The project “Volunteering Power: Speak, Act, Change” developed in the framework of the European Voluntary Service, a part of the Erasmus+ program of the European Commission was approved by the Bulgarian National Agency (Human Resources Development Center) and will be implemented by the International Foundation for Y-PEER Development based at PETRI-Sofia in the period May 2018 – July 2019.

The project is dedicated to young people and their competences in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, youth leadership, conflict and radicalization prevention.

The main objective of the project is to raise awareness among adolescents and young people about issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (including HIV / AIDS, gender, family planning, sexually transmitted infections, etc.), and to empower young people, to encourage them to talk about their needs and to protect their rights, including the right to correct information and adequate services in this area. On the other hand, the topics of youth leadership and the prevention of youth radicalization and conflict are also a key aspect of the project, of great importance for the future development of young people and their social activity.

Volunteers who will be involved in the project will be introduced to these topics and will acquire knowledge through the training materials developed by the International Foundation for Y-PEER Development and its partners. The volunteers will organize and participate in various activities: local, national and international training sessions, information campaigns and workshops for students aged 14-18, including those of Roma origin, in different schools and other organizations in the country.

Two long-term volunteers as well as two short-term volunteers from Macedonia and Austria will participate in the project and will be part of the Foundation’s team for a period of 9 and 2 months, respectively.

As volunteers, with the help of our team members, they will have the opportunity to organize a series of activities for adolescents (training sessions, information campaigns), in order to motivate them to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and rights, to develop their leadership skills, to gain knowledge and skills related to conflict prevention and peace building. In order to organize an active and effective learning process, creative, informal and interactive techniques and approaches will be used actively. Social networks will also be utilized, as this is one of the main resources youngsters use to find and share information on the Internet, as well as the online platform for advocacy SpeakActChange (http://www.speakactchange.org), which provides space for sharing information on different youth topics at a global level.