Blagorodna Mingova Krepieva is one heck of a baker. She’s proud of her ability to make delicious baked goods. “That’s because I’m a chemical engineer,” she says, with a twinkle in her eye. “And since I’m often complimented on my baking and at the same time asked if I’m still a good mother and wife even though I’m a member of Macedonia’s Parliament I explain: I am an expert at mixing things and getting good results.”
Not only can Mingova Krepieva mix things, she can stir things up. As Chairperson of the Women’s Parliamentarian Club, she has led the organization to a stunning breakthrough in achieving more equitable gender representation in Parliament.
“The Women’s Parliamentarian Club made gender equality a priority by promoting and supporting legislation that will lead to more equitable gender representation on party lists,” says Mingova Krepieva.
Indeed, Article 64 of the Election Code has passed, and it’s expected to bring real change. The new law requires that both men and women are represented amongst the first three candidates on any given party list—and that each successive group of three candidates be mixed as well. Not only does this ensure that at least a third of all of the candidates will be women, but it guarantees that they won’t all be at the bottom of the list.
The passage of this article is a milestone; Macedonia is now seen as leading the way on gender equality.
This success is the result of teamwork – women MPs from different parties stood together and fought as one both within their parties by lobbying their leaderships and also outside their parties by lobbying other male colleagues in the Parliament. They were supported in this lobbying effort by their cohorts in the NGO sector, who initiated and advocated for this legislation.
This positive outcome follows a number of other successes that can be credited to this group in Parliament. They have proposed amendments to family law, criminal law, labor law, equal opportunities between men and women, as well as the Election Code.
The Women’s Parliamentarian Club has been supported by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“The support of NDI through this period has been crucial. As well as support for the Women’s Parliamentarian Club, NDI has also been working with prospective women MPs from eight parties to prepare them for the upcoming parliamentary elections,” says Mingova Krepieva. “Legislative change and training have come together to create electoral opportunities that will be to the benefit of all citizens.”
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