On 29 August 2018, the non-governmental organization Youth Power was part of the organizational team of the conference “0% Tolerance of Violence in Schools” at the Mostar Cultural Center. The conference was an opportunity to present activities that were implemented in 8 high schools in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton during the past school year. The purpose of the conference was to create and develop a safe and stimulating environment in educational institutions, thus enabling every child’s right to be protected from all forms of violence. The partners of the conference are: NGO Youth Power from Mostar, Youth Activism Center Sarajevo, Genzis Project from Banja Luka, TPO Sarajevo Foundation, Human Rights Center and Mostar Psychological Support Center, Pedagogical Institute and Institute of education.
Nedim Mičijević, a program manager of the NGO Youth Power, said they planned to work on this project for two more years.
“The Youth power through this project, in cooperation with the ministry, the first part of the program has been working for four years and we are still planning to work on the project for two years. The program is based on the promotion of healthier lifestyles and the prevention of violence in secondary schools through peer education and professional training of pedagogues, so that the schools themselves can carry out the same program. “
Arnela Memic from the Center for psychological assistance Sensus said that special attention was paid to working with the school’s co-ordination bodies.
“For four years we have been part of a working group for the prevention of violence. We are working with the HNC ministry as well as with other non-governmental organizations that have worked together for years to solve peer violence problems. This year, we paid special attention to working with the school’s coordination bodies, because we believe that they are the first step and the most important people in solving peer violence because they are in direct contact with children and can be the first to notice any changes that are taking place. And so I can react and refer either to the ministry or to us as the organizations we are directly involved in. “
Zilka Spahić Šiljak, in front of the organization TPO, said that besides the teachers, the children and the parents are starting to cooperate with the universities.
“For three years now, TPO has implemented a major project of peer and gender based violence in the three cantons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and this project is already in the second phase where we are now working with teachers, children and parents, and we have started cooperation with the universities. Our goal is to integrate these topics into the education system itself so that teachers who are coming to school are already prepared to deal with this issue.