Amman, June 2022: Generations For Peace (GFP) is supporting the implementation of a set of projects at 80 youth centres affiliated with Jordan’s Ministry of Youth (MoY), with the aim of promoting protection and social cohesion among young Syrians and Jordanians. This step comes in the final stage of the two-year program “Improving Protection Spaces and Practices (IPSP) for Syrians and Jordanians in Host Communities,” which GFP is implementing with financial support of the European Regional Development and Protection Programme for Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq (RDPP II), and in strategic partnership with the MoY. 

As part of this step, GFP, in cooperation with the MoY, selected 10 of 80 youth centres in which to implement quick-impact projects. These will include safe spaces that are fully equipped to facilitate different activities and events to help develop the life skills of the centre’s visitors, raise awareness about protection and gender-based violence (GBV), and address problems faced by their communities based on the annual plans of each centre. The 10 participating centres are in the governorates of Amman, Zarqa, Irbid, and Mafraq, which host the largest number of Syrian refugees in the Kingdom. They include Deir Abi Saeed Centre for Young Women, North Mazar Youth Centre, Marka Youth Centre, Naour Youth Centre, Prince Mohammed Youth Centre, Zarqa Women’s Centre, Sama Al Sarhan Youth Centre, Mafraq Youth Centre, Houran Sahel Youth Centre, and Young Women’s Centre of Manshiet Bani Hassan.  

As a part of IPSP, community needs assessments were conducted by 60 male and female Syrian and Jordanian youth volunteers throughout April 2021. The results determined the type of projects to be established to ensure filling gaps and addressing challenges in each of the centres’ communities. Among other facilities, the projects include outdoor gardens, entrepreneurship training halls, and safe spaces for women and children, especially children with special needs. 

On another note, GFP will facilitate micro-projects at 80 centres- comprising almost 40% of the MoY’s active youth centres in various governorates throughout the Kingdom. These projects will use dedicated booths with screens and various tools, in addition to MoY employee-led activities to help raise awareness about protection and GBV among children and youth between the ages of 10 and 30. 

“Building peace in societies experiencing conflict begins with providing protection for individuals and reducing violence. We aim to achieve this goal by further strengthening our well-established strategic partnership with the MoY, which serves as the link between GFP and Syrian and Jordanian youth and children. These groups of society are the most affected by and have the most influence on existing conflict resulting from the Syrian refugee crisis,” said Dr. Mohanned Arabiat, President of GFP, commenting on the progress of the projects thus far. “We thank RDPP II for supporting this program every step of the way. Providing these grants will allow young people to more consciously confront violence, bullying, and exclusion, in order to protect themselves and their communities,” he concluded.  

Further reflecting on the ongoing projects, Mr. Petr Kostohryz, RDPP’s Liaison and Project Manager said: “Many important initiatives in Jordan today, including several supported by RDPP II, aim to improve young people’s transition from education to employment. It is also important, however, to focus on other kinds of engagement and empowerment of young people in Jordan, whether Jordanian, Syrian or of other nationalities, for them to be able to fully contribute to further development of their communities and the society as a whole. The support to the MoY centres is meant to facilitate such engagement on issues that the youth themselves have identified as most important in their communities.” 

 

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Jordan News: https://www.jordannews.jo/Section-113/All/Generations-for-Peace-facilitates-protection-projects-in-80-centers-17948