Platform Association for Youth Development

Platform association started its activity in 2018, in a peripheric neighbourhood of the second biggest city in Jordan, Zarqa. The main objectives of the association are raising the level of empowerment for women and young people with fewer opportunities, promoting cohesion among the different realities in the local community. Platform works on projects and programs within four axes: The first axis: Culture • The Cultural Day program: promotes social cohesion and embraces the difference between the local community, refugees and expatriate workers, carrying out activities to promote the different cultures within the district of Al-Dhaleel in the city of Zarqa and conducting joint activities in order to encourage cultural exchange and social inclusion. • Cultural evenings: It is a program focused on creating learning opportunities regarding the different cultures in Zarqa’s area. In each evening, a group of people from a specific culture is hosted to introduce their culture to the local community in order to enrich the cultural content, increase the community’s awareness of other cultures and build a society more receptive to others. The second axis: Economic empowerment of women: • “Foras” program: It is a program in which we provide women with job opportunities through networking with the industrial zone located in the district of Al- Dhaleel. In order to prepare them to the future work experience, we provide them with a job rehabilitation program, composed of several trainings focused on raising the abilities of the women to be able to compete in the labour market, including: o Workshops to prepare a valid CV and motivational letter; o Soft skills trainings such as public speaking, improvisation, self-awareness and self confidence; o Professional skills trainings, such as organizational skills, time management and digital skills. • The Women's Club: It is a project that aims to provide psychological support to women who have difficulty communicating with the male community through various sessions of professional and social skills. The third axis: Political participation - Debating Clubs: It is a project through which we provide a safe space for youth to express their opinions and political orientations through the art of debate. - Theatre: It is a project that consists of a set of theatre-specific exercises aimed at motivating young people to contribute to the process of social and political change within their community by using theatre as a tool for expressing and exchanging their points of view. - Public sessions: sessions aimed to bringing together the local community with local decision makers, in order to create a discussion aimed at enriching dialogue and conveying the community's points of view, building bridges of trust between the community and local decision-makers. Fourth Axis: Civic Participation: • Civil Society Institutions Support Program: It is a program that aims to work with local community institutions in Al- Dhaleel district to raise the efficiency of the work of these institutions and build a support network between institutions. • Community Research Centre: It is a project that targets young people to empower them through a set of technical training aimed at raising their efficiency in the process of societal research, being able to conduct research studies on societal issues and develop solutions for the problems pointed out.