The project aims to equip the youth with necessary knowledge and skills to be effective partners in the shaping of the future though enhancing their civil practices and values. It also seeks to provide a platform for discussions and exchange of thoughts and develop new mechanisms to impact the youth whether in their school, home or in the community.
The concept behind the School Dialogue and Volunteerism Clubs Project:

The King Abdullah II Fund for Development launched the School Dialogue and Volunteerism Clubs Project in 2014 in implementation of directives by His Majesty King Abdullah II highlighted in the Fourth Discussion Paper to execute and support projects that ensure active citizenship among the youth.
The project was implemented with the aim of spreading the culture of dialogue among students due to its high importance in strengthening the principles tolerance, acceptance of others and respecting their views and coexistence, which plays an important role in curbing negative practices that sometimes emerge among the youth including violence, marginalization of others and provoking them, among others.
Targeted segment:

8th to 9th graders at public school.
Objectives:

Equipping the youth with dialogue skills and empowering them to manage differences and accept the different viewpoints.
Enhancing values of citizenship and social value among the targeted segment with focus on social and voluntary work.
Developing the capabilities of the targeted segments to effectively interact with their communities.
Building a network of active youth who are capable of sustain efforts to spread the culture of dialogue and volunteerism in their communities.

Training guide objectives:

Preparing students to accept dialogue and creating a proper platform for dialogue among members of the dialogue clubs at schools.
Acquainting students with their main rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Raising awareness among students on concepts of civil work and volunteerism.
Providing students with tools to ensure active participation in the civil state.
Training students on skills to be able to identify problems and how to solve them.
Training students on how to implement effective development initiatives.

Work Mechanism:

Training facilitators and their assistants to effectively and efficiently implement the programme’s activities.
Providing an opportunity for practicing several extracurricular activities, which help develop students’ skills to become effective members in their local communities.
Training students on how to discuss and address several cultural and intellectual issues, which help improve the conditions at their schools as well as the conditions in their local communities to become capable of dialogue, constructive criticism, persuading others and acceptance of other viewpoints.
Designing and implementing voluntary initiatives by students to address issues of concern to their local communities.
A training guide was prepared by renowned experts. It consists of 23 training sessions and includes all the tools, mechanism and activities that enable facilitators to effectively implement the programme and positively impact the targeted segment.

Achievements:

Training 686 teachers on the training guide of the project as well as on human rights to work as facilitators at schools.
Training 88 university students on the project’s training guide and on human rights to work as facilitators at schools.
Training 32,000 students over the past three years.
The project was implemented in 907 public schools across the country’s governorates.
Financing 100 initiatives over the past period that witnessed the direct participation of 2,000 persons and benefitted more than 10,000 others indirectly.

The initiative aims to sustain a forest in Al Sneineh area in Al Qasr district in Al Karak governorate by planting trees in partnership with local communities.
The concept behind Juthoor Initiative

Juthoor is a Royal initiative launched by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development in 2012 with a view to create and sustain a national forest in Al Sneineh area in Al Qasr district in Al Karak governorate over a total area of 12,000 dunums. The initiative is implemented through partnerships with local communities, young Jordanians and students from across the country. The initiative also seeks to instill spirit of volunteerism and the concept of active citizenship.
Juthoor Initiative is based on a national development programme with the cooperation of the ministries of agriculture, education and public works, in addition to other public youth entities, Jordanian universities, the Royal Society for Conservation of Nature, among others.
Objectives:

Sustaining a national forest in Al Sneineh area in Al Qasr district in Al Karak governorate over a total area of 12,000 dunums.
Instilling the concept of active citizenship though providing volunteering opportunities for the youth.
Providing several economic benefits and social services for the local community in the area.
Creating some recreational spaces for citizens.

Implementation Mechanism:

Preparing the lands for planting.
Seeking the help of volunteers to plant trees.
Tasking the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature to supervise the sustainability of the project at present after it was supervised by Challenger Team and Alshajarah society previously.
Planting trees regularly by the All Jordan Youth Commission volunteers as well as university and school students.

Achievements:

Planting 233,000 trees over a total area of 8,200 dunums of the total area of the project with the participation of 22,000 volunteers from schools, universities and the All Jordan Youth Commission.
Planting 11,200 pomegranate trees over a total area of 1,000 dunums.
Building two plastic houses and planting them with herbs.

Partners:

The Ministry of Agriculture, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature and the local community in Al Qasr district.

- CETP provided (1806) direct and indirect opportunities

The Idea

Jordan celebrates the centennial of the state as the oldest continuous Arab regime. Since its inception, Jordan has achieved a qualitative shift and major achievements that would not have been achieved without our wise leaders who had a clear vision and a people capable of achievement.
The project will constitute an intellectual journey for Jordanian youth by taking an insight to identify the history of Jordan and the stages of its development, how each one of its kings gave what he could to achieve the progress and excellence of this country, and how the concreted endeavours of Jordanians have been made to make the achievement.
This project also shows how Jordan has become strong in the face of various challenges, especially after taking many critical decisions that led Jordan to the safehold.
In general, this project attempts to clarify the philosophy of Hashemite rule and the intermingling between the leadership and the people, until this moment, which we all celebrate the centennial of the state.

Implementation Mechanism

This project is implemented through the camp method, where each camp extends for 4 days, as follows:
• Dedicate the first day to cover the period of the establishment of Jordan until Independence Day (1921-1946).
• Dedicate the second day to cover the period of the post-independence until 1971 (1946-1971).
• Dedicate the third day to cover the period of the reign of His Majesty the late King Hussein bin Talal (1971-1999).
• Dedicate the fourth day to cover the period of the reign of His Majesty King Abdullah II.

Project Goals

• Introduce Youth to Jordan's political, economic and social history.
• Strengthening and enhancing their sense of loyalty to their country.
• Help the trainees realize their role as youth in carrying the mission and continue to build the nation.

Criteria to participating in the project

• The applicant must be in the targeted age group between (18-35)years old.
• The applicant at least must be a current university undergraduate student.
• To pass the written exam (request for participation) and the personal interview.
• To be full-time during the training period.

• provided (147) direct and indirect opportunities.

Introduction

In line with His Majesty King Abdullah II’s vision pertaining to the significance of revitalizing the role of youth, reinforcing their participation in the various fields of civic and political life, and increasing their representation in decision-making positions, the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD), in partnership with the Politics and Society Institute, launched the “Effective Representation of Youth in Local Administration Councils” project to contribute to the empowering of young candidates and encourage their active involvement in municipal and local governance councils — which is consistent with the outcomes of the Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System, and falls within the framework of empowering youth and engaging them in municipal administration and local governorate councils.

The Concept

Despite actions taken at the official level, a gap still exists before achieving the goal of increasing youth presence in the decision-making positions, which applies to low participation rates. Due to this gap, young people are missing out on a present key opportunity to take part in political life and gain the necessary expertise and resources , and as a result, the ability to access the political, social, and economic choices that represent them and allow them to channel their energies into shaping their future and serving their community.

In essence, the project seeks to motivate young candidates and enable them to create and present a suitable election manifesto that aligns with the requirements and needs of their local communities.

The project involves sensitizing youth to the Law, the local administration, and to the importance of municipal and local councils in the development of local communities and society, as well as improving the capacity-building and skill development of the young candidates in order to equip them with the tool needed to organize their electoral campaigns, empowering them with the best democratic practices leading to an effective political participation in local administration, and boosting their chances in the governorates local councils’ elections.
The project extends its efforts to continue collaborating with the young candidates who win the elections in order to increase their eligibility and their ability in applying the best practices in municipal administration, to encourage their engagement in local communities, and to help them with maintaining sustained dialogues with these communities.

Main Objective

Bolstering the engagement and effective representation of youth in municipal councils and local governance.

Sub-goals

1. Raising the awareness of the target group of young people about the Law, the local administration, and the importance of municipal and local councils in the development of local communities and society.

2. Building the capacities of youth and providing them with the needed tools and necessary skills that allow them to organize their electoral campaigns and present a suitable manifesto that aligns with the requirements and needs of their local communities.

3. Empowering youth with the best democratic practices leading to an effective political participation in local administration and improving their chances in the governorates local councils’ elections

Target Groups

The project targets thirty young men and women, from different governorates across the Kingdom, between the age of 25 and 40.

Expected Outcomes

1. Raising the target group’s awareness through educating them on the Local Administration Law and the importance of local elections.
2. Increasing the capacity of the target group to run for the upcoming elections and improving their readiness for leading effective election campaigns.
3. Continue collaborating with the young candidates who win the council’s elections in order to improve their eligibility and their ability in applying the best practices in municipal administration.

Project Summary

1. Holding awareness sessions for the target group on the Local Administration Law, on the importance of municipal and local governorate councils in developing society and promoting democracy, and on the best democratic practices in municipal work, as well as encouraging them to hold public hearings and meetings pertaining to the needs of their local community.

2. Holding a dedicated workshop for each of the groups on managing campaigns, leadership skills, and community outreach.

3. Training sessions on improving media and public communication skills (press briefings, conferences, and interviews).

4. Training and empowering the target group in order to improve and sharpen their skills regarding their fieldwork prior to the elections, and their ability to analyze election maps and political alliances.

Following the results announcement of the local administration elections, a workshop dedicated to the ones elected will be held. The workshop will cover the following

a. Local community needs assessment .
b. Priority-setting in local authorities and their services.
c. Accountability and preparation of Policy Papers.

Achievements

Implementation of three trainings for the winners of the local administration council elections, with the participation of (30) young men and women.

The project provided 30 opportunities

Introduction

With each coming year, a new group of young individuals joins the ranks of eligible voters (with an average of half a million every election cycle). Having no previous knowledge or experience of the political system, the value of elections, or the significance of parliamentary work to Jordan’s public affairs, these first-time voters fall short of evaluating qualified campaigns of candidates or political parties that can adequately represent the people in a proactive parliament.
The project aims at fusing the gap between the new voters and their imminent reality, as these voters are often reluctant to take part in the elections and the political process in general or remain captive to the traditional motives to political participation.
This comes in accordance with the country’s aspiration to encourage the participation of youths in the political life and increase their affiliation with political parties, which is clearly manifested in the formation of the Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System and their published recommendations.
The project is carried out in partnership with the “Politics and Society Institute”, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, along with affiliated institutions and commissions.

Project Objectives

The project will provide a democratic-nurturing educational programme in order to increase “election awareness” amongst new voters, granting them the chance to a practical experience by participating in both, applied and virtual election simulations through utilizing applied, realistic, and virtual practices that are co-designed by the students in the selected schools.
This is an effort to bolster young people's participation in political and civic life, grant them the opportunity to deliver their voice to the relevant decision-makers, and encourage them to believe in their abilities as positive agents of change in their communities.

Target Group

The project targets eighty public-school students in the 10th and 11th grades from three governorates; Irbid, Madaba, and Aqaba’s Quwayrah —totaling six schools, divided evenly between male and female schools.
Registration will be open for the enrollment of 15-20 students who will be selected from each school following fair and clear criteria. The application process will be published online along with relevant information regarding the evaluation mechanism.

Project Phases

Phase One: Initiation
Petitioning students through an invitation to participate.

Phase Two: Raising Awareness
1. Holding an awareness seminar in each governorate about the fundamentals of democracy, participation in civic and political life, and parliamentary governments. As well as employing innovative and non-curricular practices to educate participants on the concepts of public service and active citizenship.
2. Conducting a training workshop in each governorate on the election law and the voting procedures.
3. Conducting a training workshop in each governorate on the evaluation of election campaigns.
4. Conducting three training workshops, each in a selected governorate, on strengthening the communication, persuasion, and lobbying skills of the selected students. As well as introducing them to the principles of election campaigns through simplified and interactive methods such as displaying videos tailored to their age group. In addition to training them on how to come up with innovative and pioneering initiatives and attain the tools needed to achieve these objectives.

Objectives:
● Increasing awareness of the target group on the concept of election as one of the most fundamental instruments of democracy, and educating them about the concepts of public service and active citizenship
● Improving their abilities and skills of effective dialogue, communication, persuasion, and lobbying, as well as introducing them to the principles of election campaigns and equipping them with the tools needed for analyzing data and evaluating campaigns.
● Enabling the target group to extend their acquired knowledge and experience to their peers, and to launch awareness campaigns and initiatives.

Expected Outcomes:
● Raising the level of awareness and instilling the concept of democracy in new voters.
● Strengthening their abilities and skills in dialogue, communication, persuasion, and lobbying, as well as boosting their knowledge of election campaigns and increasing their abilities to launch initiatives.

Phase Three: Election Simulation
● Holding meetings between students and political leaders, members of the Parliament, and active members of political parties.
● Conducting election simulations in every governorate/city in coordination with the Ministry of Education and the Independent Election Commission of Jordan (IEC). Co-organized by the selected students, these simulations are to be preceded by a training session on the election process and its cycles.
● Launching a competition for the selected students to develop a political simulation game through the Jordan Gaming Lab.
● Convening the closing session which includes sharing insights and evaluations of the project with the target group and the concerned bodies, as well as handing out awards to winning students in the initiatives’ competition and the political game competition.
● Creating and finalizing the training manual which is based on the workshops, simulations, as well as the evaluations and recommendations of the closing session.

Objective:
Training students and granting them the opportunity to participate in experimental elections through simulated events with both applied and virtual practices.

Expected Outcomes:
● Increasing their abilities and competitiveness by providing them with the opportunity to engage in applied and virtual practices through these election simulations.
● Progressing youth outlook through introducing pioneering initiatives and teaching the basics of games design and development, in addition to launching a competition that aims at developing a political simulation game.
● Developing an innovative training manual in order to achieve project sustainability and continuity.

Phase Four: Finale
● Evaluating the results and outcomes of the project.
● Laying out a set of recommendations for the next phase.
● The graduation of participating students.

Sustainability:
● Enabling the target group to extend their acquired skills and knowledge to their school peers through launching lobbying and awareness campaigns.
● Collaborating with schools and directorates in the Ministry of Education, from which students were selected, to ensure the continuity of implementing the election-simulation module (along with its applied and virtual practices) in electing their student body councils.
● Adopting the practical training manual which will be developed by the project’s organizers from the selected schools.

Achievements:
● Providing the training guide for the democratic education training course in cooperation with The Politics and Society Institute and the National Center for Curriculum Development.
● Trained (6000) teachers on the new (democratic) curriculum.

Introduction

In accordance with the country’s general policy on the importance of supporting the process of political reform, led by His Majesty King Abdullah II, through encouraging effective political participation and the involvement of youth in partisan work, and in parallel with the recommendations of the “Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System” on the need of fostering partisan activity in Jordanian universities through promoting an enabling environment and revitalizing the role of youth in local communities and their involvement in local and national priorities, the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD), in partnership with the No Borders for Training and Human Resources, launches the Students Boot Camp for Political Participation project.

The Concept

University students reflect a realistic representation of society in terms of ideological orientations and political preferences. However, and due to a variety of reasons, both the level of political awareness and the demand for effective political and electoral participation among students at Jordan’s universities are inadequate. Not to mention that well-defined programs aimed at addressing this problem, while taking Jordan’s specificity into consideration, are limited. If this continues however, young people, and specifically university students, will be deprived of the opportunity to take part in shaping their future. Thus, this project came into light in order to bridge the gap and secure a future that everyone aspires to.
Target groups:
University students in their second and third year.

Objectives

- Promote and reinvigorate political work among the largest possible number of university students.
- Encourage active political participation of students on the basis of political manifestos.
- Foster an enabling environment that allows the emergence of young political leaders who represent various political views.
- Motivate students to join political parties on the basis of political manifestos.
- Develop students' ideas that enable them to present effective political initiatives that affect the democratic process in universities.

Project Activities

Twelve boot camps will be held throughout the year targeting university students from different ideological and cultural backgrounds with the aim of reaching the largest possible group of young people. The boot camp, which lasts for one day, is marked with several events that reflect the interests of the participants; including recreational activities. The boot camp focuses on the importance of effective political participation and on changing the mainstream perspective on political party participation in light of the new developments in the political reform process.

Implementation Mechanism

The following methodologies will be adopted for implementation:

1. Spreading Awareness, education and strengthening knowledge methodology.
2. Focus group sessions methodology to get acquainted with the target group and their affiliation.
3. Training, empowerment and skills development methodology
4. Inclusion of recreational activities methodology to spark the interests of student groups.

Achievements

1. Implementation (11) camps in various universities and governorates, with the participation of (982) young men and women.
2. The project provided 982 opportunities.

ForUs.jo Portal aims at fundamentally changing the culture of work and the jobs search techniques as finding a job opportunity requires receiving career counseling, self-development and engaging in voluntary activities in the society.
ForUs.jo groups the largest number of partners, training providers, founders of social initiatives, entrepreneurs and advisors who dedicate their expertise for the benefit of the young Jordanians to help them shape their career.

The concept behind ForUs

ForUs.jo is an unconventional national platform that is designed to help the youth in Jordan to build their career.
Upon directives by His Majesty King Abdullah II, the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, the Ministry of Labour and in collaboration with local and regional partners joined forces to launch the platform to provide Jordan’s young people with resources regarding career counseling, training, employment, entrepreneurship and volunteering.
The portal links job seekers to employers and provides the youth with complete solutions to help them shape their future. It also highlights available training and volunteering opportunities as well as internships.

Objectives

The portal seeks to increase the employability of young Jordanians and positively changing their perception of work and means of seeking a job. It also aspires to help Jordanian youth shape their career through the following:

1. Educating young Jordanians about the required jobs in the labour market and helping them choose specialties that suit them.


2. Building the capacities of young Jordanians though e-training courses and facilitating their access to training courses that meet their needs


3. Boosting youth engagement in voluntary activities by informing them about available volunteering opportunities.


4. Helping young Jordanians search for vacancies announced by the various recruitment companies.


5. Helping young entrepreneurs start their own businesses through training them on necessary skills to design and run their startups in addition to providing a database that includes all entities, financing institutions and supporters of startups.

Achievements

ForUs.jo was launched during the King Abdullah II Fund’s annual celebration that was held under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah in May 2016.
Since its launch until May 10th, the number of subscribers with the portal reached more than 12,500.

Who can join ForUs.jo ?

The portal targets those aged between 18-45 years old.

Services

The portal provides services that are mainly focused in five areas:
Career Counseling
Know your personality and professional preferences to select the suitable career path.
Identify the closest career counseling office in your areas of residence or university and make an appointment for a counseling session with one of the career counselors accredited by the portal.
Find out more about the required jobs in the Jordanian labour market.
Read articles and regularly updated tips that help you succeed in your career.

Capacity Building Tools
Enroll in e-training courses via Forus.jo.
Look for training courses that fulfill your needs.

Job Opportunities
Go through the various job opportunities announced by several recruitment companies and look for the suitable vacancy.

Volunteering Opportunities

1. Create your own profile that includes your favorite volunteer opportunities.


2. Search for a volunteering opportunity near your house or workplace.


3. Find out more about the types and benefits of volunteering and duties of volunteers by reading some of the regularly updated articles and tips.


4. Get a certificate upon completing a volunteering opportunity.

Your Startup
Get acquainted with more simplified and compressive information about entrepreneurship in Jordan by reading several tips and articles on how to plan for your own startup, manage it and look for needed funding.
Make use of the available database on ForUs.jo portal that includes several stakeholders, financing entities and supporters of startups.

Introduction

As part of The King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) efforts in strengthening the active involvement of youth in political life in a joint national venture to support the reform initiative led by His Majesty, King Abdullah II, the Fund will launch a selection of projects within its 2022 programmes that aim to strengthen young people’s contribution in political life and help find remarkable groups of young men and women from all governorates. One of these projects is the Reform Dialogues.

Project Summary

In collaboration with Masarat Foundation for Development, KAFD is working towards launching the Reform Dialogues Project, which will be conducted in a series of 18 workshops, one in every electoral district. These workshops mainly aim at informing Jordanian youth about the outcomes of the “Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System”, in addition to providing them with the opportunity to share their opinion on these outcomes to eventually have a set of recommendations that will be passed on to the House of Representatives to be discussed during their session on the reform projects at hand.

Target Group

Due to the importance of invoking new voices of young men and women and motivating them to take part in the dialogue, the project sets sight on initiating discussions with the general public in all governorates and cities. This is predicated on the power of dialogue in generating the widest possible participation of youth in the reform process through constructing a platform that allows for their voice to be heard and for their suggestions to be transformed into recommendations, which could accordingly serve as the building blocks for respective parties while maintaining an open discussion in a civilized manner.

Objectives

1. Providing a safe environment for target groups that allows them to express their views in a free and rational manner as a method of generating democratic change through proper channels.
2. Emphasizing the need for parliamentary reform and rejuvenation, while paving the road to that end.
3. Searching out for new revitalizing members for they are the backbone of political parties and movements.
4. Initiating the concept of cultivated and rational dialogue.
5. Rallying for public advocacy in supporting these outcomes and regard them as part of the reform project which, in principle, stands as a national interest.

Implementation

- In accordance with the number of electoral districts, and as suggested by the outcomes, a total of eighteen dialogue sessions are to be held.
- Dialogue sessions are conducted as round-table discussions with the participation of members of the Committee, the legislative council, the government, as well as the local community.
- Outcomes concluded from these sessions shall be collected and amended into recommendations to be passed on to the House of Representatives.

Achievements

- 19 dialogue sessions were held in each constituency, with the participation of 800 participants.
- The final session was with the Legal Committee in the House of Representatives, after collecting the outputs of the 18 sessions and converting them into recommendations and delivering them to Parliament.

The project has supported 26 civil society institutions & 33 individuals and youth groups

- The Total direct & indirect opportunities that provided is 3142.