Author: Daniel Maz

As a closing event of their mobility programme in Jordan, the CaBuReRa interns at Al Hayat Centre For Civil Society Development organised and held a “dissemination seminar”, which took place on the 27^th of July at the University of Jordan. The seminar  focused on the topic of unemployment, as well as on the methods and attitudes that youth should take in order to overcome this problem.

Lack of job opportunities, lower salaries, and a more and more competitive labour market, are nowadays issues affecting young people globally. The Mediterranean area is certainly one of the regions mostly interested by this phenomenon, with Greece, Italy and Portugal (the countries of origin of the European CaBuReRa participants) being on the “black list” of European countries with respect to youth unemployment.

Nonetheless, a programme such as CaBuReRa shows how useful mobility can be for the personal and professional life of youth, adding a recognised international experience in their curriculum and enhancing their employability both in their country and abroad. The aim of the seminar was thus to share experience and knowledge with Jordanian university students, who will soon face the same challenges as their European colleagues.

The 18 students participating in the event, mostly coming from the faculties of Foreign Languages and International Studies, showed a strong interest in travelling and improving their knowledge and skills in a foreign country. During the seminar they could learn about programmes and online platforms offering Euro-Mediterranean mobility opportunities, study and research programmes in Europe, as well as international traineeship and jobs. Furthermore, they were given tips on how to render their applications more effective and their profile more appealing in their future search for a job.

The event was concluded by an open and informal discussion, during which the students and the CaBuReRa participants exchanged information and experiences. The meeting proved to be an important source of inspiration for both students and interns, as well as a good starting point for the creation of new networks and ideas.

As part of the Al-Hayat’s work with the Jordanian civil society, the “Women Democratic Empowerment” is a project that aims at providing the tools and competences for women to become active participants in their communities. The project entails many education activities, one of them being a series of workshops addressed at women from rural areas.

The first of these 3-day workshops already took place, last week in Amman. This weekend’s workshop is currently taking place in Jerash. The next and final workshop will be held in Aqaba.

During the first day of the workshops, Al-Hayat staff briefly explains view, mission, goals and activities of the center and of the project itself.

Attended by 30 rural women, the workshops start with the session on Human Rights, Women’s Rights and Women’s Right for Political Participation. The attendees are trained on Human and Women’s Rights’ terms and concepts, international conventions and declarations, and they actively participate in working groups and interactive exercises proposed by the trainer.

During the second day, the rural women are introduced to the topic of Peer Education, by being informed and trained on communication and facilitation skills in order to be able to perform them in the upcoming Kitchen Meeting (the second step of the project) sessions they are going to held in their own community.

The third and last day of the workshop, the training focuses on the Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB), including sessions about definition and terminology of Public Budget, gender and GRB, in addition to analysis tools and best practices for gender budgeting. After that, the attendees are divided in working groups to implement the new knowledge and skills learnt during the theoretical session.

Two of CaBuReRa’s TG2 participants permanently involved in the Women Empowerment program are currently working in this project, providing assistance and logistical help to Al-Hayat’s staff.

From April 27 to 29, ANJE organised the Relay Race, in Tertúlia Algarvia, in Faro, Portugal. The session brought together the group returning from the first part of the mobility and the young unemployed candidates for the second part. It was a moment for exchange of experiences in preparation for the next period of the mobility.

The three days offered many activities for the groups. On the first day of the Relay Race the now returning group evaluated their mobility experience, identifying acquired skills and their practical implementation in their work. For the group selected for the next period of mobility, the first day was dedicated for clarifying logistical questions, as well as their rights and responsibilities related to the CaBuReRa project.

Mentoring was the main tool for the last two days of the sharing session. The first group of participants introduced the mobility to the new group, leaving them with some practical advices for the new experience of training and working abroad.

The new elements of the second stage of the CaBuReRa program left in the beginning of May for Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine, where they are having the chance of working in implementation projects with local organisations. The acquisition of professional and personal skills, networking and international workshops in project management are other useful aspects of the mobility.

The CaBuReRa participants in Palermo, Italy will be organizing a ‘Transfer your experience’ workshop on the 18th of February. The aim of the workshop will be share and exchange experiences as well as to advocate and promote non formal education methods. Don’t miss it out!

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The five youth from the Middle East who are being hosted in ANJE (The National Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Algarve), Portugal,  made themselves known through a workshop held on 4th of February, 2015 in Tertúlia Algarvia in Vila-Adentro Faro. During the workshop participants had the opportunity to discuss the cooperation opportunities in the field of youth employment in the Mediterranean area. Moreover, the attendants not only got to know about the CaBuReRa project but also about the various challenges inherent in cooperative initiatives involving Middle Eastern countries, including cultural differences and management models. However, it became clear that these differences are easily manageable and do not constitute an obstacle to the success of these partnerships, because there are many converging factors.

On 28th of January, 2015, CaBuReRa participants Suha Husein, Ragheb Shraim, Hasan Ghroof and the Jordanian trainer Daniel Amareen were guests in a talk show on Ro’ya TV in order to talk about their experience in the project.

Organized by the local partner in Jordan, Al-Hayat Center for Civil Society Development, the TG1 Mid-term mobility meeting’s 3rd press conference, took place at the Mosaic Hotel in Madaba on the 29th of January, 2015. During the conference, the public and the local community had the chance to be informed about the participants’ experiences, accomplishments as well as the activities that will follow the next months.

Between January the 25^th and January the 29^th, 2015, Al-Hayat had the pleasure to host the Mid-Term Mobility meeting in Mosaic Hotel, Madaba. The participants travelled in Jordan and during these four days had the opportunity to get to know each other in person. During the course of the meeting, the trainers facilitated a series of actions; ice-breaking and co-operation games , team exercises such as the writing of a project proposal inspired by the participants were only a few of the activities that took place. Moreover, the Ca.Bu.Re.Ra team discussed the structure of the handbook that will be produced by the TG2 and they were further informed about funding opportunities regarding the Euro-Mediterranean region.

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