As part of the campaign “Healthy Food for Faultless Childhood” which is carried out under the auspices of Ms. Maja Ivanova, today, in the primary school “Lazo Angelovski” in the municipality of Aerodrom, the school project entitled “Healthy Food and Tradition” was presented.

The spouse of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Ms. Ivanova, who attended the presentation and the children performance on healthy food and nutrition, stressed that she has always supported socially useful initiatives, this being one of her favorite.

”The goal of this activity is to motivate all entities involved in proper development of children, including parents, teachers, professor, pediatrics, and all who participate in building of a healthy young person. The future of any society is a healthy child”, Ms. Ivanova said.

The campaign ”Healthy Food for Faultless Childhood” which was launched in October this year, is implemented by the NGO “OHO”.

Aleksandra Mladenovska-Kostik, Program Director of “OHO”, emphasized that the goal of the campaign is to ensure positive attitude and habits in children at a very young age and to encourage nutrition education.

”Health depends on the quality of food. The food in Macedonia is healthy and abundant. The campaign is designed to be implemented on two levels: through the TV program on “Channel 5 +”, with plenty of video clips and guests discussing this topic and through the schools and kindergartens, by organizing events related to the healthy food”, Mladenovska-Kostik stressed.

This campaign is also supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, and as the representative of the Board of Directors of the Program, Ljupco Spasovski, said the school 2011/2012 year is dedicated to healthy food.

On the occasion of the Day of persons with disabilities, in the Universal Hall in Skopje, the traditional event “Different but Equal” was held. This event is dedicated to the life and achievements of persons with disabilities, but also for recognition of individuals and institutions trying to facilitate and improve their lives.

The organizer, “Detla Exclusive”, for already several years awards successful people with disabilities, but also organizations, institutions, centers and institutes which take care for them, as well as individuals who strive for greater recognition of the activities of the persons with special needs in public.

The spouse of the President, Ms. Maja Ivanova was awarded a plaque as a token of appreciation for her humanity and continuous support and commitment for persons with disabilities to be able to lead normal lives, overcome everyday obstacles, work freely and be creative.

Among the awarded persons with disabilities are:

- Aleksandar Savevski, State education and rehabilitation center “Partenie Zografski” - Skopje, successful student at the Faculty for Mechanical Engineering, real example of success in social inclusion applied in the education system in our country.

- Nena Despotovik, disabled student in the State secondary school for rehabilitation and education “St. Naum of Ohrid” - Skopje, who won this year at the Special Olympics in Greece the first place in the ping-pong competitions, and brought gold to the Republic of Macedonia.

- Ema Ananievska, a student with completely impaired vision, attending the secondary music school "Ilija Nikolovski-Luj" - Skopje, this year at the international piano competition won first place, and these days will visit Moscow.

- Ifrain Ljuta from Tetovo, who runs 200 and 400 meters, a boy with ninety percent impaired vision, sixth in the world athletics rankings in 2011.

- Roza Mojsovska, painter, who draws with her mouth and several years in a row wins first place for Macedonia in the competition in Bulgaria with a mixed composition of participants - healthy persons and persons with disabilities.

- Dejan Zafirov, who in the last three years, riding his bicycle first in Europe, then in the US, beat his record of more than 14,000 kilometers, promoting at the same time his country.

Other institutions, institutes, companies and citizens' associations won plaques because of their significant contribution for people with disabilities.

The Spouse of the President, Ms. Maja Ivanova, is a committed supporter of the efforts to preserve nature and promote a healthy environment. Together with her husband, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, and their son Ivan, Ms. Ivanova planted a tree in the City Park in Veles in support of the action "Tree Day - Plant Your Future."

Greeting the children from the kindergarten “Dimce Mirchev”, who, in the sake of their healthy future, planted young saplings, Ms. Ivanova said that planting trees creates conditions for healthy young generations.

”There is nothing more precious than human life, healthy offspring. I am happy that this year, we, as a family, are in Veles, where young and old stood against pollution. May there be no mother’s tears for a sick child as a result of the polluted environment”, Ms. Ivanova said today in Veles.

She expressed hope that this action “Tree Day - Plant Your Future” will also receive massive support, like the previous ones, particularly in Veles, in order to compensate for at least a small part of the environmental damage that was done in the past with the work of the plant “Topilnica", and that the youth in Veles can lead happier lives.

In the past three years, Ms. Ivanova has, in several occasions, participated in the action “Tree Day”, investing efforts for a greater support and raising public awareness. In the first action, inviting ambassadors’ spouses to plant together trees at the presidential residence, Ms. Ivanova provided diplomatic support for this initiative. The second time, Ms Ivanova and the spouses of the diplomatic corps gathered together with the children and planted trees in the yard of the kindergarten “Kocho Racin”. Traditional planting trees for the third time was organized by Ms. Ivanova in the monastery of St. Nikola in Ljubanci village, in order to prevent land sliding where the monastery is located, which poses a serious threat to this sacred building.

The Spouse of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Ms. Maja Ivanova, is paying a visit to the People’s Republic of China on the occasion of her participation at the International Forum on Women and Sustainable Development, organized by the All-China Women’s Federation. The Forum is held in the capital of China, Beijing, in the period 9 -11 November 2011.

Ms. Ivanova had the honor and pleasure to address the opening ceremony of the International Forum on Women and Sustainable Development, foreseen as a pre-event of the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, Rio +20 Summit, planned to be realized in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, marking the twentieth anniversary of the first UN Summit on Sustainable Development, the Earth Summit, organized in Rio in 1992. This Forum in Beijing is planned to provide a special contribution to the summit scheduled for the next year in the context of sustainable development, but seen in terms of gender equality and mainstreaming, being the key components of the sustainable development concept in the world.

The President’s Spouse addressed the opening ceremony of the Forum, being distinctly pleased to open the event along with the Vice President of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Mr. Xi Jinping.

Ms. Ivanova, in her address, reiterated the readiness of the Republic of Macedonia to give its national response to the international obligations and exert effort to unite all positions, activities and resources into a coherent framework and single approach for achieving gender equality, adopting the 2007-2012 National Plan Action on Gender Equality. She also noted that the basis of this strategic document is in many international documents, such as the Beijing Platform and Action Plan, the Millennium Development Goals, the obligations arising from the process of European integration and adjustment and alignment of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union and other international obligations, which confirmed the commitment of our country in this area. She emphasized that the Republic of Macedonia is committed to equitable representation of women in every segment and every field, confirmation of which is the fact that women have guaranteed one third participation in the citizen's representative bodies of the Republic of Macedonia at national and local level, in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia and in the municipal councils.

Furthermore, she described the woman as an equal stakeholder in the social trends, noting that women leaders manage to address the social needs, to initiate social action, and at the same time to preserve the family and traditional values. She emphasized that exactly this gives a new dimension of sustainable development, where sustainability is translated into a woman and that a woman is the one who embodies unity, who balances between reason and feelings, capable of facing success and defeat - a woman who is the leader of today.

At the end of the speech, Ms. Ivanova said that despite the evident progress, we can conclude that achieving this lofty goal has not yet been fully and properly complied with, that there are still many challenges on that path. Therefore, she called upon joint and coordinated activities of all participating countries, supporting the adoption of the Declaration on Women and Sustainable Development, planned for the closing ceremony of the Forum.

Ms. Ivanova met Ms. Chen Zhili, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Chairman of the All-China Women's Federation. The meeting was used to recall all past implemented activities and possible future forms of cooperation among women's organizations from both countries, confirming once again the excellent cooperation with friendly China in every segment and every field of mutual interest. More than 300 dignitaries from countries all around the world took part at this forum, including representatives from Fiji, Uganda, Albania, Russia, India, U.S. and many other, as well as international organizations, senior representatives of governments, ministers, UN officials, academic institutions, private sector, media, non-governmental organizations.

Under the motto “10 years of love and care”, the 10th anniversary of SOS Children’s Village in Macedonia was celebrated in the Macedonian Opera and Ballet. Patron of the celebration was the spouse of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Ms. Maja Ivanova.

”In the SOS Children’s Village, those who have lost their biological parents and parental care, find a comfortable home and love, growing up in a harmonious family environment. Thanks to the care and support of the SOS Children’s Village, children and youth receive the warmth of the family home, get warm motherly word, care when sick, compassion in tough times, advice for their first sympathy and love. It is a place where children spend their childhood carefree with laughter and songs, with a child cry from time to time, but a home always filled with pleasant tune of children’s noise”, Ms. Ivanova said in his speech.

Thus, she added, the SOS Children’s Village enables the children to develop into strong personalities, able to cope with challenges in life.

"Children are our greatest wealth, our pride, our joy and our future. All children have equal rights and should all be given the necessary support and ensure equal opportunities. Those who are left without parental care, as a particularly vulnerable category, deserve full care and protection which will allow proper psychophysical development. The responsibility for children rests in the whole community, in all of us", the First Lady stressed, adding that we will leave the world to the children and that we are challenged to teach them recognize the real values in life and give strength to persevere and succeed in this world.

Ms. Ivanova paid tribute to the SOS mothers who, as she said, give their unreserved love and motherly care to children, together overcoming all obstacles and all challenges that stand in their way.

The President of the Managing Board of SOS Children's Village awarded Ms. Maja Ivanova with a plaque as a token of appreciation for the support and commitment to continuing and strengthening the mission of this organization.

The Children's Village cares for 87 children without parents and parental care and supports 350 children in the community who are at risk of being abandoned by their biological parents. SOS Children's Village is present in more than 132 countries worldwide. These organizations exist since 1949, when the first SOS Children's Village in the world was founded by Herman Gmainer in Imst, Austria. SOS children's villages respect different cultures and religions and work in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and promote these rights around the world.

The Macedonian First Lady, Ms. Maja Ivanova today, before the students of the elementary school “Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi” officially launched the campaign “Healthy Food for Faultless Childhood”, aiming at stimulating the interest among children about healthy food and proper diet. This campaign is part of the program.

“Integration of environmental education in the Macedonian educational system” which has been successfully implemented over the past two years by the citizen’s association OHO in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.

Ms. Ivanova, being the patron of this campaign, sent a message to all parents to join the shared effort to create conscious generations who will become immune to the dependence on fast food and thus provide safe and healthy future. In the 2011/2012 academic year, the schools and kindergartens are to conduct various activities throughout the school year so that the children will become familiar with the importance of healthy food and also will be encouraged to consume healthy food as part of their daily meal.
 
The activities will include: preparation of short messages on “Healthy Food for Faultless Childhood” that will become part of the Eco-code for schools and kindergartens; students and children drafting recipes on “Healthy Food for Faultless Childhood”; marking specified days as days of vegetables and fruit; developing art and written works, organization of competitions, exhibitions, masquerades and public events to promote the campaign. For the purpose of the campaign, educational posters are prepared which will be distributed to all schools and kindergartens, as well as to all other institutions involved in the educational process.
 
Several months ago a similar campaign titled “Let’s move” was launched by the US First Lady, Michelle Obama, which aims to change the habits of children who are faced with obesity and encourage them to practice eating healthy food. During her visit to New York, Michelle Obama informed Ms. Ivanova on the primary objectives of the campaign and the plans for its implementation, calling her to support this initiative. Ms. Ivanova has fulfilled today that promise, urging for overall engagement of all relevant factors in order to improve children’s health.

The Macedonian delegation led by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, H.E. Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, took part at the 14th Eurasian Economic Forum organized by the Marmara Foundation in Istanbul, 13-15 April 2011. Ms. Maja Ivanova was part of the delegation and participated at the parallel Women’s Business Forum on “The Leader’s Spouses as Role Models and Their Impact on Women Policies”.

Addressing the Forum, Ms. Ivanova reflected on the position of women in family, women in politics, women in terms of social protection, in terms of health, women in business, culture, and in many other segments of social life, conveying the general image of women in Macedonian society. She also presented her activities, being the First Lady of the Republic of Macedonia, the fields of action, the reasons for it, and the initiatives and projects planned for the coming period. She also referred to the respect and practice of the concepts of gender equality and equal opportunities for women in the Republic of Macedonia.

“I urge you to remain strong even when we feel that we might have run out of all our strengths, to look deep inside ourselves and find a new inspiration for our future activities. I believe that we, the women, have the will and strength to overcome any failure and to endure in that struggle. If we can not do this alone, then we should be united and look at the historical examples of the eternal inspiration for some women”, said Ms. Ivanova in his address at the Women’s Business Forum.

As a forum participant, at the end of the event, she participated in the ceremony of lighting candles in memory of women worldwide, victims of violence and a call to support the “Platform for rehabilitation of women victims of violence”. Ms. Ivanova, in this symbolic ceremonial gesture, recalled the words of the U.S. First Lady, Ms. Eleanor Roosevelt, who once said: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”.

The First Ladies of Macedonia, Turkey, Slovenia, Latvia and Azerbaijan attended the International Congress in Ankara on the “International cultural heritage and music”, held from 4 to 6 November 2010, organized by Bilkent University, one of the best private universities in Turkey, under the auspices of the First Lady of the Republic of Turkey, Ms. Hayrunnisa Gul.

This gathering was an opportunity for Ms. Maja Ivanova, along with the present First Ladies, Hayrunnisa Gul, Barbara Miklic Turk, Lilita Zatlere and Mehriban Aliyeva, to participate in strengthening cultural exchange between these friendly countries, and, through their speeches and moderating separate sessions, to present some of their traditional features in culture and music. Besides the First Ladies, this event was attended by many prominent persons from the Republic of Turkey, as well as famous musicians and musicologists. Among the others, Maestro Lorin Maazel took part in the Congress, the most famous contemporary composer, conductor and violinist.

Ms. Maja Ivanova addressed the congress and presented the Macedonian culture and music in the best possible light, highlighting the features and characteristics of our culture and music.

”The art, tradition and culture are essential integration thread of each nation. Traditions and achievements of previous generations are a source of immense power that helps me to overcome obstacles and gives me the will to confront new challenges. In this regard, I support all initiatives for cultural, artistic expression, preservation of tradition, folklore, creating new forms of expression through poetry, music and art. Macedonian folklore is one of the most recognizable values of Macedonian identity. In our folklore, one can recognize the characteristics of Balkan peoples, but, furthermore, it reflects and generously embraces and celebrates the triumph moment of recognizing its own features, of the Macedonian tradition. This is yet another fact that Macedonia has always been a mixture of different cultures”, said Mr. Ivanova in her speech.

The session she moderated gave her the honor to announce the highest dignitaries despite the present First Ladies, the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Turkey and the UNESCO National Coordinator of the Republic of Turkey. As the topic of the Congress imposed the necessity and pleasure, Ms. Maja Ivanova with great honor presented the Macedonian Culture through the Macedonian folklore, entwined in the folk dances and songs of the ensemble "Tanec". Generally accepted was the feeling that the performance of "Tanec" united all present guests and brought closer everyone to what our folklore has managed to maintain throughout the centuries.

The host of this event, the First Lady of the Republic of Turkey, Mrs. Hayrunnisa Gul, in her speech, referred to the features of the Turkish culture and music, stressing that: "Culture is not only hammams and inns. Music is a universal language to achieve understanding, while education and culture help in correcting all irregularities of the past". According to the First Lady of Turkey, the protection of cultural heritage diversity is supported and is facilitated greatly, thanks to UNESCO.

The First Lady of the Republic of Latvia, Ms. Lilita Zatlere, presented the folk characteristics of her country, as Ms. Turk of Slovenia did. They both had excellent presentations on how the state supports the development of culture and music. The First Lady of the Azerbaijan Republic, Ms. Mehriban Aliyeva, said that music is a universal instrument of dialogue and stressed that the world should not be unified, but it needs diversity.

Претседателот на Република Македонија, Н.Е. д-р Ѓорге Иванов присуствуваше на 65-то Генерално Собрание на Обединетите нации во Њујорк. Г-ѓата Иванова, која го придружуваше својот сопруг на ова патување од 18 до 27 септември 2010 година, активно се вклучи во настаните и иницијативите во рамки на дамската програма.
 

На 21 септември, г-ѓа Иванова учествуваше на Тркалезната маса на тема: “Women Connected for Health”, како дел од целодневниот настан „Првите дами во поддршка на Милениумските развојни цели“ во организација на ADA (Advanced Development for Africa) и во соработка со ITU (International Telecommunication Union), како и неколку организации на Обединетите нации.
 

Наредниот ден, г-ѓа Иванова учествуваше на 3-та годишна Конференција за фокус на аутизмот во организација на меѓународната фондација „Аутизмот зборува“, додека на 23 септември присуствуваше на приемот (tea reception) во организација на сопругата на Генералниот секретар на ОН, г-ѓа Бан Соон-Таек, во чест на првите сопруги(зи) на шефовите на делегациите на 65-то ГС на ОН во резиденцијата на Генералниот секретар на Обединетите нации.
 

Со особено задоволство вечерта го придржуваше својот сопруг на свечениот прием приреден од Претседателот на САД, Почитуваниот Барак Обама, и сопругата г-ѓа Мишел Обама, организиран во чест на Шефовите на делегации на 65-то Генерално Собрание на ОН.
 

Во рамките на ова патување во САД, посебно се издвојува учеството на првата дама г-ѓа Маја Иванова на излетот за Првите сопруги(зи) и ручек (Spousal Tour and Luncheon) во организација на Првата дама на САД, г-ѓа Мишел Обама. При посетата на овој Центар кој всушност претставува една огромна фарма за органска храна, Мишел Обама ја запозна г-ѓа Иванова со иницијативата што ја започнала за здрава исхрана на Американците, особено на децата. За таа цел ја покренала и нејзината првична активност во Белата куќа – обновување на градината за овошје и зеленчук во која се вклучени и студентите од Вашингтон, потенцирајќи дека со ова започнува кампањата насловена како ,,Let’s move’’, односно „Да се придвижиме“ која ја поддржале готвачи од целиот Северноамерикански континент, кои како волонтери во училиштата ќе подготвуваат здрава храна за децата. Идеата на првата дама на САД Мишел Обама е ова движење да прерасне во меѓународна кампања бидејќи смета дека преголемата телесна тежина кај децата не е само американски, туку  глобален проблем и во неа да се вклучат голем број Први дами од светот. Оваа иницијатива г-ѓата Иванова ја прифати со задоволство.
 

„Ние се уште не сме опседнати со она што Американците го викаат junk food, но сепак се почесто нашите деца посегаат по брзата храна, а последица е преголемата тежина. Токму затоа и ние размислуваме како да се вклучиме во оваа веќе меѓународна акција и тоа преку едукација на најмладите зашто, како што вели и Мишел Обама, полесно е децата да ги научите на правилна исхрана отколку на возрасните да им ги смените старите навики. Мислам дека навистина ова е многу позитивна иницијатива од која користа е долгорочна за нашите поколенија,“ - изјави г-ѓа Маја Иванова, по посетата на Стоун Барнс центарот.