UNICEF Representative to Macedonia, Mr. Benjamin Perks, MSc guest lecturer at UACS Department of Psychology

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: “Emerging science on child development and how it influences policy”.  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.  

The student of Psychology following the courses Psychological Counselling & Psychotherapy, Emotion & Motivation, and Social Psychology led by Assist. Prof.  Dimitrinka Jordanova Peshevska, PhD, followed the presentation, which highlighted that future of any society depends on its ability to foster health and well-being of the next generation. Mr. Benjamin Perks stated simply, that today’s children will become tomorrow’s citizens, workers, and parents and when we fail to provide children with what they need, build a strong foundation for healthy and fruitful lives, we put our future prosperity and security at risk. The early experiences influence the developing brain, therefore during these sensitive periods, healthy emotional and cognitive development is shaped by responsive, dependable interaction with adults, while chronic or extreme adversity of abuse and neglect, can interrupt normal brain development. According to him, although early childhood policies focus almost entirely on educational objectives, science indicates that sound investments in interventions that reduce adversity are also likely to strengthen the foundations of physical and mental health, which would generate even larger returns to all of society.

Mr. Benjamin Perks is the UNICEF Representative and Resident Coordinator ad interim of the United Nations to the Republic of North Macedonia. In his personal capacity, he is a Senior Fellow at the Jubilee Centre at the University of Birmingham in the UK, which researches and advises on education policy related to development of character social and emotional skills in children. He is also Chair of the Regional Advisory Group on Violence against Children which promotes reforms in support of primary prevention and response in 21 countries in Europe and Eastern Asia. He was previously the UNICEF Representative to Montenegro, and has also served in Georgia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, India and Albania.

He holds a Master’s 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.