See it, Hear it, Say it campaign in the Republic of Moldova

In the morning of 19th November 2008, when the entire world was celebrating the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, impressive images appeared in Chisinau: three children with signs of violence on their faces masked in carnival costumes were looking from dozens of city lights placed at trolleybus stations in the capital. Several hours later, radio and TV announced the launch of the campaign.

The goal of the campaign is to reduce physical violence against children, and in particular to encourage the population and specialists responsible for child protection to report cases of child abuse in the family, to promote nonviolent education, and, to raise awareness of decision-makers (the Government, the Parliament) in order to create mechanisms for reporting cases by specialists. The campaign is implemented by National Centre for Child Abuse Prevention in partnership with Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child and the Alliance of NGOs active in the field of social protection, child and family. It will last till March 2009.

The campaign was launched at a press conference that aroused great interest among the mass media. More than 20 newspapers, radio and TV channel broadcasted the campaign message and images. Three press clubs have been established to maintain contact with the press and gather journalists from three different regions of Moldova.

Campaign messages and images are promoted by a number of means. Citylights and adhesive banners have been placed in Chisinau and Balti municipalities, as well as in Ungheni town and in other districts of the republic. Posters and leaflets have been produced and distributed with the support of the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child. At the second stage of the campaign, a booklet for parents promoting nonviolent education and offering alternatives to beating will be published.

Two radio spots encouraging the population to report identified cases of child abuse have been produced as well. Veaceslav Gojan, a national star, the only medal winner from the Republic of Moldova at the Beijing Olympic Games, was engaged as the opinion-maker. At the second stage of the campaign, another 2 radio spots with two national stars will be produced.

In order to raise awareness of national authorities a Parliamentary meeting and a roundtable will be organized. In addition, signatures from member organizations of the Alliance of NGOs active in the field of social protection of child and family are collected in support of the campaign.