“We live in a world where not everything is ideal. As a human rights activist, I want to talk about other communities that are underrepresented in society,” said activist Mersiha Smailovikj, at a CIVIL panel discussion on “Equality, Non-Discrimination and Multiculturalism in North Macedonia: Situations, Challenges and Perspectives.”
“In a state of pandemic we were all equal, we all sat at home, we all had no vaccines, we all fought the disease. We emphasize equality as a primacy.
None of the smaller ethnic communities is sufficiently represented in the institutions. The state should take affirmative action to include the smaller ethnic communities.
For example, not everyone can apply for a job. Citizens are manipulating, registering that they are from another ethnic community so that they can be employed in a certain institution for a certain job,” Smailovic said.
