On 19 – 24 July 2019 the International Foundation for Y-PEER Development based at PETRI-Sofia organized a training for 36 young people and 6 teachers from 6 high schools in Bulgaria in the town of Bansko. The training was a part of the project “Youth Leadership and Peer Education for Prevention of Risky Behaviors”, funded by the National Program for Youth (2016-2020) of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria.

The aims of this training course were: preparing young people to work as peer educators in the field of health promotion and prevention of risky behaviors at school, educating school specialists to work with youth on these topics, and most importantly, creating a team of trained adults and young people who will take the “peer-to-peer” approach to their schools.

The training focused on topics related to the prevention of various risk behaviors and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle in general: awareness of HIV / AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancy; alcohol and drug use; assertive behavior, leadership skills, including decision-making, communication and critical thinking skills, through the use of the peer education methodology, non-formal and interactive approaches. Through presentations, interactive workshops, working in small groups and sharing experiences, the participants had the opportunity to discover, analyze and understand the goals of this training course.

On the last day of the training, after all topics and methods related to the peer education approach were considered, participants planned and implemented demonstration sessions on the topics covered. A planning session for future school activities was also held. In the next phase of the project (September – November 2019), the trained young people will organize training sessions at their schools (2 sessions at each school), with the support of their teachers and the Foundation’s team.