Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jagoda Shahpaska on Monday participated in a meeting held to mark the start of several days of training aimed at building the capacity of responsible institutions in charge of implementing the new law on prevention and protection from violence against women and domestic violence.
The training is provided as part of a project on “Support to the Implementation of the National Action Plan for the Istanbul Convention,” funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and implemented by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of North Macedonia, the Labor Ministry said in a press release.
“The law on prevention and protection from violence against women and domestic violence is immensely important to us as a society. It provides for a multidisciplinary approach, which also involves other ministries – the Ministry of Interior as partner of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy; the Ministry of Health, which will be included in the front line of providing support to victims of violence; the Ministry of Education, because awareness and breaking the cycle of violence should start at an early age, and hence, the influence of education is highly significant,” Shahpaska noted.
She pointed out that there can never be enough tools, instruments, human resources to deal with violence. Therefore, she added, activities such as launching training to enable people to provide support in terms of violence prevention is a significant step in the effective implementation of the law.
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to North Macedonia, Dirk-Jan Kop, underlined that the most important thing on the path towards EU membership is to create a society where all citizens will enjoy equal rights and will be treated equally. The rule of law, equality before the law, including women’s rights is a top priority for the Netherlands in North Macedonia. He stressed the need for professionals in several sectors in terms of the implementation of the law on prevention and protection from violence against women and domestic violence, particularly emphasizing the role of social workers as an extremely important one in implementing the law.
Minister Shahpaska extended gratitude to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as a longstanding friend, especially in the area of delivering democratic values, in the area of human rights, for its support, and for the start of this training which symbolically coincided with the International Women’s Day – March 8.
The fight continues until the goal is achieved, said Minister Shahpaska, the press release reads.
