Skopje, 30 September 2025 (MIA) - Creating a family, establishing families with many children is the highest patriotic act a people can do for their homeland, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Families with many children mean future. If we want to have a future, if we want to have a country, a rich country that will continue to develop after us, then family is the answer to this challenge, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Tuesday at an event “Demographic trends - Common action for investing and making use of human capital” through the Government’s five-year program with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). 

“According to the latest census we are a little over 1.8 million citizens. We have over 700.000 regular employees and around 350.000 pensioners. The real present population according to all estimates doesn’t surpass 1.5 million. Maybe in the next 10-15 years it will be a challenge, but we will not feel it all at the same speed. In 20 to 25 years the things we leave to the generations after us will be a serious challenge. Why? Because I fear then we will be a country with a population of less than a million and a ratio of one pensioner to one worker. This would mean a collapse to the pension fund, a collapse to the health fund," Mickoski said.

The Prime Minister said anyone who doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation doesn’t wish the country well. 

“Let them call me conservative, backward, whatever they want to call me, but this must be the top priority of this Government and all future governments, and that is families with many children. Kindergartens are useless if there are no children, schools are useless if there are no children, highways and railways are pointless if there’s no one to drive or ride on them. That’s why I want to send a clear message to all Macedonian citizens: forming a family, and especially a large family, is the highest patriotic act a nation can do for its homeland, regardless of ethnic or religious affiliation. Families with many children mean future. If we want to have a future, if we want to have a country, a rich country that will continue to develop after us, then family is the answer to this challenge,” Mickoski said. 

“This program,” Mickoski stressed, “is proof that we are not alone, that we have friends and partners around the world, and that it is our shared responsibility to protect our people, support the youth, preserve the family, and secure the future of Macedonia.” 

The event also featured speeches by Florence Bauer, UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia; Fatmir Limani, Minister of Social Policy, Demography and Youth; and Rita Columbia, the UN Resident Coordinator in North Macedonia. 

The UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Florence Bauer, spoke about the five-year program and its priorities – reproductive health and demographic resilience. 

“As the Prime Minister was saying, all the countries around the world are going through very different demographic shifts. We see more and more countries that are going through situations that are similar to what North Macedonia is facing with the fertility rate that is going down, which in some countries is coupled with migrations, and in all countries is coupled as well with aging population,” Bauer said. 

North Macedonia, according to Bauer, is the first in the region that is launching the new program and is a country that has taken demographic resilience as one of its top priorities. 

Minister of Social Policy, Demography, and Youth, Fatmir Limani said demography is not just figures, it is life that unfolds within families, schools, communities. 

“It is a story about young people who dream, about parents who create, and about the elderly who share their wisdom with all of us. With the new five-year program, we are entering a new chapter. Our goal is simple, yet significant: to invest in people, in their potential, and in their future. To support young people so they have the opportunity to learn, to work, and succeed here. To encourage those who have left to return, bringing knowledge, ideas, and new energy to our country. To strengthen families, because they are the root of every healthy and stable society. To create conditions in which every child, without exception, will have equal opportunities for growth and development in our country,” Limani said. 

The Minister stressed the vision cannot be realized unless everyone acts together.  

“It is very important when state institutions, local self-governments, civil organizations, and business communities work as one to turn the program into reality,” Limani said. 

The UN Resident Coordinator in North Macedonia, Rita Columbia, said the Government is demonstrating how seriously it takes the issue of demographic resilience. 

“The UN together with the Government and all stakeholders has jointly developed the new UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for the next five years, starting from the next year, which was recently approved by the Government and signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs,” Columbia said.

Columbia said the Cooperation Framework is a collective blueprint that aligns the entire UN system’s expertise and resources directly with the national agenda, ensuring UN support is strategic, coordinated, and impactful.

“The UNFPA Country Program that we launch today is a stellar example of this alignment in action. It is not a standalone initiative or program, it’s a dedicated and vital component of the broader cooperation framework. Its design ensures that our collective efforts on population dynamics, reproductive health, including the planning of healthy families, and equal opportunities for women and young people contribute to the larger goals all of us share,” Columbia said. 

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski in his address at the event said this is the number one issue which is a matter of life decisions, lifestyle, and a cultural challenge. He pointed to a series of measures taken by the Government. 

“It is very important for every married couple to secure decent living conditions, particularly when it comes to building a house or buying an apartment, and resolving their housing situation. In that regard, I believe that house construction is something we should encourage in the future. We are working with municipalities on an active program to urbanize areas where houses can be built under affordable conditions. As well as reducing or waiving utility fees, which should help motivate more people to build their homes at a lower cost,” Nikoloski said. 

The minister highlighted investments in municipalities –  schools, roads, wastewater management, and connectivity through road construction – aimed at creating good living conditions so that people can continue to live in their homes. 

Photo: Government/Screenshot