The Council of Europe Office in Chisinau organized artistic workshops with children in Balti on 29 May 2021 and Cahul on 1 June 2021 to celebrate Children’s Day, through play and drawing activities with children.

The artistic workshop in Balti was organized in collaboration with the Children's Creation Center  "M. Blanc", where 30 children of different ages participated in two drawing and fine arts workshops on the theme Kiko and the Hand.

The event in Cahul was organized in partnership with the School of Fine Arts for Children. During the master class, 30 children of different ages draw with watercolor the Kiko character.

Events aimed to raise awareness of children on child abuse, including in the online environment, prevention measures, as well as to encourage children to report any kind of physical or verbal abuse.

During both events, children were informed about the national hotline “Child's phone” 116 111 where they could call in case of abuse and receive help and counselling.

In his welcoming speech in the event on 1^st of June, William Massolin, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau mentioned that “Children's Day is a good opportunity for all of us to celebrate and promote children's rights and to remind authorities of their crucial role in protecting children. Given the challenges we are currently facing, namely the pandemic situation, as well as the dramatic increase in the number of child abuses in the online environment, children are becoming more vulnerable and need special attention and protection”.

Giulia Re stated during the event on 29^th of May that “in this world of change, one thing remains unshakable – the child's right to life, right to education, right to protection, right to be heard and right to a bright and safe future. Protecting and ensuring children’s rights are at the core of Council of Europe programmes and activities”.

The events were organized within the Council of Europe project "Combating violence against children in the Republic of Moldova", under the component “increased awareness on child sexual exploitation and abuse and the rights of the child in the digital environment”.