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Generations For Peace and UNICEF scale-up social cohesion programme from 10 to 16 host communities
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Generations For Peace (GFP) has been awarded additional funding from UNICEF to expand a successful programme engaging volunteer youth leaders to strengthen social cohesion and resilience, and reduce the potential for violence in refugee host communities.

The programme has seen impressive positive impact in 10 communities over the last year. Building on this success, UNICEF is increasing its support, to expand the programme to 16 communities in 2016. To power the expansion, from 9-14 January, 80 Jordanian and Syrian youth leaders completed six days of intensive training, gaining the capacity and confidence to assess local conflict issues, identify a target group, and design, organize, run, and sustain an ongoing series of activities with youth in their communities.       

The youth leaders work in Community Development Centres run by the JOHUD, and Youth Centres run by the Higher Council for Youth, in Ajloun, Amman, Irbid, Karak and Mafraq. The Generations For Peace training helps to empower youth leaders as peer educators, as they learn to design and facilitate activities using a unique conflict transformation curriculum.

Following the training this month, Generations For Peace will continue to mentor and support the youth leaders as they organise weekly sessions for youth in their communities. A total of 22 weekly sessions help to ensure that long-term behaviour change and conflict transformation impacts are secured. To expand the positive impact still further, the youth participants and trained volunteers will also design and conduct local community social cohesion initiatives, reaching an even wider audience with what they have learned.

Omar Alharaki, a volunteer who participated in the training, said:

“I have to be an active member in this community; whatever I can offer, I will offer. We have to make sure that our community is a safe place, and this is why I volunteer. I also volunteer so I that can contribute to building a socially conscious generation. Even if we go back to Syria, we will have concepts and principles to take with us, and we will work hard to pass them on from generation to generation.”

Since the conflict in Syria began, more than 633,000 Syrians have registered as refugees in neighbouring Jordan (UNHCR 2015), 52% of whom are youth under the age of 18, and with 82% residing in host communities rather than refugee camps.


[This article has been edited by the Operating Team]

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