What makes the Program Y stand out in the field of youth work was discussed at the Faculty of Philosophy on 4 June 2018. Training on the topic “Program Y â Youth â Innovative Approaches in GBV Prevention and Healthy Lifestyle Promotion for Young Men and Women” was organized by the Institute Perpetuum mobile, and attended by over 60 young people who expressed interest in this program.
Program Y â Youth is a new educational program for the prevention of violence and the promotion of healthier lifestyles. The program is accredited in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton and has a license to be used in secondary schools in the Republic of Srpska. The Manual for educators in high schools “Program Y â Youth” is a tool that has been developed through the Young Men Initiative by CARE International NW Balkans and its partners from the Western Balkans countries with a focus on gender inequalities, harmful health practices and violence in everyday life of young men and women aged 14-19 years in the school and community.
Professor SaĆĄa PetkoviÄ, CARE INTERNATIONAL BALKANS, brought closer to the participants the creation and content of the program, and Aleksandar SlijepÄeviÄ, BSc Economics, on behalf of the Institute Perpetuum Mobile, presented what made the Program Y innovative in the field of prevention of gender-based violence.
Ilija TrniniÄ, MSc, Director of the Institute Perpetuum Mobile, spoke in an interactive and very funny way why it was important for young people to get involved in the prevention of violence, but also to be active creators of youth policy.
The results of the previous work in the secondary schools within the Program Y were presented by Professor SrÄan DuĆĄaniÄ from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Banja Luka.
“The dynamics and the involvement of students during the workshop is really amazing, I was in a situation to pass by the classroom only 5 minutes after the beginning of the class and to hear how live they were and how quickly they got activated and interested in the subject that was presented to them. Most of the classes in our school are divided by small groups and rarely we have harmonious classes, but I notice that these small groups slowly break apart and new friendships are made precisely during their work with facilitators from the Institute Perpetuum mobile”, said Dragana PavloviÄ, MSc, social worker at the Hospitality, Trade and Tourism High School in Banja Luka where the Program Y workshops were conducted. She added that the rate of peer violence has noticeably decreased since these workshops have been implemented in their school.
The training was held as part of the project “Men and Boys as Partners in Promoting Gender Equality and Addressing the Issues of Extremism and Youth Violence in the Western Balkans” conducted by CARE INTERNATIONAL BALKANS and Perpetuum mobile in Banja Luka and the region, and supported by the Austrian Development Agency and the OAK Foundation.