OSCE Mission to Skopje supports efforts to make parliament of North Macedonia and the region more gender sensitive

More than 30 women MPs from North Macedonia and South-Eastern Europe enhanced their knowledge on gender-sensitive parliaments and use of public funding for gender equality during the OSCE-supported event that ended on 27 June 2019 in Skopje.

The two-day conference provided networking opportunities for the women MPs to increase regional co-operation. The event was organized by the Women Parliamentarians’ Club of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, and supported by the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the OSCE/ODIHR with financial support from the Austrian Development Cooperation.

During the conference, the OSCE-led survey on violence against women in South-Eastern Europe was also presented.

In his address, Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje Clemens Koja underlined the essential role of the political commitment of women MPs to advancing gender equality in parliament.

“These efforts are essential to protect and promote the human rights of women, as well as the overall security and prosperity of societies,” he said.

As host of the event, the President of the Women Parliamentarians’ Club, Gjylymser Kasapi, stressed the unifying effect of the focus on gender issues, saying, “I am particularly proud that women parliamentarians are working together on the issues that unite us regardless of our ethnic or political backgrounds.”

Vice President of the Assembly of North Macedonia Frosina Tashevska-Remenski highlighted the need to achieve international standards in the equal participation of women and men in both political and public life. “Achieving the sustainable development goal on gender equality by 2030 still requires more work from us to create the necessary cultural and social conditions,” she said.

Tiina Kukkamaa-Bah, the Chief of the Democratic Governance and Gender Unit at ODIHR in Warsaw, spoke to participants about the importance of gender mainstreaming as a key strategy for achieving gender equality. She noted that parliaments in the region still remained gendered in their policies and practices, disadvantaging women in their political engagement, and stressed the need to focus on how institutions facilitate change rather than only on formal standards such as the proportion of women represented in parliaments.