Smiley to the children: “Your voices matter. Your needs must be taken into account. Have the courage to make your voices heard!”

GALAȚI, May 28, 2026. On Thursday, Smiley visited two communities in Galați County where UNICEF is implementing projects to benefit children. The National Ambassador for UNICEF in Romania spoke with students, teachers, and parents about the challenges facing the communities where they live and the solutions that help them move forward.

The first stop was at the “Grigore Hagiu” Middle School in the town of Târgu Bujor. The school is one of 20 pilot schools in the “Safe and Supportive Schools” project, funded by the European Union through the Technical Support Instrument and implemented by the Ministry of Education and Research, with technical assistance from UNICEF and in cooperation with the European Commission.

There, Smiley met with students and teachers who, as part of the project, participated in activities designed to help them recognize and express their emotions, communicate and ask for help when needed, collaborate more effectively, and use technology responsibly.

“It matters immensely to children to be listened to and understood, and this project helps them not only to communicate better with their classmates, teachers, and family, but also to recognize their emotions and gain greater self-confidence, which is essential for their healthy development,” said Smiley.

“It’s important to talk about your feelings at home, too, not just here at school,” he told the children after discussing with them the activities they had participated in as part of the “Safe and Supportive Schools” project.

More than 1,800 students, aged 11–15, from all regions of the country are participating in this project, which supports schools in Romania in becoming safer, more inclusive environments focused on social-emotional learning and the promotion of children’s mental health. The initiative uses approaches that involve the entire school community, testing intervention models that can be scaled up nationwide.

The day continued with a visit to the children in the village of Cudalbi, where, in September 2024, floods severely affected the community and where UNICEF intervened, alongside its partners, to support the children and their families. The UNICEF Ambassador first visited the “Prof. Emil Panaitescu” Middle School, which had been flooded and received rapid support from UNICEF so that students could resume their education as soon as possible; the visit continued to a family affected by the floods and to the Cudalbi Technological High School. UNICEF provided school supplies such as backpacks, educational kits, laptops, tablets, fuel, and social vouchers.

However, the events of 2024 also affected the children emotionally, with many of them feeling fear and anxiety long after the floods had subsided. Together with students and teachers in Cudalbi and other towns in Galați County, UNICEF developed and tested the MindMe kit to help children and adolescents understand their emotions and cope with stress, anxiety, or trauma. MindMe is designed as “emotional first aid” for children, but also as a tool for teachers, parents, and other community members who are not specialists but can support children on a daily basis.

“I have met children who have gone through difficult experiences and who have an incredible strength to move forward, with the right support. The entire community was struck overnight, and scars remain in everyone’s hearts that have not yet healed. It’s important to understand that, beyond material aid, children need emotional support and to feel safe, and through UNICEF’s innovative solution, the MindMe kit, teachers have been able to provide them with this support,” said the UNICEF ambassador.

Smiley reiterated his support for children’s right to make their voices heard and to participate in decisions that affect them. “Your voice matters. Your needs must be heard. Have the courage to make your voice heard!” he told them.

The MindMe kit contains simple and engaging materials (e.g., stress balls, coloring books, games, tactile objects, noise-canceling headphones) that help children calm down, express themselves, and manage their emotions. 900 children in Galați participated in the testing phase, following which two versions of the kit were developed, for ages 6–10 and 11–18. Following testing, MindMe is currently being developed as a global UNICEF product and will reach many children around the world who are in emergency situations.

“I met cheerful and optimistic children. For me, today was all about courage and hope; it was a day when I was inspired by the children I met, their parents, and the professionals who, in the face of the increasingly complex challenges facing today’s students, are doing everything they can to ensure the children’s harmonious development. I felt incredibly energized today, and I urge everyone who can support such programs to do so, to contribute to the future of children in vulnerable communities,” said Smiley, National Ambassador for UNICEF in Romania.