A Visionary Workshop with young people was held today in the Cabinet of the President, under the auspices of President Stevo Pendarovski, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in North Macedonia.
The goal of the Workshop is by identifying their main challenges, young people to contribute and participate in creating a vision for the future of the country in the next 20 years. Today’s visioning process builds on the process of creating MKD2030, in the part of youth policies.
Addressing the youth, President Pendarovski said that it was impossible to talk about the vision of our country for the next ten or twenty years, without active participation of the population most affected, which should be the driver of change in the country and overall social progress.
“Today’s Workshop will give you the opportunity to discuss the main challenges you face, to express your wishes, plans and views on what kind of society you want to live in. I am pleased that my Cabinet is hosting such a Workshop today, because, as your supporter, I believe that only together we can create a better future for all of you. We need to find solutions to current shortcomings, to prevent negative trends and to adopt functional policies that will include your needs, which will reduce migration and outflow of professionals”, President Pendarovski said in his address.
He emphasized that the young people were among the main partners for consultation and in the preparation of the Development Framework MKD2030.
“It is a fact that the biggest responsibility should be taken by the state and institutions, but to create a successful development strategy, which we want to deliver results in the medium and long term for our country to become a better place to live, it is necessary for all stakeholders in society to participate – both theorists and practitioners, from the business sector, academia, civic associations, including all individuals with good ideas. We have the highest expectations from your generation, which, thanks to globalization and digital literacy, has greater access to information and far more potential for offering creative concepts”, President Pendarovski said in his address.
President Pendarovski praised the support from UNDP for the process of preparation of the Development Framework MKD2030 and the National Development Strategy 2022-2042, as well as their initiative through which visionary workshops are implemented throughout the country, with different groups of citizens in order to get as inclusive as possible the process of drafting the National Development Strategy.
The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Fatmir Bitiqi, and the Minister of Education, Jeton Shaqiri, also addressed the workshop.