"I have been employed in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy for twenty years, nine years in the private sector and three years in the civil sector. With all that experience, I think I can respond to the challenges faced by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy," said Minister Jovana Trenchevska, in the program "Morning Press" on Slobodna TV.

The Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Jovanka Trenchevska, referred to the campaign of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy "Loud and Courageous", the challenge of hate speech and domestic violence, raising the minimum wage and increasing pensions, as well as the work of kindergartens and social work centers.

"We dedicated the month of March to women with the campaign "Loud and Brave", our goal is to speak 30 days and act 365 days a year. "We included different women from different target groups, we had meetings with women from health care, women entrepreneurs, vulnerable categories of citizens, women in the security sector, women victims of violence," said Trenchevska.

The minister also announced the Regional Conference, which will be held at the end of March, and pointed out that the data from the campaign will be summarized and presented there.

During the visit, the minister referred to the increase in the minimum wage that was adopted in the past period.

"When I came as a minister, the first solution we brought was the amendment of the Law on Minimum Wage, that is, the adoption of a systemic solution that will mean a constant increase in wages. If we were populists, we would bring solutions that would produce results in the short term. However, the intention of this government and the ministry is to bring systemic solutions. The minimum wage law guarantees that," said Trenchevska.

She emphasized that there was no resistance from the relevant stakeholders for the adoption of such a solution, but that this solution was adopted through consensus. The minister pointed out that the private sector should not be tied to the minimum wage as the basic wage for all employees, but a wage below which no worker may be paid.

Regarding the reform of the public administration, the minister emphasized that the public administration must be small and efficient. She pointed out that the administration must be efficient because it delivers the services to the citizens. Trenchevska emphasized that the reorganization of the public administration is necessary, but that it is not a process that happens overnight. 

At the end of the visit, the minister also talked about the work of kindergartens and centers for social work, she pointed out that the challenge of preschool education is evident in the country and therefore, together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, it enables increasing the capacities of kindergartens. Regarding the centers for social work, she pointed out that there are centers that do their job well, but also that there are centers that need to be improved. The minister ended the interview with the remark "Social work centers are a service to the citizens and should be treated as such".

Watch the entire interview with Minister Jovana Trenchevska in the video: