Women on Boards Adria (WOBA) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) held a working meeting at the Assembly of North Macedonia with Zhaklina Peshevska, Chairwoman of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. The meeting was attended by Tanja Mihajlovska Dimitrievska, WOBA Lead Ambassador for North Macedonia, Björn Gabriel, Head of the EIB Representative Office in North Macedonia, and Fanche Kostencheva Pandilovska, WOBA Representative for North Macedonia.
Building on the October 2025 Roundtable
The meeting continued the institutional dialogue opened at the regional roundtable “Advancing Gender Equality in Corporate Leadership and Governance,” organised by WOBA and the EIB in Skopje on 27 October 2025. That event brought together representatives from institutions, parliaments, the corporate and financial sectors, academia, and civil society across the Western Balkans.
What Was Discussed
Discussions centred on the implementation of EU Directive 2022/2381 on gender balance in corporate boards into Macedonian legislation. Participants addressed the need for transparent, competency-based selection systems — emphasising that meaningful representation requires not only numerical targets, but fair and merit-driven processes for getting there.
The meeting also reviewed the policy document Advancing Gender Equality in Corporate Leadership and Governance — Policy Priorities for the Western Balkans, which sets out the key recommendations arising from the regional roundtable and the analysis of the directive’s implementation across the region.
Tanja Mihajlovska Dimitrievska expressed gratitude to MP Peshevska for her active participation at the roundtable, noting that the presence of a legislative representative gave additional institutional weight to the regional dialogue.
Commitment to Next Steps
The EIB and WOBA representatives confirmed their full support for further activities, emphasising that through their regional initiatives, and board readiness programmes, they are actively working to prepare and promote qualified women for leadership positions across the region.
MP Peshevska expressed her readiness to engage actively in the process, providing support for further coordination of activities aimed at opening institutional dialogue and improving the legislative framework in line with European standards and good practices. Next steps will be coordinated among all parties involved.
