During the February 2023, 3 workshops were held in Shtip on various topics such as the prevention of human trafficking, building leadership skills, and the negative consequences of child marriage. A total of 47 young people, mainly girls, discussed the negative consequences of underage marriages on their physical and mental health and overall future, how to protect and recognise human trafficking, and to motivate them to follow the educational process in order to invest in their personal growth and development and become socially useful persons.

Recommendations that emerged from the workshops include harmonising existing legislation to explicitly ensure that the minimum legal age for a person to live in a marriage union is 18; providing legal mechanisms; introducing an institutional system for recording and monitoring marriages between and with persons under the age of 18 and developing a special program for the protection of marriages under the age of 18 and its prevention

The activity is part of the project “Empower young girls and women to have a voice in society and engage in prevention and protection from forced/child marriages and human trafficking in North Macedonia through awareness raising and capacity building workshops“, financially supported by #CanadaFundNorthMacedonia.