On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ambassador Killian Wahl, invited the Gender Equality Platform and women's rights activists to hear first-hand about their initiatives, activities, challenges and advocacy efforts. The event helped us to identify points for co-operation between the Mission and the participants.
Ambassador Wahl expressed gratitude to the activists for their hard work on behalf of gender equality and the advancement of the rights of women and other marginalized groups in the country. Acknowledging that there is still a lot of work to be done, he added, "The pursuit of gender equality in politics, the society and the economy can only succeed through the joint and synchronized efforts of institutions, political actors, NGOs and all other stakeholders".
"During the early 2000s, the OSCE Mission to Skopje was one of the greatest supporters when the first initiative to increase the percentage of women on electoral lists up to 30% was put forward in front of the Parliament, and the subsequent effort to increase it to 40% in 2015. As a result, we look forward to receiving advocacy support from the Mission in the new initiative to achieve 50% women on electoral lists," Savka Todorovska, President, National Council for Gender Equality.
"Never underestimate the power of networking," said Sabrije Tefiki from the Women's Forum Tetovo, adding that it is very important for her as a young woman "to be able to meet peers working towards the same cause of advancing women's rights, sharing experiences, and ensuring the voices of women and youth are heard in policymaking."
Marija Savovska from Akcija Zdruzenska agreed, adding "the event was a great opportunity to meet Mission Members with whom we found mutual understanding about how to try to enhance women's political participation at the local level." In the same vein, Marija Risteska, Executive Director of the Center for Research and Policy Making and the co-ordinator for the EBRD's Western Balkans Women in Business Programme, identified co-operation to invigorate the policy dialogue on women's economic empowerment as a possible area for cooperative advocacy.
Marija Todorovska, the Programme Director at Open Gate - LaStrada in North Macedonia, spoke about her organization's work on preventing trafficking in human beings. She noted that "The role of police and the law enforcement agencies is crucial in ensuring the co-ordinating mechanisms work well for a timely response, protection and prevention and the OSCE Mission to Skopje's support in this domain is significant in boosting their capacities."
Biljana Tasheva from Vizija Kavadarci, presented her organization's work founding the first regional counselling centre for women and children victims of domestic violence, which is jointly financed by the municipalities of Kavadrci, Negotino, Demir Kapija and Rosoman. Natasha Dimova from the Stella Network, took the opportunity to speak with the Ambassador about their new project aimed at mentoring young ladies between the ages of 15 and 19 to help them as they begin to think about their future careers.
Hajdi Shterjovа Simonovikj, the Executive Director of the Healthy Options Project Skopje (HOPS), summed up the experience, saying that the event was of great importance because "representatives from the sector working on gender equality gathered at the same place," which gave them "the opportunity to exchange information, update each other on current activities, network, and discuss further co-operation in the field of gender equality, prevention and protection from gender-based violence and domestic violence."
