Forum of “Dosta e" (Enough is enough) “Can Macedonia do without weapons?"
"Perspectives of democracy lie in the civic organizations. Their activities should be respected because they are apolitical, that is, their activities are not conditioned by the fight for power. The civic organizations should take active part in the disarming campaign through their members and their word in order to explain the consequences of the guns, ammunition and explosive materials. So, the civic organizations can do a lot for "disarming" the citizens' awareness", said Gzim Ostreni, facilitator at one of the meetings and president of the Coordinative Body for implementation of the Law for volunteer giving and collecting the weapons, ammunition and explosive materials and for the legalization of weapons. Another facilitator was Savka Todorovska from the Union of Macedonian Women Organizations (UMWO). She said: "Without doubt, the civic organizations play a very important role in the decontamination of people from illegal weapons, although in this moment, it is only symbolic. It is symbolic for several reasons - the small number of civic organizations working on the disarming process, the traditional belief that this is a problem for the government institutions, the lack of donors' involvement for supporting projects for such actions, etc. It has to be changed". The UMWO president added: "If the civic organizations do not take part in the disarming process, then they cannot take full responsibility for the eventual failure of the action." The work at the Forum was divided in several issues: Can Macedonia do without weapons; The role of civic organizations in the implementation of the Law for volunteer giving and collecting the weapons and the legalization of weapons; Presenting the active networks and coalitions of civic organizations; Cooperation between the Government and the civic sector; and Defining the future priorities of "Dosta e" and conclusions. D.M. |
On 9 October, at the Panorama Hotel in Skopje, the civic platform "Dosta e" organized a Forum called "Can Macedonia do without weapons?" Representatives from civic organizations, government institutions and interested citizens attended the meeting. Moderators were several reputable individuals and leaders of civic organizations and networks of civic organizations, as well as government representatives.