News
PETRI-Sofia team meets with the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria
- 15.05.2019
- Posted by: Julia Jurieva
- Category: Uncategorized

On the 15th of May 2019 the team of PETRI – Sofia met with Nikolay Pavlov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria, as well as with Petar Mladenov, Director of the Directorate for Youth Policies in the Ministry. The team of PETRI presented the activities of the International Institute of Youth Development, the International Foundation for Y-PEER Development, as well as of the Y-PEER network. The Minister expressed the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports to the active youth organizations, to the process of youth empowerment and active involvement of youth. Mr. Pavlov and Mr. Mladenov shared that the Ministry is currently developing a new national strategy for youth, and is conducting research in the country, reaching out to youth from different groups, in order to reflect their needs in the strategy.
The International Foundation for Y-PEER Development has an approved project under the National Programme for Youth of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria (2016-2020): “Youth Leadership and Peer Education for Prevention of Risky Behaviors”. The project will be implemented in the second half of 2019 and will involve students and teachers from 6 schools in the region of Sofia. The project will focus on topics related to the prevention of various risky behaviors and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle in general: awareness of HIV / AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies; alcohol and drug use; skills for assertive behavior, leadership skills, including decision-making, communication skills, and working with other young people on these topics through the use of peer-to-peer method through informal and interactive approaches.
After training 36 students from the 6 schools, the Foundation will support the trained young people from each school to plan and implement 2 workshops in their schools for their peers. For the implementation of these training sessions, the students will be supported by the Foundation’s team and volunteers, as well as by their teachers.
During the project, on August 12 (International Day of Youth) and December 1 (International HIV / AIDS Day), the Foundation’s team and volunteers will organize local campaigns in Sofia for about 100 young people, disseminating information about the project and its topic, through interactive games, the distribution of information materials, the publication of information and messages in social networks and media, etc.
During the meeting with Mr. Pavlov, the project was also discussed and he was invited to represent the Ministry at some of the activities and events of the project.