion of the type of services; (2) better social protection for all categories of socially excluded persons, in particular those for whom the State has failed to provide adequate protection; (3) greater access to all socially disadvantaged individuals, families and demographic groups; (4) bringing social services closer to the citizens and including family and civic support in social protection; and (5) introducing competitiveness and improving the quality of services.
The principle of inclusion means a change from the traditional passive to an active approach to the delivery of social protection. The strategy involves combining traditional financial assistance guarantees with activation measures in order to reduce dependence on social protection and increase employment potential.
Given the specificity and complexity of the functions, decentralization takes place gradually and this process includes the transfer of public institutions for care of the elderly and protection of children (institutions for care and education) from the central government to the local self-government units, while the other social services depend on local development plans according to the local context. Local self-government units with their own social protection programs, which should be based on the needs of the citizens of the municipality, can organize social protection for vulnerable groups, such as: persons and children with disabilities, children without parents and parental care, homeless children, children with educational and social problems, children from single-parent families, persons at social risk, people who abuse drugs and other psychotropic substances and alcohol, the elderly without family care, etc. These activities can be performed through social protection and services at home, in the community or outside the family, providing housing for people at risk and by raising public awareness of the needs for providing social protection. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy will take over the role of overseeing the legality of municipal bodies and service providers in the implementation of laws and regulations in the field of social protection providing housing for persons at social risk and by raising the awareness of the population for the needs of providing social protection. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy will take over the role of overseeing the legality of municipal bodies and service providers in the implementation of laws and regulations in the field of social protection providing housing for persons at social risk and by raising the awareness of the population for the needs of providing social protection.
Deinstitutionalization is a process in which the new Law on Social Protection is given a key role. International experience shows that the model of large institutions should be replaced by other forms of beneficiaries’ protection in the home and in the community. For that purpose, the law expands the existing types of day care centers with new types of day care centers and centers for day and temporary care, home support services, individualized social services for different categories of citizens at risk. The implementation of the new forms of social services also supports the process of deinstitutionalization, by using the potentials of the family, i.e. the local community, increase the possibility for reintegration in the community, but also higher quality of services due to the individual access to these persons. On the other hand, in the long run it will mean cost reduction.