Between September 8-16, 2023, a one-week U.S. Study Tour was organized for key partners of the Bosnia Legal Socialization and Juvenile Crime Prevention Program in Republika Srpska and Brčko District (BLSP RS/BD). The delegation included five police officer program participants from the Republika Srpska, two police officers from Brčko District, a representative of the Faculty of Security Studies at the University of Banja Luka and three PH BLSP RS/BD program staff, serving as interpreters for the group. The goal of the Study Tour was to explore a variety of approaches developed in the northeastern U.S. to improve respect for the rule of law and civic responsibility among youth and reduce crime committed against and by youth; to identify programs that engender a positive relationship between juveniles and law enforcement authorities with potential application in Republika Srpska and Brčko District; and to collate resources and material for a Booklet on Internet Safety for youth to be developed by delegation members on their return to Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Thanks to Renee Berian who should be credited for the excellent organization of the Study Tour, together with Drew Diemar and Edward Cronin, 8 police officers had incredible experiences as they were given opportunities to have one-on-one discussions with their fellow police officers in Boston and New York. There were many highlights of the Study Tour, to name just a few: visiting Boston PD Police Academy, attending roll-call at Roxbury B-2 District of Boston PD   and going on ride-alongs with police officers headed by Captain Haseeb Hosein, visiting Fitchburg University and learning about their one-of-a-kind Police Academy Program, spending time with the amazing staff of the NYPD 41st Precinct Community Affairs Unit and the NYPD Police Athletic League in Bronx and hearing about the amazing work they do.....

Between August 28 - 30, 2023, two parallel Action Planning Workshops are taking place at  Termag hotel in Jahorina. The workshops are organized for teachers from 26 schools from Čelinca, Kotor Varoš, Gradiška, Mrkonjić Grad, Novi Grad, Prijedor, Teslić and Brčko district of BiH participating in the third year of the program "Legal Socialization and Juvenile Crime Prevention in Republika Srpska and Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina" (BLSP RS/BD). The workshops aim to strengthen participants' project proposal writing and mentoring skills. After the workshops, the participants will be able to develop action plans/proposals for small projects in their local communities. The workshops are organized as a part of the BLSP RS/BD activity 'Mini-grants for small projects in the local community.' A Public Call for small project proposals for mini-grants will be published at the beginning of September 2023.

On August 29, 2023, the first one-and-a-half-day workshop for developing an Internet safety booklet started in the hotel “Termag” in Jahorina. The booklet, whose content should include relevant topics related to the dangers of the internet for students and youth in Republika Srpska and Brčko District BiH, would be used as a guide for by parents, teachers, or police officers, i.e., anyone responsible for protecting children and youth. The booklet will be developed by the contracted internet safety expert Olivije Zimonja, Head of the Unit for Countering Cybercrime at the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior, together with a working group of 7 police officers who participate in the U.S. study visit. The finished booklet should be pocket-sized, reader-friendly, and appropriate for parents. It will be available in three official BH languages and English.

From August 14-19, the English Access Microscholarship Program 40 students from Aygehovit and Bagratashen communities of Tavush region participated in 3-day local summer camps.

Training for LSP Teaching Teams from secondary schools in Republika Srpska (RS) and Brčko District Bosnia and Herzegovina (BD) started yesterday at hotel Termag in Jahorina. Over the course of three days, 10 teachers and police officers from secondary schools in Brčko, Gornji Rahić, Čelinac, Mrkonjić Grad and Prijedor will be empowered to work in pairs and implement LSP modules in selected classes when the new school year commences in September 2023. 

The three-day LSP Teaching Teams Training was held between June 15 to 17, 2023 at Hotel Termag in Jahorina. The training for 42 participants, primary school teachers and police officers from Brčko District and Kotor Varoš, Čelinac, Gradiška, Mrkonjić Grad, Prijedor, Teslić and Novi Grad in Republika Srpska, was organized in three parallel groups. The training was conducted by BLSP participants who underwent adult education training over the past two years and qualified as LSP Teaching Teams Trainers. After the TTT was completed, the trainers were presented with Certificates of Completion of Training for LSP Trainers.

This past weekend was an opportunity for the Senior Management to visit some of the cultural sights in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to better understand its history and the context in which PH BiH operates on a daily basis and also to hang out with BLSP staff. We had a great time!

Meg Harris and Michael Gauthier, who are currently visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina Office, met with Legal Socialization Program (LSP) partners and beneficiaries in Banja Luka (Republika Srpska) on March 3, 2023.

Accompanied by PH Bosnia staff, they visited Primary School „Jovan Cvijić“ in Banja Luka where they were warmly welcomed by Ms Milkica Čudić, School Principal, Ms Dragana Kecman, Pedagogue and LSP Teacher and students who attended LSP classes and completed all 8 modules of the Legal Socialization Curriculum. Students talked about the topics covered at the LSP classes, how what they learnt changed their perception of online bullying, culture of behavior, the role of the police and other institutions dealing with child protection, etc. They thanked PH International for the opportunity to participate in the program.

The delegation then went to the Faculty of Security Science of the University of Banja Luka where they met with Professor Predrag Ćeranić who serves as the Dean of the Faculty and his two associates, Velibor Lalić and Žana Vrućinić, who participated in LSP curriculum writing and teaching teams training. They talked about the importance of LSP being implemented in RS schools as a precursor to the planned introduction of a new subject in schools' curriculum called „Security Culture“.

The BLSP RS/BD Lessons Learned Conference on November 30, 2022, at hotel “Jelena” in Banja Luka was attended by about 70 representatives from the partnering institutions and participating schools from Republika Srpska (RS) and Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BD).

The audience were addressed by Nedžada Faginović, PH BiH Country Director, Predrag Damjanović, Director of RS Pedagogical Institute, Predrag Ćeranić, Dean of the Faculty of Security Science University of Banja Luka, Mile Šikman, RS Ministry of Interior, Mile Juričanin, Brčko district Police and Samir Čorbadžić, Department for Education of the Government of Brčko District.

PH Certificates of Appreciation were handed to representatives of the institutions and schools for their support and for participation in the implementation of the Program. They shared their impressions after two years of delivery and pointed out various advantages of the program and its benefits for the juveniles. The final part of the Conference was reserved for the presentation of the External Evaluation Report of the BLSP implementation in the RS and BD school and the empirical results supported the impressions of the participants that the program is highly beneficial, well-conceived, sustainable and that it achieved the set objectives.