Governmental sector Open government through decentralizationOn 25 and 26 march this year in Skopje, a National Conference called "Building open government through decentralization" took place. The goal of the conference was to encourage the process of building open government in Macedonia through transferring the authorities from the central to the local government, as well as to encourage dialogue between the authorities and the civil society in Macedonia for building an open government through increased informing, consultations and public participation. Several youth associations organize A spring day in EuropeThe first day of spring, 21 March was marked in Skopje with the manifestation "A spring day in Europe", organized by several NGOs: Youth Education Forum (YEF), Balkan IDEA - Skopje, AEGEE - Skopje and Young European Federalists - YEF - MK, on the initiative and patronage of the Republic of Macedonia President's Cabinet. Best research story 2002 Supporting the research journalismThe journalist texts: "Aracinovo, a year later" (authors: Borjan Jovanovski and Jovan Damcevski), published in the weekly magazine "Capital" on 27/06/2002), "A series of texts on the villa Vodno" (published in the daily newspaper "Vest" in 2002) and "Belated reconstruction" (mutual report by TV Art and TV Kiss from Tetovo, by the journalists Dashmir Idrizi and Aleksandar Samardziev and shown on 30/12/2002 within the TV show "Kontrafor")-have been awarded at the competition "Best research story 2002", announced by the Macedonian Institute for Media. "New Life" Association Education for the breast cancerThe Association for fight against malignant diseases "New Life" from Stip, has dedicated the world week for fight against cancer to the better informing and education of women about this evil that threatens to remain the greatest in the new century. The Association distributed 1500 leaflets and brochures on: "Cancer of the cervix", "Self-control of the breast", plastic guides for doing breast self-control and brochures for mental support of people with breast cancer. "New Life organized a lecture on "Cancer on women reproductive organs" and two practical lectures on doing breast self-control. "New Life" is the only, or at least one of the rare organizations that gives practical training to women for doing breast self-control with a breast simulator. Roma Leaders Openness for the taboo-themesOn 22 March this year, 13 female students who call themselves Roma Leaders, organized a public tribune on: Young Romas and the tradition. The focus of this tribune was given to young Roma girls and their right to choose, related to the traditional customs of "the first night of the marriage". An expert team consisting of a psychologist, gynecologist, a Muslim cleric and a female activist for human rights, took part at the tribune and discussed the taboo-themes such as: hymen and defloration; how does the first night of marriage influence the young Roma; what does the Islam say about that; does the Roma violate some rights... European Agency for Reconstruction Five projects for inter-ethnic reconciliation"I truly hope that these projects, in their original way, will contribute to the realization of the vision for European Macedonia, that we all want to see", said Radmila Shekerinska, vice-Prime Minister at the Macedonian Government, at the promotion of five projects for inter-ethnic reconciliation, that took place on 27 March this year at the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) headquarters. Helsinki Committee of Macedonia Violence - precedent that cannot be repeatedThe Helsinki Human Rights Committee has made a public announcement, which says: ...The violence cannot and must not be seen as part of the activities for human rights protection. Accepting the situation of changes done in a violent way has to be seen as a lack of power of those involved to find another way for solving problems, and not as an alternative that can be applied every time there is a dissatisfaction of system's functioning. School for Democracy Democracy? No way without me!The project "School for Democracy, realized by the Institute for Democracy, Solidarity and Civil Society and the Open Society Institute Macedonia Foundation, has entered its third phase. This phase includes about 1 200 previously trained individuals and NGO activists who will work interactively with the citizens. The implementation of the project began last year, and the present, third phase, is the last one and includes public campaign. Citizens want Stop for the "official" violenceAfter the cases of "official" violence manifestation by the police in Kicevo, Prilep and Stip, a group of NGOs and citizens from Macedonia have published a Declaration where they judge the abuse official authorities by the police and want criminal and political responsibility for these and other cases. In the Declaration they also want the Ministry of Internal Affairs to respect the presumption of innocence principle and protect the suspects' identity, and the media are encouraged to follow the cases of abusing the official authorities and, together with the public, help to discourage them. Citizens for Citizens Public authorities' responsibilitiesOn 5 March, at the Deputes' Club in Skopje, a public discussion on " Public authorities' responsibilities" took place. It was organized by the "Citizen for Citizen" coalition, and supported by the Open Society Institute Macedonia Foundation and the Conrad Adenauer Foundation.