Local authorities, representatives of the educational staff, youth and children from the municipality of Debar were the main speakers at the Local Conference “Debar – Child friendly municipality”.
This conference aimed to promote an inclusive and supportive environment for children by sharing already existing positive practices for children’s participation in the municipality of Debar. The municipality of Gostivar, which is also involved in the project “Place to grow: Child friendly municipalities”, participated as a guest at the conference.
The conference was opened with a welcome speech by the Mayor of the Municipality of Debar, Hekuran Duka, Dragi Zmijanac – President and founder of the First Children’s Embassy in the world Megjashi and Kristina Vasileska, Director of the Family and Child Care Centre KMOP Skopje.
Several panellists addressed the first part of the conference. The representative of the school parliament, Zog Fetahu, gave a special emphasis on the way they are involved in decision-making, how important these decisions are and the experience of decision-making in the school parliament.
The President of the First Children’s Embassy in the World Megjashi, Draghi Zmijanac, spoke about the importance of children’s participation in decision-making processes, spoke about his participation in local decision-making so far and gave ideas on how municipalities can involve children and young people in decision-making.
The mayor of the municipality of Debar emphasized that the municipality is always ready to open its doors in relation to any topic related to children, and above all, he gave special emphasis to quality education, better conditions in schools and a safe school, more green areas and a clean environment.
The key session of the conference also included topics that are current among children and young people such as bullying, while a special emphasis was also placed on the topics of emotional intelligence and the decline of mental health among teenagers, as well as the importance of cooperation between school and family.
Youth and children played a leading role in this local conference. Students from three primary schools were present, who through a drawing described how they see the future in their city. They submitted the drawings to the Mayor of municipality of Debar, giving him the responsibility to make them a priority in the future activities of the municipality.
This conference represented a unique and extraordinary opportunity to hear and learn from the experiences and practices between local governments and also to share the visions, challenges and opportunities of the municipalities in terms of promoting, fulfilment and protecting the rights of children.
After the conference, a local panel discussion was held, consisting of representatives of local authorities, educational staff and other stakeholders within the municipality.
The panel will be a special body within the municipality, which will provide structured and focused work related to children’s rights and the adoption of local strategic plans, and will enable the development of a strategic plan for the municipality of Debar with the aim of promoting children’s rights and their inclusion in local planning.
The event took place on May 16, 2024, at Hotel “Venec” from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.