Trenchevska: Strengthening the system, supporting women in labor market, fighting domestic and gender-based violence are tools for strengthening entire society
Skopje, 23 November 2022 (MIA) - Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Jovanka Trenchevska, addressed on Wednesday a regional conference entitled "Transformative Financing as an Accelerator for Gender Equality: Drawing from gender responsive budgeting experiences and lessons learned", organized by the regional office of UN Women, which takes place on Wednesday and Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey.
Trenchevska addressed a panel on "Leadership and policy makers’ perspectives on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB)", alongside ministers from Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy said in a press release.
The panel, organized as a high-level ministerial panel, presented reviews on gender responsive budgeting with a focus on the processes and key achievements in its implementation, as well as the next steps to further advance the institutionalization of gender responsive budgeting.
Minister Trenchevska noted that gender responsive budgeting initiatives have been implemented in the Republic of North Macedonia since 2009 by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, adding that the Department for Equal Opportunities within the Ministry is responsible for the implementation of gender responsive budgeting and for coordination of the activities of other ministries and units of local self-government in relation to the implementation of gender budget initiatives.
She pointed out that the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, in cooperation with the UN Women office in Skopje, established a Resource Center for gender-responsive policymaking and budgeting in March of this year, which is part of the work plan and program of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy in accordance with the Work Program of the Government.
"The Resource Center provides expert support, good practices, research, resources, and training for building the capacities of public officials in the Republic of North Macedonia in the area of gender responsive budgeting. It is the first such center opened in the region, and it aims to grow into a regional center of knowledge in the future," Trenchevska said.
The resource center provides training and mentoring to improve the capacities of civil servants in the area of gender equality and gender responsive budgeting. Since the establishment of the Resource Center, 28 trainings have been conducted on nine different topics, in which a total of 364 people were trained, reads the press release.
The minister also mentioned the adoption of the Strategy for Gender Equality 2022-2027, which is the basic strategic document that establishes a comprehensive framework for further activities aimed at promoting gender equality and empowering women.
She highlighted the country's commitment to protect women against violence and gender-based violence, which has included the country among the first countries to sign the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), and the Law on Prevention and Protection against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence was adopted in 2021 towards full implementation of the Convention.
"Strengthening the system, support of women in the process of inclusion in the labor market, fight against domestic and gender-based violence, are tools that strengthen the whole society. With each of our actions, we invest in future generations, we invest in children who will grow up in the spirit of equality and non-discrimination, we invest in eradicating transgenerational violence, we invest in the solid foundation of the state," said Trenchevska. dk/nn/
