Skopje, 9 March 2023 (MIA) – The women’s struggle has been going on for centuries and they are constantly pushing boundaries because they simply have to. They fight inequality, violence and their exclusion from the decision-making processes. Research shows that corruption is lower wherever women have full access to their rights and are a part of the decision-making process, said Deputy Prime Minister in charge of good governance policies, Slavica Grkovska in her address to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday.

The focus of Grkovska’s address were women’s rights and the state of gender equality and corruption, the Government said in a press release.

The Deputy PM stressed that the acquired rights must constantly be protected from violation or revocation.

“Those who oppose the promotion of human rights, oppose the progress of the entire community, because they aim to exclude certain groups from the social flows. Those who sexually coerce women or keep them enslaved, are surely involved in other forms of corruption as well,” said Grkovska.

In the context of the topic, she spoke about Katherine Johnson, the first African American woman who at the end of the 1950s and the beginning of 1960s made the most significant contribution to the development of the space program at NASA, despite facing various forms of discrimination – gender discrimination and racial discrimination, during exceptionally difficult times when human rights weren’t even discussed from this perspective.

“Let’s not forget that the powers who seek a regression of women's rights or other marginalized groups are actually anti-democratic powers with a desire to rule through force. This is not the kind of rule we want, because it harms the people, the peace, the freedoms. Which is why women must remain at the front of the fight for good governance,” added Grkovska in her address.

Women must continue to fight for themselves, but also to build alliances in the fight against the practices which undermine progress, such as corruption, because, said Grkovska, corruption is an important factor that limits the ability to escape poverty and it is the reason why people don’t have equal access to goods, services and opportunities to develop a better life and standard. ad/ik/

Photo: Government