On December 4, 2019, the Ministry of Science and Education verified Program Y – Youth – Innovative Approaches to Preventing Gender-Based Violence and Promoting Healthy Lifestyles for Young Men and Girls.
Based on the Education and Teacher Training Agency’s positive expert opinion on the program, the Ministry has given its consent to the implementation of Program Y.
Program Y is designed to work with boys and girls ages 14 to 19 to build the skills needed to develop healthy gender-based relationships, to understand their physical, sexual and emotional development and to address all forms of violence in their daily lives. Program Y is a tool developed by the CARE International Balkans and partners from the Western Balkans as part of the Youth Initiative, which focuses on addressing gender inequalities and practices harmful to the health and violence of daily life for both young men and girls.
Program Y describes program activities that integrate four thematic units, including a list of topics of educational workshops lasting between 45 and 90 minutes with clearly defined outcomes aimed at developing and practicing social skills.
Status M is currently implementing Program Y in about a dozen elementary and secondary schools, juvenile detention centers, correctional facilities, and local communities. Also, Status M trains professionals and teachers to carry out Program Y independently.
We hope that the verification of Program Y is only the first step towards a systematic work with young people on these topics and that soon Program Y and similar contents will be part of the compulsory school curriculum, such as in neighboring Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other European countries.
CARE International, Balkans