15-17 May 2017; 18-20 May 2017; 22-24 May 2017, Bijeljina, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Advancing the Lions Quest "Skills for Adolescence" programme implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, additional training workshops for educators and trainers were organized in Bijeljina. The workshops were held in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Government of Republika Srpska in close coordination with the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

The training workshops are the initial capacity development step for further implementation of Lions Quest "Skills for Adolescence" programme in the selected elementary schools with group of students of 10-14 years of age. With the inclusion of 12 schools from Bijeljina, the project is now reaching 27 elementary schools across Bosnia and Herzegovina and has provided skills and relevant knowledge to over 85 teachers to directly implement the programme in the following two academic years in their settings.

The pilot programme delivery in elementary schools is aiming to field-test the programme material, acknowledge working modalities in schools and report on potential challenges during the piloting phase. The programme implementation will be closely monitored with the organization of several follow up sessions where all teachers who are actively engaged in the programme delivery shall contribute with their suggestions and recommendations to further enhancement of the programme material and the implementation modality.

Prior to commencing the pilot phase, a selected group of students (both case and control group) will be interviewed to acquire information on substance use, normative beliefs, refusal skills and intention to use substances which will be contrasted with the post-test results thus assessing changes for the set of indicators and obtaining more information on the efficiency of the implemented intervention.

The pilot programme will commence in Bijeljina in Republika Srpska in September 2017 with the expected duration until June 2019.