The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Legal Socialization Program (Bosnia LSP)
Background
PH International (PH) has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to support legal socialization and juvenile crime prevention in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
The main purpose of the initiative is to assist the FBiH stakeholders in strengthening the rule of law and reducing the level of juvenile crime in this country. The pilot initiative will be implemented in the period from January 2017 to November 2018.
Objectives
It is expected that the initiative will contribute to achieving the following objectives:
1. Crime among youth is decreased as youth gain a greater understanding and respect for the rule of law, legal issues and law enforcement authorities;
2. Youth and public confidence in law enforcement is increased as skills and knowledge about the rule of law are applied in community settings in partnership with law enforcement authorities;
3. Partnerships among federal and canton level Ministries and institutions working with youth on rule of law issues are reinforced and new relationships among these bodies, youth and communities established.
In tackling the issues of juvenile crime, PH will apply an integrated and innovative approach that educates youth on the law, raises community awareness on juvenile justice issues and develops cooperative partnerships between youth, educators, law enforcement and juvenile justice professionals.
Partners and Target Groups
Key partners for the implementation of Bosnia LSP are government institutions at the state, entity, canton and municipality levels dealing with education, youth, juvenile crime and juvenile justice, teachers and policemen. Partners are also non-government organizations and international agencies/projects that work with youth, rule of law, human rights, democracy, civic education, social media issues.
Target groups are primary and secondary school students in 26 pilot schools in the Canton Zenica-Doboj and Herzegovina-Neretva Cantons, which have been tentatively selected for this pilot initiative.
Activities
The activities will include professional trainings for teachers and police officers, development and testing of curriculum for legal socialization, curriculum for social media in schools, extracurricular activities (afterschool clubs, summer camps) including allocation of mini-grants to afterschool clubs based on project application.