The YWCA of Palestine concludes the "Youth Citizen Project."

Under the slogan "Towards Active Citizenship"

The YWCA of Palestine concludes the "Youth Citizen Project." 

Ramallah 25-2-2023 – The YWCA of Palestine celebrated the conclusion of the “Young Citizen” project, under the slogan “Towards Active Citizenship”, which was implemented over a period of five years in partnership with local institutions, associations and community centers, and funded by Y Global Norway.

The project targeted female and male students of the age group (13-17 years) in various northern governorates, and young women and men of the age group (18-25 years) as support groups and volunteers, where they had the opportunity to develop their skills and competencies to be effective leaders in society.

The project implemented a range of activities, including student parliament elections, trainings, summer camps, interactive educational workshops, lobbying and advocacy campaigns, to encourage active citizenship and civic participation among young women and men, and change the stereotypical image of the gender roles of men and women, by educating students, and developing their leadership skills. 

Within the framework of the project, the "Electoral Simulation" guide was developed in cooperation with the Asdam Global Company for digital media, training and consulting. A series of training workshops were held to familiarize students with the steps to implement the elections, such as the candidacy mechanism, electoral campaigning, polling, vote counting and announcing the results, leading to the formation of a student parliament.

In her speech during the closing ceremony, the General Secretary of the YWCA of Palestine, Ms. Amal Tarazi, emphasized the importance of the project in empowering Palestinian youth to be active and influential citizens in their communities, appreciating the efforts made by the project staff, partner institutions and associations, and volunteers over the past five years for the success of the various project activities. 

She pointed out that the "Young Citizen" project comes within the YWCA strategy of work to enhance and promote the role of women and youth, particularly young women in the decision-making processes, leadership, and entrepreneurship positions in society by strengthening their leadership and initiative capacity, enhancing opportunities for their participation and gender equality in civil life, and creating a society that embodies equality, freedom, tolerance, justice, peace and human dignity.

In his message, Harvard Skjerdal, Program Advisor from Y Global said: “We are often told that we should focus on young people because young people are the future, which is of course true. But this is not the whole truth because young people are also the now and the present and they should be involved in decision-making at all levels.

"The Young Citizen Project has shown that by giving young people the right opportunity, they can be a tremendous force for good," he added.

On behalf of the Youth, Abdul Karim Thalteen confirmed that the project contributed to refining their skills and empowering them to be future leaders, thanking YWCA of Palestine and all its partners and volunteers for their efforts and continuous support for the students, participants, and participants in the project.

The closing ceremony was preceded by an art workshop in cooperation with the Visual Arts Forum, where the participating students drew a set of drawings that expressed their vision of active citizenship. 

The ceremony also included a piece of patriotic songs presented by the artist Maher Al-Shafei, and a theatrical performance by the "Al-Nas" theatre.