Skopje, 12 September 2023 (MIA) - Gender equality is part of the fundamental values of the European Union, which means that it is the heart of the EU accession process, EU Ambassador to North Macedonia, David Geer said Tuesday at regional forum "Gender Equality in EU Accession Processes" in Skopje.

In relation to gender equality, Ambassador Geer said they are reviewing the issue on how to secure equal opportunities for men and women in society.

"This event today is a good opportunity to gather the people working in this field from all over the region, compare notes and see how we can move forward, promote equality and bring the country and EU closer together," Geer said.

Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska also addressed the event saying that North Macedonia currently has 49 women working in Parliament, which represents 42 percent of women in Parliament, 36 percent in local self-governments, only 2 female mayors in 81 municipalities, 5 ministers and 4 deputy ministers.

"The issue of gender equality is one of the basic issues when it comes to the political dialogue and EU accession process. Establishing gender equality is explicitly required for the EU agreements and is a key principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights," Trenchevska notes.

She emphasized that in the EU integration process, North Macedonia has an obligation to transform the directives, i.e. everything related to EU policies that is gender sensitive, including the needs of men and women.

"All of this is reflected in the Gender Equality Strategy, that we as a country adopted in 2022, including the action plan for its implementation. We set up the resource center for gender-based policies which is a part of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, conducting numerous lectures, educational programs to representatives from institutions, and also to those working on the gender equality issue," Trenchevska said and added that recently they conducted 32 lectures with 420 participants, most of whom were representatives of institutions. ssh/ik/

Photo: MIA