Skopje, December 15, 2022 – Within the “From Knowledge and Engagement - to Empowerment and Participation” joint project, three UN agencies – UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNDP, financed by the UN PRPD multi-partner trust fund and led by the UNFPA agency, recently started working on the planned activities for 2022.

The activities included the organization of working meetings with the partners MAGO, the Macedonian Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, as well as consultants who were hired to work on revising the existing training material and on sensitization of medical personnel, employees in several reception points for victims of gender-based violence for persons with disabilities, as well as persons with disabilities. In addition, the materials on sexual and reproductive health for persons with disabilities were revised and improved.   

According to the dynamics established in the project document, meetings of the technical working group and the management board were held, where they discussed the examination of the accessibility of basic services for gender-based violence / domestic violence (GBV/DV) at the national level (mapping and assessment of providers of basic GBV/DV services).

In the area of activities for persons with disabilities, UNFPA was actively engaged in other national processes of particular interest to this category of citizens, namely the National Strategy for Persons with Disabilities and the National Youth Strategy. In addition to the provided expertise, we worked on encouraging the participation of persons with disabilities in the processes themselves, so that we could be sure that the specific needs and considerations will be heard and implemented in the policy building and the promotion of the rights at a national level. As part of the promotion of these important documents, direct meetings were held with the country’s leading persons, including the President, Stevo Pendarovski, and the Prime Minister, Dimitar Kovacevski. As such, we clearly show our tendency to improve the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as the actualization of the issue of disability established by the UN Principle “Nothing for us, without us”.