Bitola, 15 October 2024 (MIA) - I believe women from rural areas are the absolute leaders, heroines we should look up to, but they cannot live on compliments alone, which is why we need to support them individually and institutionally, President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova said at an event marking International Day of Rural Women at the National Federation of Farmers in Bitola.

President Siljanovska Davkova stressed that the global crisis mainly impacted rural women.

"We must not neglect the labor, skills, daily engagement that contributes not only to the well-being of families in the fight for survival, but also communities and society. The lives of rural women leaders are said to be a 24-hour engagement, a bonding and a struggle with the land, but also a love of the land, food production, and nature. I believe women from rural areas are the absolute leaders. To me, women from rural areas are heroines we should look up to, but they cannot live on compliments alone. This is why we must support and assist them individually and institutionally, in every way possible. Support for rural women means supporting Macedonian villages, and that means stopping migration and supporting the Macedonian future," Siljanovska Davkova stressed.

She added that this year's celebration of International Day of Rural Women focuses on rural women against a backdrop of a global crisis, and that global crisis has had the biggest impact on rural women. Agricultural policies must be taken into account to protect the most vulnerable categories and those who work under the harshest conditions; the quietest and modest women are those who work the hardest, the President said.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Cvetan Tripunovski noted that the Ministry's priority was to provide conditions for the normal functioning of rural women.

"Currently, there are 29.971 rural women active in the Ministry's registry, and 3.918 of them are under 40. Women are given priority when applying at the Ministry, and they receive additional points for various measures. The Ministry’s efforts have already yielded results. We have success stories of developed small and family businesses, all signed by the hands of Macedonian rural women. But we can do even more for them, offering them our partnership as part of our 2025 programs," Tripunovski said.

Unconditional support for Macedonian rural women also came from Parliament, from Vice-Speaker Vesna Bendevska and chair of the Commission on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Zhaklina Peshevska.

"As a former member of the Commission for the Prevention of Discrimination, I am proud to remind you it was a systemic discrimination for rural women to not be allowed to enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Maternity Protection Convention under the same conditions. Human rights are also rights of rural women, and they are the bravest, most resilient, and strongest part of our society. That is why we must do much more for rural women," Bendevska stressed.

Peshevska announced that work conditions of rural women will be continuously improving through systemic solutions, and the focus would be put on the law on maternity leave of women farmers.

National Federation of Farmers President Vaska Mojsovska awarded certificates of appreciation to women farmers for their success and contributions to strengthening the place of women in rural environments. ssh/mr