Interview with Dragi Zmijanac - Director of the First Childrens Embassy in the

World Megjashi Newspaper VEST, Saturdays issue - May 7, 2016

Journalist - Ana Antevska

The children are not safe, neither in their schools, nor after they leave the school yard.
A four year old child forgotten and locked in a kindergarten, parents protesting
against the violent behavior of a student - are the two cases which brought up the
subject of childrens safety in their schools and outside. How to protect themselves
from the aggressive behavior of their schoolmates; does the system provide programs
and solutions for this problem - explains Dragi Zmijnac, the President/ CEO of the
First Childrens Embassy in the World Megjashi.
1. According to your knowledge and research how, safe are the children in
kindergartens and schools?
We, at the First Childrens Embassy in the World - Megjashi are concerned about the
security and safety of the children in schools. There are violent events taking place
almost daily in some of the schools, children and parents fear for their safety.
Although the situation with the safety of the children in kindergartens is slightly
better, the teaching staff and management of the kindergartens must show maximum
alertness and increased mobility.

What is also worrisome, especially in primary and secondary schools, is the occurrence
of peer violence. Any form of unwanted and aggressive behavior in schools, which
does not stop there, but continues to follow the children in their homes jeopardizes
their safety. Very often, the school fights are transferred onto the street. Nowadays,
kids are not safe in schools or on the streets after leaving the schoolyard.
It is important to acknowledge that the schools should be working with the students
on prevention as the most effective form of action against child abuse. Also, it is
crucial to openly and directly address the emergence of violent behavior in children to
the parents in a timely manner, whether it occurs in a verbal or physical form, in order
for them to take action towards educating and correcting the children, by suggesting
the most effective pedagogical methods to them. This also means that the current
problems would not be pushed aside by leaving them to be resolved by the educators
alone. Apart from schools, working on prevention of violence must be happening in
the domestic environment at the same time, where children adopt the initial forms of
social communication. The relationship among the child, parent and teacher is crucial,
and it needs to be strong and built on a foundation of trust that will produce solutions
to potentially occurring problems.

2. Last week, there was a case of a 4 year old being forgotten and locked by the
pre-school teachers in a toilet in a kindergarten in Vlae. This week, the parents
whose children attend the primary school "Dimitar Pop Georigiev Berovski"
protested against the violent behavior of a classmate. How should parents
protect their children in such cases?
The public was horrified and can still not recover from the case of a nanny beating
the 9-month-old baby, and then again we see a case of carelessness, neglect and abuse.
The case of physical abuse of the 9-month-old baby and the video that the parents
released in the public upon a police recommendation exposed another dilemma that
parents need to face before they leave their children to somebody - how safe are their
children? Our recommendation as the First Childrens Embassy in the World Megjashi is to use the kindergartens services, to make a strong push to the Ministry of
Labor and Social Policy to expand the childcare capacities for all children in the
kindergartens, to ensure the caregiving quality and highlight the importance and
significance of the role of educators in caring and educating the children. However,

the educators must dedicated, responsible and care for children with love and
attention. The younger the children are, the greater the importance of love, safety and
security is for them. I believe that what happened in the kindergarten in Vlae is an
incident that will not reflect negatively on many preschool educators who we already
know work with great love and commitment with children in the kindergartens. Our
commitment is also to take the kindergarten services on to a higher level. The
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy should have strict criteria in the selection and
recruitment of teachers in kindergartens. They should be supervised by the MLSP and
parents should always have insight into the quality of service delivery to their children.

3. Are there systemic measures and do the social services act in relation to
these issues?
The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy should take all measures within their
jurisdiction, so that such and similar cases of child neglect in kindergartens are not
repeated, as well as initiate a system of protection, determine guilt and responsibility
and take appropriate measures for monitoring, supervision and sanctions if necessary.
Children should be a priority of all state institutions and always have in mind that they
must work in the best interest of the children. A liability in case of violation of a child
and its rights should always be determined and that is the responsibility of each
institution that cares for children.
4. Very often in schools there are children who behave violently for some
reason, but the cases are concealed because of the persuasion they would not
be solved?
We should not be silent about violence. The First Children's Embassy in the World Megjashi encourages children to report violence on our SOS helpline for children and
youth - 0800 1 2222. It is necessary to speak out about violence and abuse of children.
The consequences of violence are very serious for the child's development. Fear,
shame, insecurity, low self-esteem, lack of confidence in institutional protection and
lack of information about services that should provide help and support - are often
the reasons why children are silent, they would rather tolerate the violence and rarely
speak about it. Unfortunately, the schools often hide cases of violence and try not to
come out in public with the information about the fights, believing that in this way

they protect the school's reputation. However, The Children's Embassy SOS helpline
for children and youth - 0800 1 2222 provides a secure, reliable, anonymous and free
SOS phone line, service, chat and a meeting face to face if necessary to the children
who are victims of violence or suffer from abuse. This children's SOS phone line is an
important way to help and support the children. The Children's Embassy responds to
all anonymous reports and further addresses the issues to the institutions by requiring
undertaking of measures and procedures if any child's right is being violated.

5. Are there enough psychologists in the schools to work with these children, is
one psychologist enough for 300 children?
All primary schools should be completed with professional staff such as a
psychologist, pedagogue, social worker, sociologist and speech therapist. This is also
our recommendation to the Committee on the Rights of the Child at the UN in
Geneva addressed through the Alternative report on the condition of the rights of the
child in Macedonia. Of course, to ensure full attention and a mobile state in
monitoring the situation of children, while directing equal dedication on education
and development, it is necessary for the psychologist and pedagogue to have an
individual approach toward every single child. For this reason, we believe that the
schools need more psychologists and pedagogues working with the children.
Otherwise, it is impossible for every child to be approached in a quality manner if
there is only one psychologist and pedagogues per 300 children. Of course, the
cooperation with the expert team is significantly important, and for that reason it
would be really beneficial if the team expands. It is particularly important to maintain
contact with the Centers for Social Work, in cases when certain schools have no social
workers. The role of the social worker at the school is to successfully indicate a
student who lives in a family that is at risk or dysfunctional family, so that the
psychological-pedagogical service could be alarmed on time and will react and prevent
accordingly.
6. What are the common problems faced by children in the early years
education?
That would be children who are not included in kindergarten as a result of poverty,
drastic class difference, which creates a strong polarization and a ground for
discrimination itself. Many of today's children who cant enjoy the kindergarten

services may face potential problems in the future growth and development, especially
at early school age. A few problems that these children can face if they havent been
visiting a kindergarten, is a possible emotional and social emptiness, lack of
acceptance of differences and difficulties in socialization. On the other hand, other
problems may occur that don't derive directly from children with low social status or
from their personality traits, but rather from the school system itself. Also, forcing
children to attend and participate in various activities without putting an emphasis on
quality and discipline. The child is being burdened with a variety of subjects, which
puts more emphasis on reproducing the learned content, being calm and adapted,
rather than building the children's critical thinking and attitude by truly delving into
the content offered in a stimulating environment.

7. How should they be protected?

One of the basic understandings of the Children's Embassy Megjashi is that children
are least protected where they should be most protected (at home, in school, in other
institutions that are responsible for ensuring smooth realization of children's rights).
The general conclusion is that children do not have the courage to report violence.
They are scared and feel powerless. Mostly, the child victims are afraid to report their
parents or loved ones as being violent, because it jeopardizes their future, security and
they believe it is better to be constantly exposed to the domestic violence than to
become a victim of an institutional deadlock. It is good for the children to know that
they are only a phone call away from the needed help and support, by dialing the free
SOS phone number for children and youth - 0800 1 2222. Children and young people
can call this number about any problem they are facing. Every contact and every
problem is taken and considered seriously, and the callers know they will be heard,
understood and supported in order to find appropriate solution to their problems.

8. What kind of activities does the Children's Embassy Megjashi have in terms
of responsible parenthood?
Megjashi continues with the campaign for encouraging responsible parenthood.
Namely, after we announced a few slogans several years ago, known among the
citizens as Have you hugged your child today?, Have you told your child how

much you love him/her?, and Have you talked to your child today? we plan on
continuing the campaign with the slogan Me and my parents can do so much
together. In the meantime, there is a petition signing going on, with which we are
asking for the citizens support in creating a favorable environment for the
participation of parents in schools and kindergartens, which would further encourage
responsible parenting. Our goal is to create conditions for active, positive and
responsible parenthood. By gaining the support for this petition, the citizens will help
us establish the National Council of Parents. This will enable greater participation of
parents and encourage them to take action for certain decisions concerning children,
which would increase their accountability in the decision-making process and policy
creating that mainly affect children.
Within this activity, it is not only the importance of responsible parenthood that is
being stressed, but we are also shining light on the corporal punishment as a form of
physical abuse.
9. What do the programs for responsible parenthood in marriage and after
divorce cover?
A group of parents contacted the Children's Embassy Megjashi requesting
amendments to the Law on Family and introduction of joint and responsible
parenthood after the divorce. The Children's Embassy Megjashi supported this
initiative of the citizens, acknowledging that the children have the right and deserve
quality and responsible parenting after the divorce of their parents.
A child should never be put in a situation to choose between parents. Divorce should
be a termination of the marriage, not a termination of parenting. It is important for
the child to know that both parents made the decision to divorce and he/she is not to
blame for that situation. Given that this situation brings up many questions for the
child, the children need to be informed about the situation in an acceptable way for
their age and their level of maturity, by placing their needs as priority and always
paying attention to the children's emotions. The agreement on joint execution of
parental rights means that the children's parents agree that the parental rights and
obligations will be performed jointly and based on a mutual agreement. This approach
involves strengthening of the quality and establishing equal communication between

the parents and children in order to reduce and prevent occurrence of traumatic
emotions in children after the separation of the parents.

10. Macedonia is part of the refugee crisis. Many children come to the borders
daily and stay there for months. Does the Children's Embassy Megjashi work
with these children?
The Childrens Embassy Megjashi in collaboration with SOS Childrens Village, works
at the transit center Tabanovce with refugee children affected by war, by providing
them with psycho-social help and support. Our psychologists work there with the
children through interactive art workshops where they have the opportunity to
express themselves how they feel, to create their own products with a variety of
creative techniques and to develop their creativity, and just to get out of the gray daily
routine and traumas which they went and still go through.
Not long ago, Megjashi printed a manual We are all children of this world - how to
discuss with students about the refugee crisis as part of the Peace Education
program. This publication is an attempt to contribute to understanding the plight of
thousands of people who pass daily through Macedonia, who are close to us and our
everyday living.

11. You have been working on the program for Peace Education for quite some
time. What does it mean and what do you hope to achieve?
The First Childrens Embassy in the World - Megjashi advocates for the Peace
Education program to be incorporated into the school curricula and project activities
curriculum among students, in the same way it is being done with the project activity
Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Education for peace means promoting the
culture of peace, value based education, active teachers who encourage children to
develop critical thinking and understanding of others. We plan on organizing all of
this together with the students, parents and teachers from several high schools in
Skopje, Veles, Gostivar, Debar and Vinica involved in this program. We are working
together with the teachers in terms of being sensitized to various forms of violence,
non-violent conflict transformation and non-violent means of action for peacebuilding. They will help us in advocacy and lobbying, so that the Ministry of

Education and Science could understand the importance of building a culture of

peace among students from the earliest age. For this purpose, we have already
organized several workshops with teachers for advocacy and lobbying related to the
introduction of peace education in the educational process.
12. The Children's Embassy is involved in the regional project - Partnership for
reconciliation through early childhood development and education in Europe
(PRECEDE). What activities have been projected within this program?
It has been four years already since the First Children's Embassy in the World
Megjashi, together with the partner organizations from Serbia, Croatia, Albania,
Kosovo, Montenegro and Northern Ireland started implementing the Program for
reconciliation through early childhood development and education in Europe
(PRECEDE).
Our focus are children aged 0 to 6 years, their families, preschool institutions,
professionals and experts in early childhood education and development, policy
makers, civil society organizations and all other individuals and organizations
interested in improving the Macedonian society by developing acceptance and
cooperation starting from early childhood.
Namely, violence against children is a violation of their rights, as well as a prediction
for possible violence related experience later in life, be it in the role of victim or
perpetrator. This is the reason why we strive to build an inclusive society where
children and adults will respect diversity. It involves the development of learning
abilities, empathy and reducing prejudice, which would promote equal inclusion of
people with different religions, different opportunities and different ethnic, cultural,
social and other affiliations. We are also developing and testing methods, tools,
educational modules and programs that help us develop our own capacities and
strengthen local communities in society in order to improve the development and
education policies and practices in Macedonia, the Balkans and in Europe.
Through this program we work directly with the children, their parents and teachers
from 11 kindergartens in Macedonia, on topics related to tolerance and acceptance of
diversity. The program also includes several other components, such as research,
monitoring and analysis of international and local policies, programs and projects in
terms of conflict prevention, peace building and reconciliation through education

upbringing. Another component is lobbying and advocating for the inclusion of

modules and topics relevant to conflict prevention, peace building and reconciliation
in the national plans and programs in preschool education. The program is completed
with a component dedicated to strengthening civil society organizations and quality
management services offered to citizens, especially to children.
Currently, in the scope of our joint activities we are working on a Regional Manifesto,
that the Children's Embassy Megjashi is now preparing, i.e. I as a regional coordinator
for advocacy and lobbying, with the intent to contribute to the fulfillment of the main
goal of the network, which is - strengthening the capacities of civil society
organizations in the Balkans and Europe, as well as providing institutional and wide
social support for the process of acceptance, peace-building, reconciliation, respect of
diversity and social cohesion through education and development in the early years.
The Manifesto for young children will serve as an agreement that recognizes, supports
and promotes the importance of early childhood education, development, proper
upbringing and good care, and thus teaching a culture of respect and peace, tolerance,
inclusion and diversity in the early years. The most important objective of this official
document underlining the importance of promoting a culture of respect, peace and
acceptance of diversity from the earliest years of childhood, is to be accepted, signed
and followed through by political parties, other official national, regional and
international institutions and organizations.

13. The Children's Embassy Megjashi ordered a research study conducted by

BRIMA Gallup Intl in April, 2016. What was the idea to order that kind of
study?
We wanted to thoroughly examine what the citizens mostly recognize us by, to what
extent they think our work influences and makes changes in the society, how
independent and autonomous they believe our organization is. We asked the citizens
how responsible, professional and committed they think we are, in relation to our
mission and principles that we stand for in the last 24 years. Namely, in the context of
political tensions and uncertainty regarding the elections and all the tension occurring
in the society, the fact that we are named as a second organization in the civic sector
after the Civil Association "MOST", is really worth mentioning, i.e. about two-thirds
of the respondents are familiar with the Children's Embassy Megjashi. What we are
mostly recognized by, are the children's rights related activities, protection of children

from violence, providing humanitarian aid etc. What means most to us, and what all
the previous studies have proven so far, is that even 82% of respondents have trust in
our activities. Overall, about 83% of respondents who know about MEGJASHI,
believe that our actions have an impact in the public. It is also important to note that
about two-thirds of respondents, who know about the Children's Embassy Megjashi
think that we are independent from political influence.
14. On April 29, the Children's Embassy Megjashi celebrated its 24th birthday.
What has made the greatest impression on you in the past 24 years?
We broke the silence about the suffering of the children. We encourage children to
talk about everything that happens to them. We raised the importance of respecting
the rights of the child and the child's personality on a higher level. Also, the fact that
we speak bolder and louder about the importance of peace education in the
educational process makes us happy.

15. What does the Children's Embassy Megjashi currently work on?
As partners, we have started implementing the regional project Transnational
coalition of civil society organizations in Southeast Europe for protection of women
and children from human trafficking and gender-based violence, named STOP. With
this activity we are trying to establish cooperation among civil society organizations
and institutions which are dealing with issues related to child/human trafficking and
gender-based violence.
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