Op-Ed statement by Lesley Miller, UNICEF Representative in North Macedonia

Skopje, 4 May 2026

In recent days, North Macedonia has been overwhelmed by headlines and intense public discussion about violence affecting children and adolescents. Many people feel shock, anger, fear and deep sadness – and these reactions are understandable. But outrage that fades into silence changes nothing. What the country needs right now is a collective decision to no longer tolerate the conditions that allow violence to persist. If we are to turn concern into protection, we must respond in ways that uphold children’s rights, safeguard children’s dignity, and strengthen solutions.

Every child has the right to grow up free from violence. This is not only a moral imperative; it is a legal and human rights obligation. Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, States have a clear obligation to protect children from all forms of violence and abuse, and to ensure effective systems for prevention, identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up.

We must recognize that violence rarely exists in isolation. Peer violence, bullying, gender-based violence, violence in the home and online abuse are often interconnected and can reinforce one another, compounding harm and trauma. When violence becomes normalized anywhere - in the family, on the street, in schools, or online - it increases the likelihood that children will experience it, imitate it, or accept it as inevitable.

Much of the violence children experience begins in environments meant to protect them and there are many causes for concern.

• According to UNICEF’s most recent data, more than 2 in 3 children aged 1–14 in North Macedonia experience violent discipline at home, which includes psychological aggression and/or physical punishment.

• Available data show that bullying by schoolmates is among the most common forms of peer violence: 23% of young people aged 13–15 in North Macedonia reported being bullied at least once in recent months.

• The recent report of the Ombudsman points to hundreds of recorded child victims of sexual violence - largely girls, but also boys - over recent years and highlights system weaknesses.

Unfortunately, the digital world adds yet another layer of risk. Harm can happen in-person and online, intersecting in multiple and compounding forms of violence and abuse which follow children everywhere – at home, at school, on the playground and on their phones. Stigma and victim-blaming make matters still worse, discouraging children from reporting and seeking support.

So, what should we do as a society?

We are the first generation that has evidence to fully understand the incidence, root causes, and costs of violence against children. We are also the first to know the solutions that work. By investing and committing to prevention, inclusive education, and support services, we can break the cycle of intergenerational transmission of violence.

In practical terms, that means:

1. Strengthen laws and make them work for children. Robust legal protections signal that violence is unacceptable, help shift social norms, and hold perpetrators accountable. Equally important is ensuring that institutions, including care facilities, police stations and detention centres are safe environments for children.

2. Support parents and caregivers. Families need access to practical parenting support, guidance on positive discipline, and help navigating children's online lives. Evidence shows that parenting programmes, including support for positive, non-violent discipline, strengthen parent-child relationships, reduce parental stress and help prevent harm to children, thereby contributing to breaking the intergenerational cycle of violence.

3. Make prevention real in every school. Schools need consistent, enforced policies against bullying and all forms of violence; trained staff who can recognize early warning signs; safe reporting channels; and a culture that rewards empathy and inclusion, not humiliation and harm. Education should also build children's life skills, for example, conflict resolution, emotional regulation, respectful relationships, and digital citizenship.

4. Ensure child-sensitive, survivor-centered responses. When a child discloses harm, the system must respond quickly, confidentially, and in a way that avoids re-traumatization. This means emergency medical care for injuries, and counselling to help children cope with and recover from trauma. Children need accessible, safe, and well-publicized channels to report violence and receive care, staffed by trained providers.

5. Treat online safety as a core child protection issue. Children have the right to a safe online world that includes better reporting and removal systems for harmful content, and stronger coordination between technology companies and national child protection and justice actors.

6. Break cycles of violence. Children who harm others have often themselves experienced violence, neglect, harsh discipline or exclusion. Restorative approaches, mental health support and social services alongside accountability measures are essential to interrupting the intergenerational transmission of violence.

Finally, changing attitudes and norms is an essential part of preventing violence against children. This often means challenging deeply ingrained beliefs that normalize or justify violence. Examples include acceptance of violent discipline of children, tolerance for domestic violence and victim shaming and blaming. When communities collectively reject these attitudes and behaviours, the conditions that allow violence to persist begin to erode.

Preventing violence against children is possible but it requires a whole-of-society approach with institutions, educators, health and social services, the justice sector, civil society, the private sector, communities, parents, and young people themselves working together. The public discussion we are seeing now can become a turning point - if we channel it into reforms and everyday practices that protect children, support families, and build safer homes, schools and digital spaces for every child.

MIA file photo