Amman, October 2022: In the presence of HRH Princess Aisha Bint Feisal, HE the Minister of Youth Mohammad Nabulsi, and representatives of the two main Ministry of Youth (MoY) partners; United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Generations For Peace (GFP), the Jordanian MoY announced today the transition of the Maharati (My Skills) Programme. During an official ceremony held in the Amman Grand Hall at AlHussein Sports City, the Ministry announced the institutionalisation and handover of the Maharati Programme and received the transition letter.

Launched in 2017, The Maharati Programme aims to build and develop transferable skills among young people across Jordan by training youth workers and frontline staff from the MoY and its affiliated youth centres, with a focus on the most marginalised participants such as girls, out-of-school children, refugees, adolescents with disabilities and NEET. Through its focus on life skills, citizenship, and civic engagement, the Programme enables young people aged 10-24 to use their voices and participate more actively in their communities, think creatively and critically about themselves and their roles in society, make informed decisions, and discover the untapped resources that exist within themselves.

During the institutionalisation ceremony, young people, trainers, community members and parents shared their stories and journeys in the programme, and a series of media interviews were conducted with HE the Minister of Youth, Shairose Mawji, Acting Representative, UNICEF Jordan, and Dr Mohanned Arabiat, GFP President, shedding light on the Programme’s milestones and the upcoming areas of cooperation.

During the one-year transition phase, with technical support from UNICEF Jordan and GFP, a core team of 200 female and male employees working with youth and adolescents in the MoY was trained in 200 youth centres. The training, which included 20 in-person and online sessions, aimed to qualify the MoY team to lead the Programme’s activities independently. It included topics related to the capacity-building of adolescents, such as financial literacy, the Adolescent Kit for expression and innovation, social innovation Upshift, and Sports and Life Skills for Peace.

The sessions also covered the transition plan of the Programme, as the MoY team received trainings on meaningful engagement with young people, data and information management, reporting, measurement framework and tools.

Commenting on this step, HE, the Minister of Youth, said, “The institutionalisation of Maharati Programme into the ministry comes after it has enabled 135,000 youth to acquire life skills since its launch five years ago,” Nabulsi said during his opening remarks. Nabulsi added that the programme has achieved quality outcomes in building youth capacity and investing in their talents, “as can be seen in youth launching their own initiatives, educating their peers and serving their local communities”. “The Maharati Programme was selected to be part of the ‘Matrix of Youth Programmes’ to be integrated at all youth centres in the Kingdom,” Nabulsi said.  Nabulsi stated that the ministry is committed to ensuring the programme’s continuity in order to empower young people to be positive change-makers in their communities.

“UNICEF believes in supporting the most vulnerable adolescents and youth in Jordan,” Shairose Mawaji, acting UNICEF representative, said in her remarks.  Mawaji added that we need to engage youth in their communities “meaningfully”, as well as develop their “future-ready” skills, which will lead to the growth of a prosperous and peaceful society.  “We are proud to hand over the Maharati Programme to the Ministry of Youth, knowing that it will only increase its reach and impact for youth, and we remain a committed partner to ensuring the programme’s continued success,” Mawaji added.

Dr Mohanned Arabiat commented, “We are all proud of the achievements of the Maharati Programme, which contributed to developing the skills of the MoY team while at the same time leaving an impact on the lives of nearly 135,000 young people and future leaders. We believe that building the skills of this generation is achieved through the efforts and dedication of those who directly work with them, providing the MoY team with the tools is necessary to transfer their knowledge and experiences to them.” He added, “We are proud of our cooperation with UNICEF Jordan and the exchange of experiences throughout the Maharati Programme’s phases, in addition to our longstanding and ongoing partnership with the main umbrella for youth work in Jordan, the MoY. We are confident in the results that the Ministry and its team will achieve within the next stage of the Programme.”

During the implementation of the Programme, 2,555 MoY youth workers participated in intensive capacity building activities, including 30 Master trainers as the core MoY team, 200 trainers, 200 outreach workers and 15 field coordinators, and 2,110 Jordanian and Syrian volunteers who reached 135,954 young men and women, 57% of whom were female, with a focus on the most marginalised participants. This includes refugees, out-of-school children, girls, and adolescents with disabilities. In addition, 14,051 training sessions were held during the 21 cycles implemented since the launch of the Programme, and 24,729 initiatives were designed, planned, and implemented across the Kingdom to reach nearly 100,000 indirect beneficiaries.