Meet Ms. Slavica Grkovska, the Deputy Prime Minister in the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia. She has previously served as the chief systemic analyst in the Sector for Information Technology, department of informatics and telecommunications in the Ministry of the Interior.
During her term as an MP, she was president of the Commission on Education, Science and Sports, member of the Foreign Affairs Co mmittee and deputy member of the Committee on European Affairs. Furthermore, she was deputy president of the Joint Parliamentary Committee in the EU-Republic of Macedonia.
We got an opportunity to interview Ms. Slavica Grkovska, for the ‘Women & The World’ section of WahWoman.
Ms. Slavica Grkovska
Rajni Vohra: The Republic of North Macedonia has an exceptionally rich art & musical heritage which is reflected through its well-preserved customs, epic poetry, legends, colourful costumes, and wonderful folklore. How good governance is instrumental in promoting and preserving the culture for a better society?
Slavica Grkovska: Good governance is an instrument that contributes towards preserving and promoting all social values, including the cultural ones. Good governance in multi-cultural and multi-ethnic societies, such as the Macedonian, means that we need to use differences as an advantage, as potential in preservation and promotion of culture. The good governance principles that I am striving for mean overcoming the differences and isolating divisions that may be imposed by the multi-ethnicity of the society. This means that, on one hand, good governance is a continuation of traditions and customs from our rich treasury of all people in North Macedonia, while on the other, we must follow the modern trends of cultural accomplishment and to create a different world of values, a world that will reflect the real image for our country. To conclude, the fulfillment of the principles and values of good governance will inevitably result in greater and wider promotion of the Macedonian culture, in relation to creating a better society and in our case, society for all.
Rajni Vohra: Gender equality and good governance are part of a virtuous cycle. A necessary condition linking gender equality and good governance is female political leadership. In your opinion to what extent is good governance linked to gender equality?
Slavica Grkovska: Good governance is always connected to human rights, through their promotion and protection, and thus through the promotion of equality in the society. It is undoubtedly that women’s rights are human rights, and we must not forget or ignore this; on the contrary, my efforts in the line of good governance continuously articulate the importance of women’s rights as an essential element in the functioning of the society. Greater inclusion of women in the social processes and in the decision making system brings more quality decisions, but also a clearer vision for a country. It is well known that social progress is more rational and more essential if part of it is assigned to women. That is why we cannot exclude good governance as a method of protecting and promoting gender equality. If good governance includes moral and ethical values, then this is in correlation with gender equality, because the world examples and practice have shown that women are greater leaders in the promotion of these values. Gender equality respects human dimensions, creates constructiveness and cooperation, and it also brings progress for the overall community.
Rajni Vohra: The Republic of North Macedonia has made significant commitments to advance gender equality. However, it is believed that there are still some roadblocks getting in the way of achieving women’s equal representation and participation in decision-making processes – the lack of an electoral quota is often deemed as one of the key reasons in the process. How do you see the role of good governance in solving the issue?
Slavica Grkovska: If we say that good governance is in correlation to the gender equality, then this means greater participation of women in politics, especially in the decision making institutions. I agree that North Macedonia has achieved significant results in the advancement of gender equality, especially through the policies of the party where I come from, SDSM, which in this moment continues with activities for greater presence of women in politics. I can agree with the fact that we need to constantly overcome the obstacles in the accomplishment of overall inclusion of women. I have never given up the fight for women to be leaders, to be on equal footing with men, all for the benefit of the country and the citizens. In that regard, I would like to point out that SDSM, in its current representation in the Assembly, has a proportional ration of women and men, and now, my associates and I will insist on having the same situation in other decision making fields, on both central and local level. That is why in the following period we will accede to legal amendments that will introduce at least 40% of women in executive power, a quota of 30% for election of mayors in municipalities, and practically, we will promote the quotas that you asking about. In my opinion, we as a democratic country must define the quotas for respect of female participation, although I represent the thesis that on certain level of democratic development, the high percentage of women’s participation must reflect the political, culture, and not quotas and numbers. That is why I believe that the political parties must, within their structure, make some in-depth changes regarding the staff and to leave greater space for women; only then this shall reflect in the institutions. Only in this way can we use the potential of women who become more educated, more talented and more appropriate for the important roles in the society.
Rajni Vohra: As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career? Have you been confronted with gender-related obstacles in your career?
Slavica Grkovska: All of us, women involved in politics, more or less, have felt certain barrier in our careers. But I believe that now it is more important to do everything in our power to overcome these barriers, and to exclude them in future. We, as a Government, have adopted the Law on Equal Opportunities that defines the equality. That is why we have the Law on Employment that prescribes equal salary for women and men. The Law on Minimum Salary unified the salary for workers in textile, tanning and shoe-making industry. If I expand the answer to this question, then we have adopted a set of laws for protection of women from any kind of violence, including the domestic violence. Some of us, who were more persistent, succeeded in imposing this in the decision making processes and the social political processes, and we have achieved this with our education, knowledge and experience. These are, in fact, the important elements, if a woman wished to become a leader. I am aware that sometimes these values do not help when men’s domination wants to exclude certain woman, but this does not mean that our fight for greater rights and equality should stop. On the contrary, we are in a phase where we impose our social position and when, using examples, we show that our place is here, in the world where decisions are made and policies are created for better life.
Rajni Vohra: Your message to the World…
Slavica Grkovska: My message to the world is: the world remains for the youth and women. Exactly the young people and the female population make bold decisions for better shared future. Although it is still considered that politics is a men’s profession, I believe that women with their subtlety, character, capability, are a dignified integral part of the world developments. The whole world knows that it depends on us what society shall we create and in what country we want to live, but this can only be possible if we trust women and if we use their potential in creating the big policies of which the life of the last person depends.
Rajni Vohra: Thank you for taking your time to talk with us.