ZELS, in partnership with the OSCE Mission to Skopje and with the expert support of the UN Women office in Skopje, organized the second regional training for the representatives from the Vardar, East, Southeast and Northeast regions on the topic “Integration of the gender perspective in local policies” from 17 to 19 October 2023, at Ramada Hotel, Gevgelija. The topic of the training emerged as a request of the participants from last year’s training on the application of democratic principles in the work of the municipality through the forms of citizen participation. The representatives from the municipalities who attended last year’s training deepened their knowledge of gender terms and gender concepts, how to recognize gender elements in local problems, as well as how to develop appropriate measures and activities to solve the same. The importance of gender equality and the inclusion of the gender perspective in municipal programs and budgets were discussed through presentations and exercises. What is the state of gender equality at the national and world levels was determined through statistical data in certain areas, such as education, social protection, health, political participation, i.e. the gender barometer exercise was carried out. What is the legal framework for the implementation of gender equality, which international documents should be referred to when creating local programs was also covered in the training, as well as the 5 steps for creating gender policies, including the tools and methods that are available to the municipalities when developing programs and plans. Through the case study exercise, the participants at the training worked on the analysis of a program, thus gaining knowledge on identifying the purpose of the program and whether it is gender sensitive, which indicators should be set and how to measure the gender perspective when reporting on the implemented program. ZELS presented to them the Methodology for integrating the gender perspective in local policies and budget as a tool that was developed for the needs of the municipalities in cooperation with UN Women in the last joint project activity. Other tools and activities of ZELS, focused on achieving gender equality and gender-responsive budgeting in local self-government units, were also presented. Representatives from municipalities shared their practices from the development and application of measures with a gender perspective, such as organizing outdoor fitness activities for women, as an example of the Municipality of Shtip, in cooperation with a local civic organization. Representatives of the Municipality of Berovo presented an example of support for talented children and how the budget circular is prepared, where the gender component is included. Representatives of the Municipality of Strumica presented the examples of opening a Shelter Center for women victims of violence as a result of the partnership relationship with a civil organization and socially responsible companies, while representatives of the Municipality of Veles informed that the development of a Strategy for Gender Equality with the active involvement of citizens is in progress. What emerged as a conclusion from the three-day training is that the gender perspective is and should be part of the municipal documents, which requires political support, as well as gender sensibilization of the rest of the employees in the municipalities, as well as of the councillors.
