THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL SECTOR IN REDUCING HEALTH INEQUALITIES AND BUILDING RESILIENT COMMUNITIES
THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL SECTOR IN REDUCING HEALTH INEQUALITIES AND BUILDING RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

Summary/Abstract: Since the beginning of civilization, people have come together to achieve well-being and to tackle natural disasters, stresses and other challenges. Resilience is, in some ways, the original aspiration of human communities. Creating resilient communities and supportive environments is an obligation and responsibility of all stakeholders, through the involvement of all citizens. Building such communities requires commitment from all sectors of action, as well as cross-sectoral cooperation. This brief review inspects the opportunities for creating resilient communities, while perceiving the role and participation of civil society in the improvement of the social determinants of health and the reduction of health inequalities. At the beginning, health is highlighted as one of the more important outcomes of creating resilient communities. Subsequently, three groups of important health determinants - social, economic and environmental - are considered as factors that directly influence the health of the citizens. In addition, practical examples of civil activism, implemented through civil organizations or informal groups, have been described, which have helped the population and contributed to the creation of resilient communities. The new role of civil society as an enabler, in building resilient communities, viewed through the prism of national health policies, and in particular the Health Strategy of the Republic of Macedonia until 2020, is a condition for its implementation at the local level, which, for the local community, means a permanent renewable partnership for the health and well-being of the local population.

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