Medjashi – New free SOS-line for children and young people

Dial 0800 1 2222 for advice on the violence against children

Most of the calls on the SOS-line refer to cases of violence against children, but there are also calls referring to love problems, problems at school, in the family, etc. 

From 2 June to the end of the year, every weekday from 8:30 to 20:30, you can dial the new free SOS number of the First Children Embassy in the World (FCEW) „Medjashi“ – 0800 1 2222  for any kind of violence against children and young people. The number was provided by A.D. ’Makedonski Telekomunikacii’, which is different from the so-far 12 - year existence of the SOS line (besides the new number), when the line was financed mainly by foreign donations.

On this occasion, the Executive Director of Medjashi, Dragi Zmijanac said: ‘Today, on the twelfth anniversary of the opening of the first SOS-line  for children and young people, we are happy to present the new free SOS-line 0800 1 2222, as well as to announce the opening of the psychological counselling centre for children and young people, the promotion of a brochure and a 12-minute promotional video on the new SOS-line”.

‘Makedonski telekomunikacii’, as a socially aware company, took on the responsibility to provide free functioning of the SOS-line for children and young people by the end of the year. Thus, they are giving their modest contribution towards the protection of the children in Macedonia’, said Slave Mladenovski, PR Manager at A.D. ‘Makedonski Telekomunikacii’.

At the ceremony Christina Dickenson, a long-term activist in the civil sector emphasized: ‘The help from ‘Makedonski Telekomunikacii’ is not little. Big things can be made from small ones. Moreover, it is easy to work with affectionate people who are devoted to the protection of children, like the people from Medjashi’.

Reflecting on the 12-year operation of the SOS-line for children and young people, the coordinator Maja Korubin said: ‘From my several-year experience, I can say that most of the calls on the SOS-line, about 20% of them, refer to the violence against children, but there are also calls referring to love problems, problems at school, in the family, etc. And, the initiative for opening a psychological counselling centre for children and young people came from the children themselves, who suggested it in the surveys done on this subject by Medjashi at several schools in Macedonia’.

 

D.M.