Gender Equality Facility advisory services to the administration of North Macedonia

The Gender Equality Facility (GEF) is designed to ensure that gender equality is addressed in EU candidate countries, including North Macedonia, during their EU accession process. This is achieved by integrating the EU Gender Equality acquis into planning and programming related to the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis legislation and policies, and into the financing of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The EU acquis is the accumulated legislation, legal acts and court decisions that constitute the body of European Union law.

The project -- Gender mainstreaming advisory services to North Macedonia’s administration at central level (Gender Equality Facility (GEF)) -- supports the Government of North Macedonia in bringing the EU Gender Equality acquis into the EU accession agenda. 

UN Women leads the technical implementation of the GEF project. Activities of the project have been developed in collaboration with the Secretariat for European Affairs (SEA), and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP)/ Equal Access Opportunities Department. The State Statistical Office of North Macedonia is also closely involved, particularly in matters relating to gender statistics. 

The GEF project functions at the central level to increase the long-term capacities and skills of government personnel mandated for European Integration and Gender Equality. The aim is to increasingly reflect gender equality goals into the North Macedonia’s planning and policy processes. 

GEF project approach

The GEF project provides support to integrate gender equality perspectives into sector dialogue, policy development, COVID-19 recovery programmes, and ongoing reforms. These include the National Programme for Adoption of the Acquis, EU-funded IPA programmes and actions, the Government Annual Work Programme, and line ministry planning on EU-related reforms.

The GEF Project has two main expected outcomes:

• SEA, IPA Units, Sector Working Groups, and selected decision-making bodies and coordination structures involved in EU accession have the knowledge and skills to include a gender perspective in programming, implementation, reporting, monitoring and evaluation of IPA programmes.
• National Gender Mechanisms, such as the Equal Opportunities Department and related Equal Opportunity Coordinators and Gender Focal Points, have the administrative capacities to perform gender mainstreaming in planning processes related to the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA), and can implement EU Gender Equality legislation and policy, in line with EU regulations and international obligations.

The GEF project supports implementation of gender equality legislation, policies and standards. It provides support for policy dialogue, technical expertise and guidance, sharing of good practices, and strategic partnerships and cooperation.

In general, women and men, girls and boys in North Macedonia, including disadvantaged groups, will benefit from transformative gender-equal governance reform and service delivery.