Amman, August 31, 2015 – Youth in the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) region are actively involved in promoting social change. From engaging other young people on issues such as early marriage for young girls or respecting diversity, a new generation of youth leaders is coming together around human rights values at the Regional Youth Forum Mosharka: Let’s Work Together, which will take place September 1-2-3, 2015 at the Days Inn Hotel Suites in Amman, Jordan.
The Youth Forum will bring together more than 50 participants: youth leaders, representatives of civil society organizations, key international and regional organizations, government representatives and funding organizations to share innovative strategies and good practices to promote youth leadership and participation in the protection and promotion of human rights and democracy in the MENA region.
“In a context where we hear more and more stories of youth radicalization, and with growing instabilities brought on by conflicts in countries such as Yemen, the Regional Youth Forum represents an opportunity to share experiences and showcase the ongoing positive impacts of Equitas’ Mosharka Program on youth engagement and participation, particularly on youth who are discriminated against”, says Equitas’ Executive Director Ian Hamilton. “Mosharka gives these youth an alternative and empowers them to bring effective change in their communities”.
The Youth Forum will also shine the spotlight on the tangible benefits brought by the projects developed by these young people over the past three years. “For instance, a children’s literacy project developed by a youth group called Astour (lines) in East Amman in Jordan enjoyed such a remarkable success that local NGOs have already institutionalized the practice in their own work. Furthermore, the youth in Madaba initiated “Madaba in the eyes of its youth” project, through which they created their own safe space to participate and to empower other youth to address their own issues”, shares ANHRE’ Executive Director, Fotouh Younes.
“The international community needs to continue to pay attention and support what is going on here: a new generation of youth are not only conscious of their rights, but are determined to overcome the barriers to youth participation by developing promising human rights education projects”, says Ian Hamilton.
The Regional youth Forum is organized by Equitas, in collaboration with the Arab Network for Civic Education – ANHRE (based in Jordan) and partner organizations in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Jordan.
The Mosharka program is made possible with the support of the European Union, the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) in Jordan and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)