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Youth Program
Contents:
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Round
Table: Democracy & Youth
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The First
Jordanian Youth Forum 2000
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The
Second Jordanian Youth Forum 2001
The Youth Program at UJRC was launched in 1999, and
has since gained much experience in enhancing youth
awareness, primarily through civic participation, on
issues relevant to Jordan. The program’s mission is
to develop a democratic and civil culture amongst
youth, to provide them with the necessary skills to
identify with their problems, to encourage
interaction between youth to successfully solve
their problems, and to emphasize the skills needed
for today’s youth to possess for the region’s
development. UJRC in the past had organized and led
a number of projects focusing on youth, many of
which were with the cooperation of other like-minded
organizations.
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Round Table: Democracy and
Youth
Ten years since the launching of political
openness which was crowned by the parliamentary
elections of 1989, Al Urdun Al Jadid Research
Center with the cooperation of Konrad Adenauer
Foundation held a seminar entitled: “ Ten years
since the launching of the political process in
Jordan 1989-1999”, in Cairo, on September 6-8,
1999.
The round table devoted a session to discuss
“Democracy and Youth”, with an active
participation of young men and women, who were
chosen from different sectors of society in
addition to activists in the political and
academic arena.
The participating youth presented their views on
the status of youth in Jordan, and reasons why
they are not involved in Civil Society
Organizations and Political Parties, in addition
to the difficulties encountered in taking their
own decisions. In the closing session of the
round table, the participants called upon UJRC
to conduct a regular annual Forum for Youth in
Jordan.
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The First Jordanian Youth
Forum, 2000
Under the patronage of HM Queen Rania Al
Abdullah, the first Jordanian Youth Forum was
held by UJRC in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer
Foundation, on May 5-7, 2000, in Queen Zein Al
Sharaf Institute for Development in Amman. The
Forum was held with the participation of about
100 young men and women ranging between 18-32
years of age, and nominated from different areas
of the Kingdom, with diverse professional,
educational and social backgrounds.
It is worth mentioning that the idea of the
Forum rose from the works of the round table on
Democracy and Youth held in September 1999,
which recommended organizing an annual forum for
youth in Jordan. A preparatory committee
consisting of youth participants in the round
table, a number of organizing parties and
volunteering youths, had succeeded in holding a
series of meetings to crystallize the idea of
the Forum, and to define its objectives and
mechanisms.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Saeed
Shokom, opened the Forum as a representative of
HM Queen Rania Al Abdullah, and passed on Her
Majesty’s greetings to the participants and
organizing parties. He emphasized the importance
of investing in young generations, pointing out
that Jordan’s mission concentrates on taking
this generation forward in terms of progressive
aspirations and rational awareness, which will
in turn lead our country towards a bright
future.
The Forum’s working agenda employed a special
technique. Participants agreed on the importance
of conducting a survey investigating the high
priority issues, which youth wish to discuss at
their Forum. A questionnaire was prepared for
each participant to fill out by ten people s/he
knows through work or school. This survey was
carefully assessed to highlight the focal areas
and major problems encountered in each area.
Participants were split into ten groups, each
picking an area to discuss, with facilitators
assigned to clarify the methodology and organize
dialogue between members. Participants agreed on
selecting three areas to be more thoroughly
looked into, and later opted for one problem to
be more fully and deeply discussed, while
proposing a solution plan to solve it.
Moreover, whilst conducting this opinion poll,
the Forum committee prepared a questionnaire for
distributing, containing questions in eight
fields. Respondents would identify three major
problems they wished to be discussed at the
Forum.
A sample of 250 was chosen to fill out the
questionnaire; 46.4% males and 53.6% females.
Their professional distribution was as follows:
38% students, 31.6% private and civil sector
employees, 11.2% public sector employees, 11.2%
unemployed, 4.8% self-employed, 3.2 % undefined.
15 areas were chosen, amongst the most important
were: unemployment 34.4%, investment in free
time 9.6%, discrimination against women 9.6%,
developing youth capabilities 8%, and addiction
8%.
Workgroups chose ten issues to focus their work
on: family, free time, marriage, IT, work,
education, gender and social relationships,
democratic culture, Jordanian cultural identity,
and participation in the public sphere.
In the closing session of the Forum, HM Queen
Rania Al Abdullah chaired a Round Table which
summoned all the participants and was attended
by Mr. Saeed Shokom, Minister of Youth and
Sports. Workgroup leaders presented their
discussion outcomes, and the session identified
the focal points of interest that should be
concentrated upon, within the ten areas defined
above.
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Jordanian Youth Forum 2001,
( Youth, Participation and the Internet):
Under the Patronage of HM Queen Rania Al
Abdullah, UJRC with the cooperation of Konrad
Adenauer Foundation held the Jordanian Youth
Forum 2001, under the slogan “Youth,
Participation, and Internet”, on June 1-3, 2001,
in Rawdat Al Maaref School in Amman.
As opposed to the first forum, which was held by
UJRC in May 2000 to focus on problems facing the
youth sector, this second Forum concentrated on
more specific issues and sought to apply the
correct approaches to enhance youth empowerment
for more participation and better
decision-making.
This vision was based on the fact that Jordanian
youth have the required knowledge and the
technical capabilities which enable them to
actively participate in their society issues.
Moreover, Jordan is witnessing a rapid IT
development which provides new ways of
empowering the youth into fulfilling their
ambitions in society.
UJRC chose Participation and Information
Technology as the two focal themes for the Youth
Forum 2001, while seeking to utilize IT tools in
enhancing and empowering the participation
opportunities of the youth.
UJRC had prepared a working paper identifying
the goals and objectives of the Forum, in
addition to a preliminary working agenda and
methodologies, while specifying the youth target
groups of the Forum.
The goal of the Forum was to promote youth
participation and collective work, identify new
ways of communication, use IT to solve youth
problems, realize the importance of
participation and participatory methods, and
build bridges of cooperation amongst youth.
A preparatory committee was formed of (21) young
men and women to discuss the administrative and
technical arrangements to hold the forum. This
committee held nine meetings on UJRC premises.
An e-group was also formed, whereby the
committee members exchanged ideas and proposals
on the Forum. The e-group proved its efficiency
and flexibility as a working mechanism, through
which the youth were able to collectively
prepare for the Forum proceedings, and to assign
a working schedule for the preparatory
committee. This was a model for the use of IT by
the youth in following up on their interests and
activities.
Moreover, a survey was prepared covering
personal info of the participants, regarding
their involvement in civil society activities,
their computer and internet usage, the major
issues they wish to discuss, and their main
recommendations to the organizing parties.
UJRC posted the questionnaire on its website,
where it was filled out and sent electronically.
A total of 130 questionnaires were received,
coming from different governorates of the
Kingdom.
The 91 participants in the Forum were divided as
follows by gender and region: 58% male, vs. 42%
female; Northern region 29%, Middle region 63%,
Southern region 8%.
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