Two-day study visit of the Young Man Initiative has started in Mostar – Program Y from BiH is an example of good practice for the Region

Two-day regional work meeting has started today in Mostar within the Study visit for 30 representatives of the ministries of education from the region, as well as teaching staff from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Croatia and Kosovo. The visit is part of program of CARE’s projects “Men and Boys as Partners in Promoting Gender Equality and the Prevention of Youth Extremism and Violence in the Balkans” and “Young Men Initiative (YMI): Promoting Healthier Lifestyles among Youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Challenging Gender Stereotypes II” supported by the Austrian Development Agency, the Government of Switzerland, the OAK Foundation, and CARE Germany.

During the work meeting, the methodology and curriculum of education projects entitled “Program Y” that have been successfully implemented in certain areas of BiH will be presented to partners and ministries from Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania as an example of good practice on the topic of prevention of peer and gender-based violence, and promotion of healthy lifestyles.

Since 2014, the project “Young Men and Boys as Partners in Promoting Gender Equality and the Prevention of Youth Extremism and Violence in the Balkans” has been supported by the Austrian Development Agency by investing 1.750.000 euros in project implementation in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia. The main partners of CARE are the Youth Power, Perpetuum Mobile and Association XY.

Monika Tortschanoff, Program Manager of the Austrian Development Agency for the South East Europe (ADA), said she believed that the project “Young Men Initiative” significantly contributed to the prevention of violence and the promotion of gender equality among the sexes.

– With the support of ADA, this project worked with 88,305 people, and 60,000 of them mostly from high schools were directly involved in the program. Educational workshops and campaign activities enabled young people to actively participate in this project and encouraged them to participate in project planning and implementation. In this way, CARE and its partners have secured certain ownership for all who participate in this initiative. However, despite the success we have so far, we still have a lot to do to maintain a sustained and sustainable impact over the long term – she said.

Almir Tanović from the Swiss Development Agency said that young people were in their focus through activities related to employment or health.

– This program creates a new cooperation between the public and non-governmental sector. We hope that in the coming period we will have more interested ministries of education that will include this program in their activities – Tanović concluded.