The participants of the RWLSEE and UN Women organized the Regional Conference in Skopje on the “IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF WOMEN IN MACEDONIA AND EURO INTEGRATION PROCESS”: a dialogue between women leaders in politics, in Macedonia and region, which included women politicians, parliamentarians, government officials and civil society activists from Macedonia, the RWLSEE members from the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as the representatives of the UN, EU, and other international organizations.
After a dynamic and constructive debate during the conference, the participants jointly came up with the following recommendations

For Macedonia:

1. Conference participants call for more political and institutional support for women, in order to increase the role of women and their active participation in the political and decision-making levels of Macedonia. We ask for 40% representation of women, particularly in the electoral regulation lists for the Macedonian parliamentary and local elections, and for 50% representation of women in central and local governments, as mayors and in the leadership of political parties by 2020. 
2. Women need to be more active in assuming responsibility to enable positive changes in the interest of citizens, communities and the state in Macedonia. Women’s parliamentary networks, female associations in political parties and women’s networks of NGOs have a key role in the empowerment of women. Institutions and political parties should provide real support for gender equality and ensure that women take their deserved place in the processes of democratic state-building, economic development and the European integration of Macedonia.  
3. Women politicians and civil society activists from across the political and ethnic spectrum should be in the frontline of dialogue and cooperation to help resolve the political crisis in Macedonia, in order to further progress in the country for the benefit of all citizens, without discrimination.  
4. Conference participants emphasized the support of political parties to fully implement the Przino agreement, and to adhere to the dates by which the political developments need to evolve in Macedonia. 
5. Conference participants emphasized the importance of the full and effective implementation of the Ohrid Agreement on the rights and prosperity of Albanians in Macedonia, and of the better ethnic harmony and interethnic cooperation in building a democratic country of equal opportunities for all citizens.    
6. Conference participants emphasized the need to accelerate the process of EU integration of the Republic of Macedonia, through accelerating European reforms that will help in the democratization of the institutions and society. Strengthening of the EU reforms, cooperation, and good neighborly relations with states and nations in the region will lead to sustainable peace and security and ensure a European future for all.

For all countries in the region of Western Balkans:

1. It is time for equality at the beginning of 21^st century. We call for the sustainable empowerment of women through embracing democratic values and not allowing traditionalism, misogyny or discrimination to shape gender balance policies. We also emphasize that women should not be supported only through quotas or numbers. Due to their qualities and remarkable potential they can invest for better world, and so it is upon states and societies to invest far more in women’s development in all spheres of life, politics, economy, academia, etc.  
2. Participants stated that the debate on empowerment of women should be re-conceptualized along the lines of women as game changers and as factors of democratic change and peace processes. We should rethink strategies to have the women’s agenda at the foreground of national agendas, and regional and international agendas. 
3. Regional cooperation between women in politics and activists from non-governmental organizations should be improved. NGO Actors, especially women’s NGOs, should continue working on education for the sensitization on gender aspects of security and peace-building, and to continue monitoring the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 1325, other resolutions and anti-discrimination legislation. International funds and countries should foresee more funds to finance activities of women NGOs.
4. Conference  participants welcomed and acknowledged the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the new EC Framework “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016-2020” and the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 2242 to improve the implementation of its landmark women, peace and security agenda.
5. The  Regional Women’s Lobby for Peace, Security and Justice in Southeast Europe (RWLSEE) represents a successful model of regional cooperation in the construction of peace that can be used as a model for peace processes in other regions of the world.  It advocates for just peace and reconciliation in post conflict countries, and it supports international justice for women war victims of sexual violence, respect for different cultural values and the creation of a new future for the region. International donors should support the work of RWLSEE. 
6. In the region, it is necessary to work harder for peace, justice and security, while still confronting prevailing ethnocentrism.  It is also needed to develop political and ethnic dialogue using the European processes and best practices to advance democratic processes and development in all countries in the region, in order to speed up their European integration. 
7. Improving interethnic relations, implementing positive law norms and taking measures to protect the rights of women are some of the steps which are necessary to achieve progress in this sphere.  It is necessary to secure institutional mechanisms and solid guarantees that will strengthen institutions that act to protect human and community rights, especially women’s human rights, and ensure rule of law, an independent judiciary and the de-politicization of institutions.
8. Conference participants emphasized the support of the Brussels dialogue, which is being conducted between Kosovo and Serbia, as model to be used for resolving remaining issues in the region, including the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece. They called on both countries to fully and effectively implement the so far agreed upon topics because is in the interest of all citizens and contributes to regional peace and stability. In this dialogue, women should have a greater role in the ongoing peace processes.