Skopje, 22 May 2023 (MIA) - UNICEF together with the Foundation Telekom for Macedonia is organizing a series of workshops with children and young people to co-create communication initiatives against cyberbullying and hate speech in the digital space.

During the workshops that started this weekend, 30 children and young people participated in design thinking sessions and facilitated group work to conceptualize a campaign and develop messaging, UNICEF said in a press release on Monday.

In the spirit of co-creation, the entire process is led by children and young people, guided by psychologists, creative and communication experts. The aim is to provide space to young people to create a digital campaign to making the internet a safer space for children and youth.

Under the title “Together for a hate-free internet”, this initiative is part of the long-term partnership between UNICEF and Telekom Foundation for Macedonia aimed to engage children and young people in tackling some of the biggest challenges facing their generation.

Workshops will continue the following weekend, when participants will be focusing on producing the videos and other communication material. The campaign will be launched in June, reads the press release. 

A recent national U-Report poll shows that in the past year 24 per cent of young respondents had felt under threat online, one in three respondents had been a victim of cyberbullying i.e. most often insulted or belittled, and that cyberbullying mainly happens on social media (71%) and in chats (12%).

According to UNICEF, as a generation that spends a lot of their time online, young people are under the greatest threat of online hate speech and cyberbullying. These are peculiar phenomena of the modern society, which cause growing concerns and problems for young people, but also for their parents, guardians and educators.

“Adolescence is the best time to stimulate creative thinking and innovation. This is also the best age to learn how to solve problems and care for others,” said Patrizia DiGiovanni, UNICEF Representative at the opening of the workshop. “That’s why I’m really excited to see how young people will engage and tackle one of the biggest challenges that they themselves have identified– cyberbullying and hate speech.”

Telekom Foundation for Macedonia director Lea Lipsha said that young people today have a difficult task, apart in the real world, they fight against hate speech in the digital world as well.

“Our task is to encourage them and to give them a voice to fight for hate-free internet,” Lipsha said at the opening of the workshop.

Photo: UNICEF