Queen Rania joins discussion on JRF youth development strategy

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah today joined 120 youths from across the Kingdom who are all active participants in various programs run by the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) in a discussion to outline the foundation’s strategic youth development plan for the next 5 years. The discussion, held at the King Hussein Youth City, is the first of many activities planned for the future that will include the involvement of local institutions in both the public and the private sector. The aim of these activities is to build a comprehensive strategy for youth development that can be implemented by all constituents of the community so as to achieve the best results based on the opinions, ideas, and initiatives of Jordanian youth. Her Majesty told the participants how important their opinions are due to the fact that they all face challenges and thus have a big role in identifying priorities. She asserted the importance of their participation in the process of drawing, not just implementing future plans. Queen Rania had the chance to talk with participants at the workshop as they were split into different groups for discussion. The first group, under the title of "How I think", focused on the youth’s perception of the community and the various stakeholders. This group focused on how youths interact with these different components from their vantage point. In another group, titled "Me and My Community", participants were asked to create their own community based on dialogue. Group members prepared a list of strengths and weaknesses to help identify relevant institutions of authority and their importance in their imagined community. A group titled "I am able to change" looked into how youth can contribute to their communities and also discussed the various societal institutions that can help them achieve and implement change. All group discussions aimed to showcase the ideas and issues of most relevance and importance from the perspective of the youth as well as to shed light onto viable solutions that could be implemented across Jordanian governorates. The discussions also served as a platform for receiving feedback from the youth, that would ultimately help JRF develop adaptable solutions. This reasserts the notion that JRF does not think on behalf of the youth when developing their programs, but instead makes them an active ingredient in the planning process as well. RF General Director, Ghaleb Qudah, said that the youth development strategy of the foundation for the upcoming 5 years will focus on strengthening communication and networking between more than 22,000 Jordanian youths across the Kingdom. As part of the strategy, JRF will also establish groups in each governorate who will work on finding solutions to local challenges, allowing youth to take a crucial role in the development process and endowing them with the platform for making decisions relevant to issues that affect them, their lives, and communities. As well, the strategy being devised aims to include youths in issues and programs dealing with child protection, as well as involve them in civil and economic participation, employment, and extracurricular activities. Another objective of the strategy is to engage the youth by providing them with spaces for dialogue and interaction, empowering them with skills demanded by the job market, enabling them for brighter futures. The selection of the participants in the workshop was based on their level of activity and effectiveness in their own communities as well as their ability to clearly present their ideas for programs and initiatives. All of the youths participating in the workshop had contributed their support to JRF programs for a period not less than three years. The two-day workshop focused on generating ideas and activities pertinent to the development of a clear work plan for the youth of JRF. On the third day, participants showcased their results based on insights and suggestions provided by the youth in order to arrive at tangible and realistic ideas for implementation.