OSCE Mission to Skopje launches media campaign to promote safe school project

SKOPJE, 11 March 2014 – “Say No to Violence!” - an OSCE-supported media campaign promoting positive values and non-violent behaviour among school students, is being launched in Skopje today.

Two video-clips produced for this campaign are designed to spread the message widely. They will be broadcast on national and local TV stations, uploaded to the OSCE’s website and YouTube channel, websites of relevant institutions and schools, and be shared via social networks.

“School violence is a real safety threat not only for teachers and students, but also for other community members,” said the Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ambassador Ralf Breth. “This type of violence is a complex phenomenon, and it is obvious that individual efforts by school officials alone will not be sufficient to counteract this unacceptable trend. Instead, a comprehensive and inter-institutional approach is needed to effectively address the problem.”

The “Say No to Violence” campaign is supported by OSCE Mission to Skopje and is part of the project, “Safe Schools - Harmonious Environment” which aims at creating a school safety model that would prevent violent incidents and behaviour among students at secondary schools. The project is being implemented in 51 secondary schools, in co-operation with the Interior Ministry, Education and Science Ministry and local authorities in Skopje, Tetovo, Ohrid, Struga, Gostivar, Kicevo, Bitola, Prilep and Makedonski Brod.