“Children’s rights did not fall from Mars”, is a web-based game in Macedonian and Albanian, through which children can, in an interactive and fun way, learn about the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The game was commissioned by UNICEF Skopje and was developed in cooperation with the Ombudsman of the Republic of Macedonia. In this game, the articles of the Convention are written in a language understandable for children and are accompanied by cartoon illustrations. The children in the game, through identification with fictional alien characters, play games in which they sprinkle flowers, catch balloons, play chase and draw graffiti. In this way, they express their creativity, and with each completed task they are rewarded with a new right of the child, in the form of a lesson. Completing all levels earns the player a Child Rights Ambassador certificate.

In the game, you can find additional materials and videos about children’s rights, as well as a field for sending a complaint to the Ombudsman.

To start playing the game you just need to go to the link – http://detskiprava.mk/games/

GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF CHILDREN’S HUMAN RIGHTS MATERIALS

Media literacy is closely related to the realization of several human rights, especially the right to freedom of expression. Therefore, materials provided by the Ombudsman of the Republic of Macedonia are attached to this DVD, the purpose of which is for children to become familiar with their rights and the ways to exercise them.

In this segment of the DVD, you can first find the “Convention on the Rights of the Child in a language understandable to children” in Macedonian, Albanian, Serbian, Turkish, Romani, Bosnian and Vlach languages

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on November 20, 1989, while the Republic of Macedonia ratified it on January 26, 1990 (as part of Yugoslavia) and on December 2, 1993 (after becoming an independent state). This Convention is an agreement between different countries to respect the same legal framework regarding the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.

The Convention is accompanied by leaflets – “The Ombudsperson in the Protection of Children’s Rights” in eight languages, with instructions on how to fill out a petition to the Ombudsperson. With the aim of more active and wider involvement in the protection of children’s rights, a special department for the protection of children’s rights was established within the Ombudsman. Also, for this purpose, in 1999, the Ombudsman issued two brochures on this topic: “The role of the institution of the Ombudsman in the protection of the rights and freedoms of children in the Republic of Macedonia” in Macedonian and “Know your rights” in Macedonian and in English.

If there is a violation of the child’s rights, the complaint to the Ombudsman can be submitted personally by the child, the parent or the guardian on behalf of the child and any other person, authority or organization that will come to know that a certain right of the child has been violated. The Ombudsman is authorized to protect the rights of citizens as individuals, and within that framework, the rights of children guaranteed by international acts ratified in accordance with the Constitution, which represent part of the internal legal order..