In the period from 14th to 15th February 2020, Youth Power organized training for school counselors and teachers of elementary schools Peter Bakula and Ilija Jakovljević in Mostar.
The purpose of the training is that teachers acquire basic skills needed to conduct workshops that were developed to promote healthier lifestyles. Conducted workshops are part of a new educational curriculum titled Program E – Healthily Lifestyles for Elementary Schools around the region that is currently being piloted in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During this training, school counselors and teachers have selected the modules that will be implemented during this and the next school year. They also agreed to launch a joint campaign to commemorate 16 days of Activism later this year, thus ending pilot activities in elementary schools in The Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.
Organisations gathered around Young Men Initiative have been implementing gender transformative programs in high schools around the region and directly engaging more than 100 000 young people and over 1000 teachers. In 2019 we started with adaptation of the well-known Program Y for use in primary schools.
Program E is based on our Program Y – Innovative Approaches in GBV Prevention and Healthy Lifestyle Promotion for Young Men and Women – a comprehensive Educational Toolkit for teachers and educators to transform the school environment to one that supports and nurtures gender equality, and promotes a culture of nonviolence.
There is an evident need for including education about gender equality, non violence and healthy lifestyles in primary schools as well. Our partners from B&H, Youth Power, Association XY and Perpetuum Mobile started with pioneering work of adaptation the curriculum to primary school needs last year.
First training of teachers is a part of continuous efforts to develop a program that will focus on promoting healthier lifestyles among the population of primary school students. We hope that we will achieve the same success in Mostar as it was with high schools where Program Y became obligatory part of headmasters’ classes in the whole Canton! Stay tuned for more info.
The activity was implemented as part of the project YMI – Young Men Initiative II: “Promoting Healthier Lifestyle among Youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Challenging Gender Stereotypes II”, supported by the Government of Switzerland, Oak Foundation, Austrian Development Agency and CARE International Balkans.
CARE International, Balkans
