Skopje, 17 May 2023 - A panel discussion on the demographic challenges and opportunities for sustainable development of North Macedonia, with the key demographic trends affecting socio-economic development, was held today at the Institute of Sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy - Skopje, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund - UNFPA.

Many professors, representatives of national institutions, experts, and students, debated population and social policies and programs as a response to demographic changes, strengthening human capital and building a prosperous future.

The discussion was opened by Afrodita Shalja, head of the UNFPA Office in Skopje, and prof. Dr. Maja Gerovska Mitev, vice dean for science and international cooperation, and the panelists were prof. Dr. Anica Dragović, Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy - Skopje; Katerina Kostadinova Daskalovska, independent consultant for statistics and censuses of population and households, Kristijan Fidanovski, M.Sc., PhD student at Oxford University and Marija Dimitrovska, program analyst, population and development, at the UNFPA Office in Skopje.

The event was held in light of the launch of the State of the World Population Report that UNFPA publishes every year.