High-level commitment to gender equality in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
UN Women held a high-level strategic meeting with the Prime Minister and Ministers of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to discuss urgent steps to be taken for ensuring gender equality in the public finance reform process.Date:
The Prime Minister of the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, accompanied by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Mila Carovska, and the Minister of Finance, Dragan Tevdovski, held a high-level strategic meeting with the Head of UN Women office in Skopje Dominika Stojanoska and the UN Women Regional Manager for Gender-Responsive Budgeting, Ermira Lubani.
The participants of the meeting discussed gender aspects of the state budget and the concrete steps to be taken to ensure that the ongoing reforms on the management of public finances take into consideration gender equality priorities in the country.
Prime Minister Zaev stressed the importance of taking urgent, concrete and substantive actions rather than merely talking about theoretical solutions.
Reiterating the openness and willingness of the Government to address gender inequalities in the country, Mr. Zaev pointed out that they are making vast efforts to achieve progress on gender equality and women’s rights. The Ministers and representatives of UN Women discussed specific solutions for establishing a lasting link between government budgets and gender equality priorities by allocating adequate resources for the implementation of gender equality objectives.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Zaev and the Ministers emphasised that the Government is open and willing to enhance the mechanisms for policy-making and budgeting, and consider utilizing tools that would successfully mainstream gender perspective in the process of strategic planning and budgeting in the country by closely cooperating with UN Women.