Date: Friday, 17 October 2025
In the small municipality of Centar Zhupa, west of North Macedonia, a 35-year-old biology teacher, now a school principal, is the face of change and progress for women and girls.
Her zeal for education aside, Benazi Shemovska is passionate about women’s rights. In the past three years, her efforts have been instrumental in creating and running a multifunctional Women’s Centre in Centar Zhupa, a safe space for socialization, learning, and handicrafts.
She is dedicated to mobilizing women from the municipality and over twenty surrounding villages, empowering them to become independent, organized, and active in their communities, and encouraging them to strive for equality in all aspects of life.
“Many women are still unaware of their rights to certain things. We have the right to many things, but we deny them to ourselves. We say, ‘I can’t go to the municipality,’ ‘I can’t drive a car – that’s a man’s job.’ But that’s not true. It all comes down to education, or rather, upbringing at home, first and foremost,” she explains.
“We have the right to many things, but we deny them to ourselves.” – Benazi Shemovska
Shemovska was born in 1990 in the nearby town of Debar. She spent nearly her entire life in Centar Zhupa, a town located 130 km from the capital, Skopje, with a population of around 3,000 people, the majority of whom are ethnically Turkish.
In front of the Memorial House of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Kodžadžik, Benazi Shemovska reflects on the intersection of history and her journey to challenge traditional gender roles. Photo: UN Women/Danijel Rakić
Once under Ottoman rule, this region holds significant historical and cultural relations with Türkiye and, according to Benazi, many residents have emigrated there.
She attended medical high school, dreaming of becoming a doctor, but circumstances led her to a different path. With her family’s support, Benazi Shemovska pursued a career in education.
“My father didn’t see me as a girl child who should stay at home and get married, but as a child who deserved an education and the chance to achieve something meaningful in life. In our country, community and culture, if your father does not support you, it’s difficult to progress as a woman,” she explains.
After getting her university degree in Skopje, Shemovska returned to Centar Zhupa and started teaching biology in 2013. Today, she works at both a local high school and a primary school, giving lessons in Macedonian and Turkish while fostering empathy, honesty, and open dialogue among her students.
“If we educate our children in the way we believe is necessary, then in 20-30 years, we will have the society we now aspire to,” she says.
Early on, Benazi Shemovska wasn’t formally engaged in women’s activism but says she always had “the feminist spirit” and advocated for women’s equality. She prioritized her education, which led her traditionally oriented community to perceive her “differently.”
According to Shemovska, it was uncommon for women to drive, pursue an education, participate in public life, or even work in a community where traditional gender roles are deeply ingrained.
“After I got employed, many girls began going to university too. Parents started encouraging them, saying, ‘You can go on to work as well,’” she recalls.
She became engaged in women’s activism in 2020 when Fadrija Mustafovska, president of the grassroots women’s association Radika-De from Debar, invited her to take on a leadership role in mobilizing women as part of the UN Women project “Strengthening local women’s organizations.”
“I realized that I was in the right place and that this path would allow me to help many women and, above all, myself. I developed a desire to bring together women, so their voices are heard in our society,” she says.
I developed a desire to bring together women, so their voices are heard in our society.” 
– Benazi Shemovska
Shemovska and other activists informed women about the municipality’s responsibilities and helped them convey their needs to local authorities.
“As a result, the need for a Women’s Centre emerged – a place where we, the women of Center Zhupa, can gather, socialize, and discuss politics. A space for us to explore ways to engage in public life and participate in decision-making processes and policies that directly affect us and our community,” she says.
Benazi Shemovska’s most significant achievement is establishing the Women’s Centre in Centar Zhupa in 2021.
Benazi Shemovska has taken the Women’s Centre from vision to reality, building a vibrant hub for empowerment with her own hands. Photo: UN Women/Danijel Rakić
With support from women’s rights organizations like Radika-De and Akcija Zdruzenska from Skopje, she helped transform a neglected space within the local municipality building into a vibrant hub for local women.
Since then, the Women’s Centre has hosted various activities, including seminars on women’s health, public debates on local issues, economic initiatives, and educational workshops to build entrepreneurial skills.
Shemovska stresses that women in this region have fewer employment opportunities, highlighting the centre’s importance in women’s economic empowerment.
“Since the opening, more and more women have been coming. While many people are leaving the region, we’re pleased to see women from nearly every village visiting the centre. Mobilizing women is a gradual process—it doesn’t happen overnight,” Benazi explains.
The venue is currently managed by a team of eight dedicated women, all volunteers, who are committed to organizing events and maintaining its activities.
Benazi Shemovska’s work on ensuring women’s human rights by promoting education, economic empowerment, and active civic participation contributes to the “Freedom from poverty” area of the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, a voluntary, action-oriented platform to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda.  
Through the Women’s Centre, advocacy and business skills workshops, and other initiatives, she empowers women to break traditional barriers, equips them with tools to claim their rights, actively participates in public and economic life, and contributes meaningfully to their community.
From holding the keys to an empty space to unlocking women’s entrepreneurial potential, Benazi developed a hub where handcrafts and hope flourish. Photo: UN Women/Danijel Rakić
Recognizing the unique skills of local women, the centre has created a platform for them to make and sell homemade sweets, jams, pickles, and handicrafts – embroidery, traditional scarves, scented candles, and other goods.
Thanks to the efforts of the Radika-De branch, these crafts, once solely made for tradition, ceremonial occasions, or family, are now finding their way to buyers through small bazaars, fairs, and cooperation with other NGOs.
Initially met with scepticism, the initiative quickly proved its potential. “Some women said, ‘Who will buy this?’” Shemovska recalls. However, seeing visitors from Türkiye and elsewhere buying their items motivated them to produce more and join other activities.
“They saw that there was economic potential, and this could be our additional source of income. The more they work, the better they get at it, and they become more skilled,” she says.
If we act and work together, our sadness will become smaller, and our joy will grow.” 
– Benazi Shemovska
Benzazi Shemovska envisions a society where women are empowered and active decision-makers in their communities, advocating for themselves and others.
In just three years, her work at the Women’s Centre has already begun to shift the mindset of many who once believed that specific roles were reserved for men.
Her story is a testament to the power of education, solidarity and persistence in the fight for women’s rights.
Shemovska’s message to women is simple yet powerful: “If we act and work together, our sadness will become smaller, and our joy will grow.”

 
This story is a part of the Beijing+30 regional communications campaign ‘Unstoppable’, aimed at marking the 30^th commemoration of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The views expressed in this story are those of the protagonist and the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of UN Women, the United Nations, or any of its affiliated organizations.
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