Youth program

RIGHT TO KNOW - Participatory action research

The project ,,Right to know - Participatory action research" in the Macedonia started in November 2001 within the global initiative of UNICEF "What every adolescent has the right to know", upon initiative from the Department of communication, health and development of youth in UNICEF - New York, USA with support from the University Cornel - USA.
Macedonia is one of the 14 pilot countries in the world included in this global initiative striving to encourage and actively include young people in communication strategies and activities influencing and protecting from HIV/AIDS and other dangers of modern living. Within this initiative the project "Right to know" including several different activities for youngsters from 13 to 20 years, was developed. Part of the RTK project is the method "Participatory action research" carried out by the Ethnology Institute, that enables youngsters to research the knowledge and behaviour of their peers as well as the population, in general.
The RTK project started in November 2001 with a research in which young people from all over the country were included, in the segment of collecting data from their peers and parents in towns and villages, representatives of institutions and the local governing bodies. After the analysis of the data, the Faculty of philosophy in Skopje prepared a report in which the data regarding knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of youngsters on certain issues related to HIV/AIDS, drugs, life styles, family, school, the street were included.
Data have shown that the level of information among youngsters regarding risks connected to HIV/AIDS and other dangers of modern living is insufficient. That is why young people have decided to developed a process of using creative methods for collecting needed information, acquisition of knowledge and skills for developing communication strategies. In discussions with the youth from the NGO HOPS - Healthy Options Project Skopje and the nongovernmental organizations working in the field of urban sub-culture and with youth from institutions and on the margins of society (LIM-PID and Art Forum), the idea was developed of making creative workshops for animating youth according to their interests. Workshops were identified by young people not only as effective ways for research but also as a manner of acquiring knowledge in a certain area.

The pilot project started in July 2002 when the NGO HOPS and LIM-PID developed workshops for photography, comics, web design, hip-hop, video, an NGO Art Forum worked on theatre shows with young people in institutions (11 October - home for children without parents, 25 May - home for children without parental care and educationally neglected children and in the home Ranka Milanovic). These young people were presented to the ten principles for youth of UN according to which the activities in this pilot phase were carried out, with a special emphasis on HIV/AIDS information and prevention:

- Human rights
- Physical development of boys and girls
- Gender issues
- Sexuality
- Pregnancy and contraception
- Sexually transmitted infections
- HIV/AIDS
- Violence
- Alcohol, tobacco and other addictive substances
- Life skills

In parallel to the workshop activities, the Ethnology Institute was also involved to present to young people the Participatory action research method, as well as the methods and tools for work in workshops (brainstorming, idea-actual, myths and facts, mapping etc.)

At the same time, a team of young participants worked on the TV series in 10 sequels "Right to know" which was shown on MTV starting from December 2002.
After the end of the first pilot phase of the project, in 2003, the project was joined by three more NGOs: HERA, MIA and the Theatre Youth of Macedonia.
All included partners in the RTK project with their activities developed a common strategy for implementation of the project at a national level, for a one-year period. In that way much of the activities have become available for youth from other towns and cities in the Republic of Macedonia.
Within the HOPS activities, two more workshops were held: a journalism workshop and a workshop for graphic design, which together with the started web design, comics and a photography, made a unit needed for creating the end products for youngsters’ activities, which are the Magazine "Patoteka", creating and maintaining a web page to the project www.imampravodaznam.org.mk, posters, flyers, exhibition, events etc. Upon initiative of the youth included in the work of workshops, a new creative workshop was created that unified other workshops, collected materials, developed the idea of each end product, organized events and made all the creativity of young people involved visible. Via the creative workshop they led and developed the whole ideology of the project, in general.
In the period from 2003 up to the end of 2004, the workshops continued their work in the premises of the Association of technical culture in Skopje. In September 2003 the project with end products (the magazine "Patoteka 1" and the web page of the project www.imampravodaznam.org.mk) were presented to the public in a one-day event "Patoteka" in the city park, attended by several NGOs and young people. The Journalism workshop organized a press conference for the media and the guests, and young people from the photography and comic workshop put up an exhibition of photographs and comics across the whole city park. At the event’s finale, in the late night hours a concert was held for young, unknown music groups invited by project members.