Skopje, 20 November 2021 (MIA) — Investing in children's health and well-being is investing in society and in its future, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said in a Facebook post on World Children's Day, Nov. 20. Pointing out that his government has worked to provide better healthcare for newborns and their mothers by improving the conditions at the Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics and the training of its medical staff, PM Zaev said that since 2016, preterm neonatal mortality has dropped from 25 percent to 8.9 percent. He also noted that the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy had been implementing activities aimed at defending children’s rights, reducing child poverty, protecting children from violence, and increasing preschool attendance. Zaev recalled that 60 daycare centers were built and renovated nationwide, adding that some rural areas, such as Zrnovci, Karaslari, Vrapchiste and many others, had never had daycare centers until now. By the end of his term, he said, the capacity of daycares would further increase. To reduce child poverty, he said, reforms were introduced, allowing access to the right to welfare for children from low-income families and recipients of guaranteed minimum assistance. Additionally, he said the deinstitutionalization meant that no child under the age of 18 would live in institutions but in small group homes and foster families, in a home environment closest to a family. mr/