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Sociological data show that modern society is in a deep crisis from which different profiles seek a way out. The pandemic we are facing today, Covid-19 has created powerful oscillations in the physical and mental world of man. In times of crisis, religion is one of the most important social agents that comes to the aid of man. It manifests itself as a moral prophylaxis, as a hopeful, comforting element. Thus, there is a fair correlation between the increase in the size of the crisis and the strengthening of spirituality or religiosity. In situations of crises, believers experience intense spiritual activity, a closer connection with the supernatural, and even more extreme cases are recorded when even agnostics, non-believers change their perception of "truth here and there." Especially when science, even the most advanced, the most sophisticated, is left speechless in front of a virus that shakes us all, that has plagued us and closed us planetarily. According to Gallup research conducted between March 28 and April 1, 2020, it was found that mental, dietary and exercise life has deteriorated, while religious life has advanced to 19% of respondents, a figure which Newport (2020) describes as a religious renaissance. In this context, the same analyst also mentions the ascending curve of religious persons and entities that perform positive, integrative, charitable tasks. Prof. Bentzen states that interest in information about prayer in Google increased sharply (in 95 countries) during March 2020 when Covid 19 became a global phenomenon. (Glatz, 2020). This paper utilizes the historical and analytical methods and is also based on content analysis, interviews, and empirical data on this very sensitive issue of 21st century, focused on global and local dimensions. Findings from our field research conducted in March 2021 show an increasing religiosity in Covid-19 times: more than 2/3 of respondents feels themselves more religious in the period of Covid-19 and the most frequent words in the interviews were 'belief' and 'God'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Damages and losses caused by floods have been on the rise in Upper Vardar River Basin (Polog Region) over the past few years. The entire river basin experiences dramatic variations in water flows over time, and the risk of floods is also exacerbated by the basin's mountainous topography and land structure. Human factors are also at work. Changing land use and land cover - for example, through cultivation or construction in high-risk zones, rapid urbanization and heightened erosion from logging in forests - are altering hydrological regimes, increasing the risk of floods. Other causes include incomplete, poorly maintained, decaying or inappropriately used flood control infrastructure. The tragic consequences of the most recent extreme flood events, and the magnitude of associated damages and losses, revealed major deficiencies throughout all components of the overall flood management system (e.g., monitoring, planning, response and recovery). On 3 August 2015, after torrential rains lasting less than two hours, the region was hit by a combination of flash floods, torrential streams and landslides that caused six deaths and an estimated USD 21.5 million in damage (based on a UNDPbacked assessment carried out the for most affected parts of the basin). The Pena River inundated the center of the City of Tetovo and submerged many agricultural fields in nearby areas. The regional road from Tetovo to the Kosovo border was blocked by sludge that in places reached four meters high; and parts of the mountainside village of Sipkovica were buried in mud, boulders and rubble. For this purpose a baseline survey is going to prepare to identify people's and communities' perception of flood and other risks, current willingness-to-accept certain risks and willingness-to-pay to mitigates risk to acceptable levels similar survey is planned for the end of the Programme, to detect likely changes in perception following a period of intensive community awareness programmes and campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the evolution of the state of well-being, as part of social policy, especially in the last 60 years, one can conclude the notable trend of increasing the relevance, that is, the generosity of social policies, with one progressive movement of the welfare state from a state-watchman to a state protector, whose general task is to ensure equality of opportunities, ie chances. In literature, we encounter different definitions of the concept of "state protector" and "welfare state". The concept of "social protection" expresses an attitude for an institution to change. The International Labor Organization (ILO) notes that "the social protection system enables societies to promote the well-being and safety of their citizens by protecting them from vulnerability and poverty so that they can continue a better life". Social protection can meet the basic needs for survival of people, with the basic social and economic needs for all individuals, families and groups being provided. At the same time, it can have a wider impact on the quality of life of individuals and groups by developing and releasing human potential, facilitating structural change, enhancing stability, promoting social justice and cohesion, and promoting economic dynamism. This paper is going to analyze the difference between state protector and welfare state to se similarities and differences and to give a better understanding of what these two different terms mean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to develop the model of analysis there is a need for definitions of a variety of approaches and policies with regard to conflict sensitivity and social inclusion. One of the precondition of building multiethnic society is to design public policies that are conflict sensitive and socially inclusive for all the segments of the society. This analysis will focus on policy making process in terms of ethnic inclusiveness and sensitiveness. For the purpose of this report at this stage, we will present the following definitions and explanations related to the concepts of conflict sensitivity, social exclusion and social inclusion: Conflict sensitivity- is an overall term to describe different efforts, methods and tools for working in conflict-prone and conflict-affected areas, with the aim of (1.) reducing the risk that aid unintentionally contributes to the escalation or sustainability of violent conflict ('Do no harm'); and (2.) contributing to peace building. It involves thorough analysis of the context in which an intervention takes place; and of the interaction between the context, the intervention, and conflict or peace dynamics. Social exclusion: Social exclusion is a process whereby certain individuals are pushed to the edge of the society and prevented from participating fully because of their poverty, lack of basic competencies and life-long learning opportunities, or as a result of discrimination. This distances them from job, income and education opportunities as well as social and community networks and activities. They have little access to power and decision-making bodies and thus often feel powerless and unable to exercise any influence on the decisions that affect their daily lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to detect the possible ways and obstacles in promoting diversity through the Parliament, we shall briefly introduce the issue of diversity from the perspective of political philosophy and political theory. This will help us create a better comparative framework for the case of the Republic of Macedonia and see if any of the suggestions coming from this stream of thinking are applicable in our scenario. Starting from the premise that the Republic of Macedonia is home to many ethnic groups and is hence multicultural in its content, we will provide an overview of the set of ideas and theories in political philosophy regarding multiculturalism, and the most appropriate treatment of cultural and religious diversity of one community. These multiculturalism debates attempt to diagnose the best possible solutions for the economic, educational, and political under-privilege of minority groups. The diversity can cut across lines of ethnicity, race, sex, socio-economic status, age, religious, belief, political belief, or other ideologies. In this particular chapter, we will mainly focus on the diversity across ethnic lines [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of social policies is relatively hard process because of its multidimensional nature which are so related to the quality of life of the citizens, that's why it is advisable first to analyze the notion of the welfare state. Bearing in mind that this is a very dynamic and very actual problem which is directly related to the life and welfare of the people, in this paper, we analyze the various models of the welfare state in the European soil, treated the birth, development and reforming these states, analyze the ideas of the most important writers and thinkers of that time did this issue, focus their effort to classify these states. In the literature, we encounter different definitions of the concept of "state protector" and "welfare state". The concept of "social welfare" expresses the view of an institution to change, and in this context there are many definitions for it. One of these is the definition of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which says: "The social security system allows societies to advance the welfare and security of its citizens, protecting them from vulnerability and poverty, so that they can continue to live a better life!". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Republic of Macedonia is an entity described as cultural mosaic, with strong multiethnic and multi-confessional basis, it is a point where east and west. But, this society even after 25 year of social transition and 2001 Ohrid Agreement did not achieve to find the way of conclusive peace, stability and social eudaimonia. The diversity is issue that from time to time produces turbulences, especially at the line of two main identity groups Macedonians-Christian Orthodox and Albanians-Muslim community. So the question is how to fight modern stereotypes and coexist in this multicultural reality, where we historically inherited a very positive formula, millet system, and today cope with that of modern multiculturalism. This paper is based on a research, survey with 100 young people, at the age up to 30, majority of them university students, a focus group and a case study, conducted between February to June 2015. Its objective is to give a scientific picture how categories as gender, marriage, family, ethnicity, religion, and living place, Balkan, Europe are perceived by the young, all this in favor of using them in producing affirmative actions, more productive societal policies and constructive society-building. Multiple social identities: their complexity and inclusiveness, the correlation of identity variables with SII and SIC are among issues analyzed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to analyze the current situation of the non-formal education in Macedonia with a comparative overview of practices in the Kingdom of Sweden in which non-formal education has a long tradition, and its impact on the youth population in the Republic of Macedonia. One of the main topics of the discussions today is the role of formal education in the process of the development of the society. In the new millennium in many countries the question is how much classical formal education system can respond to accelerating technological and socioeconomic changes in society. It is evident that in the modern society, there are emerging institutions and organizations that offer various educational activities that can be seen as, substitution, competition, opposition or dulcification of the formal education process. These educational activities are known as non-formal education, as an integral part of the concept of lifelong learning, which enables young people and adults to acquire skills, competencies and attitudes to adapt to the environment subject to constant changes. The acquisition of these skills, competencies and attitudes needed is the willingness of the individual to show interest in participating in this type of training outside of the realm of the formal education system. The paper is analyzing the situation in the non-formal education in Macedonia, through analyzes the European legislation in this area, the legal framework based on previous research in this area and focusing on several segments: • Recognition of non-formal education in Macedonia; • The impact of these programs in addressing the problem of social inclusion mostly in the young population; • The role of NGOs in organizing programs in this area; It is known that the NGO sector or nongovernmental organizations that work with the community and young people are the main driver of these programs. The most important segment of the analysis is the impact of this type of education in alleviating the problem of unemployment of young population in Macedonia. Finally, non-formal education is only added value to the development of the individual, but no doubt has an effect on the community level. Moreover, non-formal education contributes to establishing and identifying the need of those skills or competencies that are important to the labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]