The Educational Toolkit

Dear teachers, school workers, educators

We present the Educational toolkit as a guide for implementation of Program Y – Innovative Approaches in GBV Prevention and Healthy Lifestyle Promotion for Young Men and Women.

CARE’s gender transformation education (school based program) initiative: YMI – Young Men Initiative and Program Y, has been a documented success in the Western Balkans. The program is focused on transforming the school environment to one that supports and nurtures gender equality, and promotes a culture of nonviolence. Our program is grounded in the belief that if students learn to recognise harmful gender norms and are provided safe spaces to practise questioning these constructs, there is a greater likelihood of internalising new ideas in support of gender-equitable, healthy, and non-violent behaviours.

The Educational Toolkit consists of several components:

• Program Y Manual
• Campaign Guide
• Monitoring and Evaluation Guide
• Fundraising Guide

Within this project, young men and women are inspired to become innovative leaders in their schools for the promotion of non-violence, healthy lifestyles, and gender equality amongst their peers. CARE’s Program Y curriculum teaches young people how to make informed decisions for their own health and wellbeing, become roles models in their social milieu, and cultivate a peer environment that favors non-violence, gender equality, tolerance, and greater choice. On the other side, our initiative supports high school educators who seek an effective educational tool to prevent gender-based and other forms of violence amongst adolescents.

CARE’s Program Y pairs an accredited curriculum with a social norms campaign that is proven to reduce harmful gender-related stereotypes and a culture of violence amongst adolescents. Teachers are certified and given professional points for their continued educational development. Furthermore, this initiative offers solutions to Ministries of Education who seek an affordable, easy-to-adapt, mainstreaming solution to adolescent violence that is tied to gender inequitable norms and addiction.

CARE’s Program Y offers a piloted and widely implemented education program which reached 30,000 high school students and more than 500 teachers in Balkan region, and now it is in your hands. We hope it will be useful for you, your students, your school and your community! Good luck with implementation and if you have any questions please contact us.
The Educational Toolkit is available in Resources.