LocationsYouth Leadership Programme
Youth Leadership Programme
The Youth Leadership Programme (YLP) has built one of the most dynamic networks of young people in the Arab region, employing tools of innovation for sustainable development impact. The youth in the Arab states face many challenges related to their economic, political and social integration in to their societies. Over 60 % of the population in the Arab states is under the age of 30, and one third are between 24 and 29 years of age. These youth present a great, untapped potential for driving development and change in the region.
YLP’s mission is to invest in young women and men across the region to unleash their potential to become social innovators, leaders, thinkers and a powerful force for change in their communities, countries and the region at large. YLP equips youth with tools to develop their own unique and innovative solutions to address real-life challenges and further the 2030 Agenda and its 17 goals. More importantly, YLP encourages participants to be entrepreneuring changemakers, capable of developing their ideas from plans to practice.
YLP provides training and capacity-building for youth through workshops, innovation camps, hackathons and other activities. Human-centered innovation and Design Thinking methodology provide valuable tools for social innovation and tackling the complex development challenges in the region.
“Since its launch in 2015, YLP has run five successful cycles, and as the end of 2019, has worked with over 20,000 youth participants”. YLP participants have launched and established successful small businesses, won municipality elections, received recognition and awards for their innovative solutions, and presented their ideas at renowned universities and global platforms like the ECOSOC Youth Forum, Stanford University, Hult International Business School, and the European Parliament.
The YLP activities are organised at the national level in Arab states through/by UNDP country offices and youth-serving organisations. Additionally, there are two regional events per year, gathering together youth, partners and other stakeholders: the launch of the new edition of YLP in spring, and the Regional Forum in autumn, where the selected youth and national partners showcase their hard work and learn about the key themes of YLP that year.
Youth Leadership Programme 1
UNDP Regional Hub of in Amman in partnership with "MBC" Al Amal organized "Regional Youth Leadership" programme in Amman, Jordan from 8 October 2015 till 15 October 2015.
The programme aimed to strengthen the capacity of young people and support the exchange of experiences and knowledge with each other, in terms of the skills and methods of leadership and leadership in the field of sustainable development, It targeted specifically forty (40) young men and women who are qualified and interested in the development of their communities.
Youth Leadership Programme 2
The Ministry of Youth in Kuwait is in partnership with the UNDP Kuwait and the UNDP RBAS. Both programs convened the regional workshop on “Youth Action for the 2030 Agenda” in the Arab region, from the 14th of November until the 19th of December 2016. The regional workshop invested in empowering young women and men, as partners and champions for the SDGs across the Arab region. Recognizing that youth knowledge and creativity is essential to realizing the development goals, the workshop will use creative approaches to offer a learning environment to discuss in detail the 2030 agenda.
Youth Leadership Programme 3
Youth Leadership Porgramme 3 took place in Cairo in December 2017. The aim of the regional forum was to support and empower young change-makers, both women and men, in order to design and implement innovative, impactful and sustainable development solutions, whether these be: social enterprises, nonprofit organisations, NGOs, initiatives, or campaigns.
Youth Leadership Programme 4
The regional forum took place in Tunis in December 2018. The aim of the programme was to engage at least 5,000 youth in national activities across the region, and reach young women and men in the Arab region not directly participating by utilizing an array of social media platforms to share knowledge products and youth’s success stories, and to livestream some of the regional event sessions to maximize dissemination.
Youth Leadership Programme 5
The aim of YLP5 is to extend the reach to over 100,000 young people and 1,000 youth-serving organizations. In order to do so the programme introduced this year in the regional launch that took place in Beirut in March 2019 a number of tools, platforms and ideas that will enhance the collective knowledge and bring people together on national and regional levels.
Youth Leadership Programme 6
The sixth year will bring together youth, alumni, youth-serving organizations and partners to support the youth in the Arab region to become change-makers, leaders and drivers of sustainable development and social change. The key themes for 2020 are SDG16 and Climate Action. This year will continue the work started last year around youth political and civic engagement, to highlight the vital role the youth have in the future of the region and their countries.
Youth Leadership Programme 7
With more than 28,600 alumni and 80 partners in 18 countries since 2015, in 2021 UNDP's Youth Leadership Programme (YLP) launched its seventh edition to support youth to develop solutions to challenges in their communities and use their passion to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). YLP7 paved the way for a new approach to support youth in the region.