{"id":12614,"date":"2019-03-22T14:30:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T14:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uacs.edu.mk\/home\/?p=12614"},"modified":"2019-03-25T12:38:50","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T12:38:50","slug":"unicef-representative-to-macedonia-mr-benjamin-perks-msc-guest-lecturer-at-uacs-department-of-psychology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/payment.uacs.edu.mk\/home\/unicef-representative-to-macedonia-mr-benjamin-perks-msc-guest-lecturer-at-uacs-department-of-psychology\/","title":{"rendered":"UNICEF Representative to Macedonia, Mr. Benjamin Perks, MSc guest lecturer at UACS Department of Psychology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

UACS students of the School of Political Science & Department of Psychology, on Thursday 14 March 2019 have the honor of following the guest lecture, titled: \u201cEmerging science on child development and how it influences policy\u201d<\/em>.  <\/em>Assoc. Professor Ivan Dodovski, PhD, Dean the  School of Political Science & Department of Psychology introduced and welcomed the invited guest Mr. Benjamin Perks, MSc, UNICEF Representative and Resident Coordinator ad interim of the United Nations to the Republic of North Macedonia.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The student of\nPsychology following the courses Psychological Counselling &\nPsychotherapy, Emotion & Motivation, and Social Psychology<\/em><\/strong> led by Assist. Prof.  Dimitrinka Jordanova Peshevska, PhD<\/strong>,\nfollowed the presentation, which highlighted that future of any society depends on its ability to foster\nhealth and well-being of the next generation. Mr. Benjamin Perks<\/strong> stated simply, that today\u2019s children will become\ntomorrow\u2019s citizens, workers, and parents and when we fail to provide children\nwith what they need, build a strong foundation for healthy and fruitful lives,\nwe put our future prosperity and security at risk. The early experiences\ninfluence the developing brain, therefore during these sensitive periods,\nhealthy emotional and cognitive development is shaped by responsive, dependable\ninteraction with adults, while chronic or extreme adversity of abuse and\nneglect, can interrupt normal brain development. According to him, although early\nchildhood policies focus almost entirely on educational objectives, science\nindicates that sound investments in interventions that reduce adversity are\nalso likely to strengthen the foundations of physical and mental health, which\nwould generate even larger returns to all of society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Benjamin Perks<\/strong> is the UNICEF Representative and Resident Coordinator ad\ninterim of the United Nations to the Republic of North Macedonia. In his\npersonal capacity, he is a Senior Fellow at the Jubilee Centre at the\nUniversity of Birmingham in the UK, which researches and advises on education\npolicy related to development of character social and emotional skills in\nchildren. He is also Chair of the Regional Advisory Group on Violence against\nChildren which promotes reforms in support of primary prevention and response\nin 21 countries in Europe and Eastern Asia. He was previously the UNICEF\nRepresentative to Montenegro, and has also served in Georgia, Kosovo,\nAfghanistan, India and Albania. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He holds a Master\u2019s Degree in International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury and has recently completed a mid-career programme with the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Leadership and Education Reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n