The Student Parliament and Association hosted the Gender equality workshop on April 1st 2022, in cooperation with Women’s Forum Tetovo for the project Youth participation for a strong and sustainable community development. The aim is to contribute to a civil society of independence and sustainability supported by a supportive environment that fosters participatory and gender-sensitive youth policy-making processes.
Slagjana Josifovska was the orator on the seminar. She spoke about gender equality in the society in North Macedonia and how girls and women are treated there. In the last couple of years, the gender policy climate in North Macedonia has been changing, and women of all ages and nationalities have gotten more rights than in the past. It was also challenging to find a job, apply to a better school as a girl in the past, or have a bigger sally, but as I said, in the last couple of years, everything changed, and we have also grown as a society.
She also presented how to write a CV and a Motivational letter, so it would be easy for the women in Tetovo to apply for a job position. She also spoke that women can work in leading roles, like directors or managers, which is still not the case in North Macedonia. Often nobody trusts women in that position, and people ask to see “a man” even though he works in a lower position.
The workshop was short, and it was helpful for girls and women who live in Tetovo and the rural areas of North Macedonia. From my perspective, having an intentional experience through ESC and Erasmus+ projects is necessary to broaden the perspective of gender equality.
Author: Marija Tofilovska, ESC volunteer