Skopje, 19 October 2023 (MIA) — North Macedonia is witnessing similar demographic trends to those seen in Eastern Europe, namely aging and migration, so these challenges are covered in the updates to the country's Demographic Strategy and the National Development Strategy currently being finalized, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jovanka Trenchevska said at the "Population and Development: Ensuring Rights and Choices" regional conference organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations Population Fund in Geneva.

The conference focused on evaluating progress in the regional implementation of the Programme of Action adopted by the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994 as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In her address, Minister Trenchevska discussed key points of the National Report on ICPD30 prepared ahead of the UNECE/UNFPA conference.

She also spoke about the new National Youth Strategy 2023–27, stressing that it had been developed with the contribution of over 1,000 young people. She pointed out that the strategy focused on young people's priorities: access to information and services, health care, quality education, inclusion, and employment.

Trenchevska noted some progress in gender equality in the country, specifically regarding the gender gap in the private sector.

"In achieving gender equality," she said, "let me highlight the importance of gender-sensitive policies in the private sector that bear on people's decisions to start a family and share family responsibilities."

At the end of her presentation, Trenchevska called for regional cooperation, saying that by building alliances and increasing transparency and responsibility, the region could overcome challenges that individual countries could not.

The labor minister led an official delegation consisting of Teuta Agai-Demjaha, Permanent Representative of North Macedonia to the UN in Geneva; Ana Daneva-Markova, Safe Motherhood Committee chairwoman; Natasha Dimeska, cabinet chief at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy; Afrodita Shalja-Plavjanska, UNFPA Skopje office head; Burim Bilali, adviser at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of North Macedonia to the UN Offices in Geneva; Aleksandar Trajkoski, second secretary at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of North Macedonia to the UN Offices in Geneva; and Anisija Ugrinovska, North Macedonia's youth delegate to the UN. mr/