Youth Leadership Programme 5

October 27, 2019

Date: 11-14 November 2019
Location: Amman, Jordan.

In its fifth year in 2019 the Youth Leadership Programme reached almost 15,000 youth participants in 11 countries. SDG camps, workshops and other activities were delivered by nearly 80 youth serving-organizations that form the key partners for YLP. The year consisted of three phases:

In March, YLP5 was launched during the regional workshop in Beirut, gathering over 80 participants from 60 organizations across 11 countries.

The themes and goals for the year were set to be:

Explore, Experiment, Expand

- Exploring new mechanisms of support and capacity-building to advance youth development solutions, sharing of expertise and good practice;

- Experimenting with new solutions and ways of maximizing the YLP network of youth-focused organizations, youth and development partners.

- Expanding our knowledge by institutionalizing the YLP approach and developing an online Learning Facility.

National activities and global networks

Between April and October, the national activities supported young people’s work on key community challenges through using social innovation. From using sewage water to create self-healing concrete, to a mobile app that makes tourism accessible for people with disabilities, to an e-commerce site that support women in marginalized communities, all these examples are only a fraction of the innovative solutions the youth have developed through the YLP5 national workshops.

“YLP has propelled my project forward in terms of realizing that it is possible. I have seen other youth in similar situations and seeing this has given me the confidence to accomplish my own goals.” Abdirazaq Sheikh Abdjeahid Hassan, YLP5 youth participant, Somalia

Throughout the year, YLP alumni participated in global forums such as Empower 2019,

ECOSOC 2019 Youth Forum, and the Unleash Innovation Lab. YLP continues to support the alumni in opening doors to international arenas, where they can network, share and learn.

Watch a video from YLP5 in Lebanon

Watch a video from YLP5 Innovation Impact Summit in Egypt

Watch a video from YLP5 in Sudan

Watch a video from YLP in Tunisia

Watch a video from the Social innovation camp in Tunisia by UNDP Electoral project and YLP

Read a blog post by YLP alumni Moneera about youth and social innovation

Regional forum: Engagement in Full Circle

The concluding event, ‘Engagement in Full Circle’, took place in November in Amman, gathering over 100 stakeholders from the Arab region. it brought together over 45 youth, 33 youth serving organisations, and public and private sector partners from all across the Arab region.The four-day forum covered sessions supporting youth engagement through addressing bottlenecks and shared obstacles. Young men and women had the opportunity to showcase their ideas, take part in live pitching, discuss the importance of civic and political participation and further expand the ever-growing network of the YLP.

“YLP can fill the gap between the innovators and decisionmakers and see how we can together collaborate and make the world a better place for us and the generations to come.” Sara Hammoud, YLP5 youth participant, Lebanon

The forum further equipped a new cohort of leaders, social innovators and change-makers of the Arab region to embark on their journey to tackle the developmental challenges in their communities. It also highlighted the role of soft skills and self-awareness in leadership and being a change-maker.

“I used to say that the more we understand who we are and how our brains work, the more we control our reactions and make the best decisions in the right moments, and [the self-awareness session] was perfect to boost this idea... Practicing this will contribute to our leadership skills and make one a better changemaker.” Seifeddine Trabelsi, YLP alumni, Tunisia