Foster parents in North Macedonia transform children’s lives
Stories of foster parents making in impact in children’s lives by providing a family environment full of the love, care and protection
Foster parents in North Macedonia have played a critical role towards ending the institutionalization of children in residential care facilities, transforming children’s lives by giving them a family environment full of the love, care and protection they need to thrive.
UNICEF/2023/Georgiev
UNICEF/2023/Georgiev
"The best thing a person can do is to be a caregiver," says Majlinda Trajanovska, North Macedonia.
For the past two years Majlinda and her husband have opened their homes to children who have experienced immense hardship from neglect, abuse and institutionalization. Majlinda told us that here purpose is provide the love and care children need to experience a positive change in their lives.
UNICEF/2023/Georgiev
Majlinda Trajanovska found out about fostering from a friend three years ago. “When I heard about the possibility to foster a child - I could not think of anything else.” She talked to her husband, and they decided to apply to become foster parents. “We have a big house, why not help children who need a warm home”, says Majlinda.
UNICEF/2023/Georgiev
Majlinda and her husband are currently caring for a baby and two brothers. Children are placed in their care temporarily while social services look for more permanent solutions for them. Many have been separated from their biological parents or orphaned and living in residential care facilities, extremely distressing circumstances for children.
UNICEF/2023/Georgiev
“Fostering requires patience because the children currently living with us have gone through traumatic experiences; they have lost their parents. At school they are not doing as well as when their parents were alive. I do all I can to help. In the evenings, I think about fun activities, so they don’t spend too much time on their mobile phones.”
Six months or one year means a lot in the life of a young child. During this crucial period of development, the interactions and environment that children experience affected how their brains will development, shaping the way they communicate, think, feel, behave and learn throughout life. The absence of a loving family environment leaves children with life-long scars. Foster and kinship care are family-like alternatives for children without parental care.
UNICEF/2023/Georgiev
UNICEF/2023
Emine and Turkan have been foster parents for more than 15 years. During this time they have taken care of 18 children with a wider range of complex and special needs. “When I became a foster parent, I brought joy to my home.”
UNICEF/2023/Georgiev
"I know the children come from various backgrounds and living conditions, but it's important for me to see what they lack, in order to know how I can help them", says Emine.
Emine’s children and grandchildren live abroad, motivating her to open her home to more children.
"When I sent my children abroad, the house became silent and I missed the children's chatter. That's when I realized that if I start fostering, I will bring joy to my home."
UNICEF/2023
UNICEF/2023
Julijana, a foster mother from Kichevo knows how difficult it is to be separated from family.
“I decided to become foster parent because I was myself in foster care when my family was going through a difficult period. This experience has helped me grow as an individual and become resilient. This has helped me as well to better connect and empathize with the children I care for.”
UNICEF/2023
Sonja a foster mother from Prilep and mother to four children, is currently taking care for two children with disabilities. “The environment in which children grow and develop means everything. I have seen dramatic improvement in their vocabulary, motoric skills and self-confidence.”
Elpiniki, a foster parent from Krushevo praises the network of foster families in her community that give each other with practical advice and support. “I would recommend to everyone, if they have sincere desire, to foster a child, to provide them with a warm home, family and, above all, love. It takes a lot of work, but when you see the progress the child has made, you are overjoyed.”
UNICEF/2023
Nevrie and her husband Gjonum have fostered 25 children over the past decade. Through training and support, they have been able to give specialized care to children with disabilities.
“When we heard on TV that there is a possibility for fostering a child, we immediately decided to take care of someone and help. We would have been left alone in the house if we did not make that decision back then.”
According to the latest data from UNICEF, Nearly half a million children – or 456,000 – across Europe and Central Asia live in residential care facilities, including large-scale institutions.
In alignment with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Guidelines on Alternative Care, UNICEF calls for systematic closure of large-scale institutions used to house and educate children. This includes replacing residential facilities housing children with disabilities or unaccompanied and separated children, with high quality family- and community-based care.
UNICEF works with governments and partners across the region to develop and implement deinstitutionalisation policies and programmes, scale up protection and family support services to prevent children being separated from their families, promote family- and community-based care and family reunification and reintegration and safe transition to independent life.
