The issue on the engagement of women in decision-making processes, in peace and security isn’t only a problem of women in the Western Balkans, but the region has examples because their engagement in decision-making processes guarantees success, Defence Minister Radmila Shekerinska said addressing the “Women, Peace and Security in Western Balkans” panel at the Prespa Forum Dialogue international conference.
While listing examples, Shekerinska spoke about the role of female politicians in drafting the Ohrid Agreement, which put an end to the 2001 conflict, their commitment to the country to secure the EU candidate status in 2005 and the reform of the army, which become a NATO army under the leadership of a female defence minister.
“I was elected defence minister in 2017, the first female defence minister. I was aware that despite my long career in politics I would come across skepticism. Men dominate in this profession and there were many questions about army service, if I had any idea how it all functioned… I knew I had to face the skepticism and I knew our team had to work ten times as hard in order to achieve the goal,” Shekerinska said.
Almost four years later, she noted, even ‘macho men’, both in the army and the society in general, must admit that it was a woman at the helm of the Defence Ministry who led the country toward NATO membership.
It was a woman, Shekerinska said, who after a long time managed to raise the defence budget, to raise salaries and pensions, to improve transparency and the conditions in the army all the while not neglecting the issue of gender balance.
“The UN principle that there is no sustainable peace and security without women being engaged is now the principle of NATO as well,” Minister Shekerinska stressed.
One of the main priorities of North Macedonia’s Army, she said, is equal opportunities between men and women.
Women in the army make up 10% and close to 58% in the Defence Ministry, according to her. “The role of women as leaders in various fields, especially in defence, is of major importance,” Shekerinska told the panel in Ohrid.
The panel was opened by Deputy Foreign Minister Fatmire Isaki and saw addresses by UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenca, Serbia’s Minister of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Gordana Comic, Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka, and Kosovo’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz among others.
