The Men and Boys as Partners in Promoting Gender Equality and prevention of Youth Extremism and Violence in the Balkans or Young Men Initiative II (YMI II) project builds upon CARE´s comprehensive and programmatic effort to fight interpersonal and gender based violence (GBV) as well as to improve gender equality in the region and address preventative issues related to youth extremism and violence.

The project objective is to enable positive and peaceful societies for young people in Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, that support gender equality and decrease interpersonal violence and its extremism. The project’s specific objective is to improve Youth NGOs and government capacities to integrate Program Youth – Life Skills Educational Curriculum in current educational and youth policy strategies and strengthen governmental and civil society efforts related to the inclusion of youth vulnerable to extremism. This project aims at scaling up and mainstreaming earlier achievements related to the implementation of the Gender Transformative Life Skills program, or short Program Y, via targeted advocacy and a close cooperation with relevant stakeholders through the support of movement/coalition building through the development of new alliances that engage parents and citizens in supporting gender equality-focused life skills education program.

One of the main results of the project is to develop educational tools for scaling up such activities as online education and working with universities in the training of new educators. To enhance this process, CARE will pilot Program Y in selected secondary vocational schools whereby the schools take the lead in the implementation with support from CARE’s local partners and will identify allies among teachers, who will act as trainers of trainers (ToT) and youth engaged as peer educators. In addition, a new comprehensive model, Program Y plus will be piloted working with a more select group of youth vulnerable to violence and extremism. This model seeks to increase community connections and address the multiple layers of exclusion often leading to extremism.

CARE´s local partner organizations are increasingly recognized as key players by public stakeholders in the field of men engagement, youth work and gender equality. Supported by the project, the partners will launch campaigns targeting youth and selected communities, around hate speech and promoting the positive role of all community members in addressing extremism and violence. The project will mainly build on the use of social media, but also involve popular media and the arts to further messaging and reaching vulnerable groups. Relevant stakeholders include the Ministries of Education, public gender agencies, academic institutions, secondary schools, educators, media and other relevant stakeholders. The YMI II project will be implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia and will target youth, especially young men vulnerable to violence and anti-social behaviors and strengthen key skills, knowledge, attitudes that support improved behaviors around gender equitable norms and non-violence. In total 56,800 people will be directly reached through the project: 150 teachers, 5,000 students, 150 university students, 50,200 youth, 1,100 parents/citizens, 100 community members and 100 movement leaders (indirectly more than 68,000 people).

CARE’s strategic approach is to cooperate with local partner organizations and to strengthen their capacities systematically. The project will continue to support the efforts of CARE’s partners to become national resource centers in regard to gender equality, youth work and violence prevention. Local partners will conduct a research as well as promote good practice and policy debate with the aim to engage boys and men in gender equality and to contribute to the reduction of gender based violence and youth extremism.

Since May 2015, Serbia and other countries in the Western Balkans have been facing an unprecedented refugee crisis. The hostility towards migrants and refugees was noted. All that became fertile soil for radicalisation, the rise of violence, discrimination and disturbed living conditions in the affected communities. In cases of reported GBV violence, local NGOs (especially women NGOs) are one of the key referral services to victims of violence. These situations do not have a high impact on the rise of GBV domestic cases in Serbia particularly, but they put pressure on government social services and NGOs to develop and implement adequate programs for the prevention of GBV which can also refer to domicile population.

Impact

Enabling positive and peaceful societies for young people in Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, that support gender equality and decrease interpersonal violence and its extremism.

Outcome

To improve Youth NGOs and government capacities to integrate Program Youth: Life Skills Educational Curriculum in current educational and youth policy strategies and strengthen governmental and civil society efforts related to the inclusion of youth vulnerable to extremism.

Participants

6 local implementing partner organisations; minimum of 150 high school teachers and 5,000 high school students, which will be attending workshops and 50,000 youth by campaign events in schools, 100 parents and 100 community members will be targeted.

In addition, other local stakeholders are representatives of local authorities, education representatives, religious leaders (of 3 major religions: Catholic, Orthodox and Islamic) and NGO activists. In total, 56,800 people will be directly involved.