ABOUT THE PROJECT
Based on extensive research, it was found that 1) there is a lack of methods in youth work to help prevent young people from (re)offending; and 2) re-integration into society is very difficult for young (ex)offenders. Therefore, Second Chance’s (2C’s) main aim is to help prevent young people from offending while improving youth work methods of crime prevention and re-integration.
The participating country partners provide comprehensive coverage of different areas of the world: EU, Southern Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia; thus ensuring rich geographic, linguistic, religious & cultural diversity.
OBJECTIVES
• Develop youth workers understanding of youth delinquency as well as to provide them with specific tools and support to fight that;
• Identify the most common crimes youth are committing in participants’ countries, and find ways to reduce them;
• Create NFE methods that would help prevent young offenders from reoffending through youth work;
• Launch, test & develop a training programme on “the prevention of youth re-offending”, targeting youth workers & young leaders from EU & Partner countries;
• Equip youth workers & young leaders with knowledge, key competences & employable tools that would help prevent young offenders from reoffending.
• Foster capacity building & new social initiatives in the field of youth work related to tackling youth crime;
• Increase transnational cooperation & exchange of good practices between youth workers, organizations & NGOs active in tackling crime in the participating regions;
• Spread project’s ideas to wider audiences.
ACTIVITIES
All of the activities in the Capacity Building Programme are intended to improve: 1) the target groups’ level of competences & their active participation in society; and 2) the ability of participating organisations and other stakeholders to prevent young offenders from reoffending.
KICK-OFF MEETING IN LITHUANIA
The project kick-off meeting was held on 10-14 January 2019 in Vilnius, Lithuania. International project teams from Vietnam, Peru, South Africa and Lithuania had a chance to meet and draw the guidelines for the “Second Chance” implementation. Project’s activities, internal and external communication, dissemination and responsibilities amongst each other were all among the main things discussed. Partners also had a great time visiting a local social business, tasting and cooking traditional Lithuanian food, as well as enjoying winter pleasures.
PARTNERS OF THE PROJECT
VSI Integracijos Centras (IC) (Lithuania) – is a non-profit non-governmental organization aiming at the social integration of minorities and disadvantaged people in Lithuania. The organization believes that the key to welfare, stability, democracy and tolerance is the successful integration of all the social and ethnic groups into society. Mainly, the goals of the NGO are to help minorities in Lithuania and other EU countries to: (1) (re-)integrate into the society; (2) learn the local language (for migrants); (3) get education that they are willing to pursue; (4) organise housing (when needed); (5) create employment opportunities for the underprivileged; (6) increase their self-esteem; digital & multilingualism skills, social awareness, tolerance and other important values.
BRIGADA DE VOLUNTARIOS BOLIVARIANOS DEL PERU (BVBP) (Peru) – is a national youth organization (created in 1982), which focuses on developing voluntary service activities. To reduce serious youth violence and youth gang threats in communities, we are supporting targeted initiatives that address specific risk and protective factors associated with youth violence and youth gangs in communities where these issues exist; promoting the implementation of evidence-based interventions to provide those young people with alternatives to joining gangs; disseminating knowledge in order to encourage other communities to adopt effective methods to prevent youth violence and youth gang activity in Peru.
CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (CSDS) (Vietnam) – was established in 2009 as a local non-governmental, not-profit organisation. CSDS aims to promote education for sustainable development through building the capacity of people and organizations to address development challenges in Vietnam. CSDS role is to support urban and social planning strategies to strengthen crime and violence prevention. CSDSsought to improve the capacity of local governments to design and implement crime and violence prevention policies at the community level. At the same time, the organisation aims to promote community policing to improve relationships between municipal police and the community in Vietnam.
Southern Africa Youth Project (South Africa) – is a youth development non-profit Institution that aims to enable Girls, Women and Youth in rural areas and townships to access technology, education, health and employment or their advancement. Southern Africa Youth Project was founded in 2005 by Neftaly Malatjie to address structural socio-economic challenges in which communities and rural areas face on a daily basis. We provide youth development activities and projects throughout the Southern Africa Region.
