We support Jordan’s Socio-Economic Transformation Plan and play an active role in creating opportunities for young people in Jordan to engage in an open dialogue with their counterparts in the UK and other countries and to actively participate in society.
Sport: an international language communicating across borders.
Dreams and Teams was developed by the British Council to enhance leadership, citizenship and cross-cultural understanding. Using the international language of sport it gives youth the opportunity to take on a leadership role in organising sports events in their communities.
To achieve this, the programme has two main strands:
- Cascaded training leading to the organisation and delivery of mini-sport festivals.
- International Exchange: links between UK sports college and local schools.
In Jordan we are working with the Islamic Educational College and have trained a core team of sports teachers who have delivered their first training to potential youth leaders. This culminated in a hugely successful mini sports festival at the Islamic Educational College on Tuesday 30 January 2007.
In January 2007, sixty young leaders from forty-nine countries met at the Greenwich 2007 forum, organised by the British Council. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5kJiireSpU&mode=related&search=
Delegates were aged between 19 and 25 and had been selected for their leadership potential and track record of service to their communities. Jordan was represented by Salameh Obeidat, a Medical Student at College of Medicine in Mu’tah University
Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum, challenged the group to analyse the obstacles to delivering effective education worldwide and to explore education’s role in creating understanding within and across cultures. During the forum, the young leaders worked in teams of six to develop proposals. The whole group then selected the single team they felt could best represent it at Davos during a four-hour balloon debate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7u8WWheby0&mode=related&search=
The chosen team proposed the creation of a Global Fund for Education that would bring together governments, foundations, businesses and the public in a coalition capable of achieving a step change in investment in education. The fund would focus on improving educational quality, especially by investing in teachers and reforming curricula. It would also help countries nurture global citizens, building the skills and understanding needed for a new generation to thrive in the global knowledge economy.
At Davos, the young leaders shared a platform with Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and Gordon Brown. The Queen hailed the young leaders as inspirational. “It’s very important for you to realise you are potentially a socially and politically transformative force. Yours can be a very persuasive and eloquent voice for tolerance, for global justice, and for the moral conscience that we all need. I just want to say how very, very proud I am of everything I have seen today.”
In Brussels, the young leaders will attend a high-level meeting for donors on 2 May and participate in a number of related events 3-4 May. Participants are expected to bring their ideas to “Keeping our Promises on Education” proposal hosted by Gordon Brown, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The British Council is working with the Ministry of Political Development to set up a Jordanian Youth Parliament. The project, which is funded by the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO), aims to enhance the interest and participation of young Jordanians of age range (18 - 29 years) in the political and democratic developments in Jordan and contribute to the development of future political leaders.
The Global Village project aims to provide UK university students with the opportunity of living and doing voluntary work in Jordanian communities along Jordanian students to broaden their outlook and understanding of different cultures. Over the past 3 years, 9 students from the universities of Nottingham, Cambridge and Leeds took part in this project and volunteered their services to the Princess Basma Youth Resource Centre, Jordan River Foundation and the King Abdullah Fund for Design and Development Bureau. These organisation run several workshops and summer activities to adults and children of grassroots communities throughout Jordan and with the help of these students, introduced the mutuality aspect to the lives of the Jordanian people and the students from the UK. This year, four students from Durham University will be doing community work in the summer in Al-Safawi Field Station in the Eastern desert in Jordan with The Badia Research and Development Centre. They will also conduct conversational classes to the women and children of Al-Safawi communities to help improve their English.
Funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, this project aims at strengthening the Ministry’s capacity to achieve its key objective of promoting the morals and principles of Islam, guiding Muslims towards virtue and righteousness, and strengthening national unity. The project was launched in June 2006 with a visit to the UK by key Ministry personnel that aimed to raise their awareness about the UK, allow them to have a better understanding of British Muslims, establish contacts with them and the UK in general, and explore avenues of collaboration.
For more information about our recent projects, please contact the Projects and Programmes Managers at info@britishcouncil.org.jo
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