Orientation to participate in political awareness of youth

Many young people in Yemeni society do not have a good political background because the political process in Yemen is confined to a specific elite, in addition to the absence of political education in the local community with a tribal character, especially in the countryside where education is largely limited and the unemployment index is high, in a way that is negatively reflected on all cases of society. Young people deprived of education are also at greater risk of engaging in extremist movements active in Yemen and the region, which seek to recruit them and render their ideas to fit their criminal activities. Here, the role of the Youth Leadership Development Foundation emerged in enriching the political, social and economic memory of youth, by strengthening the role of youth in the political process, specifically after the spark of the February Revolution, since many of those who joined the revolutionary arena belong to the peasantry class, and lack sufficient political awareness, as are the partisan independent youth.

The Foundation has rehabilitated the youth politically, starting with political and constitutional systems and peaceful struggle, and ending with advocacy, networking and conflict resolution; to be more participatory in political life, develop a youth strategy for political reform, hold talks with political experts and decision-makers from political parties, empower young people to actively participate in the political process, enhance their role in peace building, build their capacities, strengthen their political leaders and guide them to develop their personal and public political agendas, empowering them politically, and enhancing their voice in political processes and the media by giving them adequate skills in conflict resolution, social peace, gender and the importance of women’s participation in development. The Foundation has also worked to collect the voices of men and women from several Yemeni governorates and their different orientations, regarding women and gender issues, and transfer them to decision makers and influencers in order to promote democracy, accountability and transparency of decision-making in Yemen.

The political tension and the subsequent transition in Yemen posed challenges that were not without a margin of opportunity. Therefore, civil society institutions had to play a greater role in initiating the implementation of activities that would help the country overcome the transitional period, following the signing of the agreement known as the “Gulf Initiative” and the formation of the power-sharing government, in return for that, arose the need to activate the participation and empowerment of society. It was obvious that civil society organizations are the qualified entities to play this role in leading the community participation process.

It was decided, in order to assume this role, to provide support to a wide range of Yemeni citizens in both major cities and regions to participate more at the civic level and to provide them with resources to formalize their activism and benefit their communities. From this standpoint, the Foundation contributed to enhancing the knowledge and skills of participants in youth initiatives in the field of the role of society in the transitional period, focusing youth participation in the democratic process, enhancing community participation, as well as building capacity for NGOs.

Due to the necessity of everyone’s participation in expressing their hopes and perceptions - about the shape of the relationship between the various state institutions and the people of all kinds - it was necessary for young people in Yemen to have what guarantees their right to expression and participation. Therefore, it was necessary to help them realize the nature of their rights as children according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child that ratified Yemen in 1991, to disclose their perceptions of the future on a sound basis in a way that supports their awareness of all the rights assigned to them as children and adults in the future. As the lack of awareness or the ignoring of this group and its rights and leaving them without preparing for the nature of the critical stage and what it requires of comprehensive awareness will make a large segment of them in an unknown region fraught with dangers on all political, economic and social levels, and exposes them to further marginalization and decline in the future.

For this reason, the Foundation sought to reach this segment of adolescents in their areas, wherever they are, and in light of the different living conditions under which they fall from poverty and displacement under the weight of armed conflicts that have afflicted everyone. It continued to try to raise the voices of children to be heard and to empower adolescents at the local and national levels with a focus on child rights and protection, and to provide a platform for the young generation in Yemen to contribute significantly to shaping their present and future. It also sought to build the capacities of adolescents as an essential component of the process, empowering them to advocate for their basic rights to survival, development, and protection among others, and to facilitate discourse on children's well-being at the family, community, governorate, and national levels.

The Foundation has also promoted human rights among Yemeni men and women, to avoid their feeling of separation, and to prevent their exposure to extremism and social frustration by organizing advocacy campaigns and community mobilization activities, and building the capacities of human rights activists, to try to form a group of qualified young trainers in the field of human rights and citizenship, and networking by creating a common understanding of the values of human rights, social justice and citizenship and conveying them to society. The Foundation has also developed the capacity of regional youth NGOs for human rights education using a participatory methodology.

"I suggest deleting this idea completely because it has been repeated a lot previously."

The Youth Leadership Development Foundation also participated in the cleaning campaign in Amanat Al Asimah on 12/12/2012 and won first place in the category of private facilities, represented by the Youth Economic Development Center in “Sharek” campaign to clean up Amanat Al Asimah. Sensing the importance of expanding popular participation in "Sharek" campaign, Amanat Al Asimah, decided to raise the number of winning groups from 3 to 12 groups. The Youth Leadership Development Foundation was selected according to the criteria set for the competition. On Wednesday, December 26, 2012, the Foundation, represented by students of the Young Leaders Preparation Program (Youth Economic Development Center), participated in the Silver Jubilee Ceremony of the General Organization for Social Insurance. The students also displayed a youth board expressing the importance of insurances. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Civil Service and Insurance, Mr. Nabil Shamsan, as well as Dr. Amat Al-Razzaq Hamad, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, and President of the Social Insurance Institution, as well as a group of personalities from various sides.

On Wednesday, December 26, 2012, the Youth Leadership Development Foundation, represented by Ayman Mofaddal, Executive Director of the Youth Economic Development Center, participated in a workshop held by the Center for Economic and Media Studies, to enrich a working paper prepared by Dr. Muhammad Al-Maitami, on employment and youth. The working paper talked about the factors affecting youth, and referred to short-term strategies and interventions to improve the situation of youth in Yemen. In addition, Dr. Al-Maitami presented in his paper short-term suggestions regarding the lack of clarity in the future vision of planning with regard to expected and long-term interventions.