Since 2012, NDI has implemented a two-phased program in Jordan to strengthen youth political participation. In partnership with 28 universities, the program has provided students with civic education (phase 1) and technical assistance in taking organized political action (phase 2). According to standard monitoring and evaluation reports, the program has resulted in improved levels and frequency of political participation among youth involved. In part, this can be attributed to increases in youth agency and gradual progress in the development of an enabling environment for their active, meaningful engagement, which aligns with NDI’s unified theory of change for youth political participation programs. In February 2017, NDI conducted a substantive review of the program to gain a better understanding of how it has achieved these results. The study uncovered several lessons and related program features that explain the process of simultaneously developing agency and an enabling environment, and how the two dimensions combine to help drive sustained youth participation.

To conduct the study, NDI’s DC-based Program Officer for Youth Participation traveled to Jordan and held semi-structured interviews with program staff, 19 current and former participants (including 11 women), and representatives of universities where the program operates. Staff included the NDI’s Resident Country Director in Jordan, the Program Manager, five Amman-based program staff, and nine regional and local coordinators responsible for implementing the program across Jordan. University representatives included one Dean of Student Affairs and one Vice Dean of Student Affairs from their respective universities, who have been involved in the program from its outset. Through the interviews, the program officer gathered information on how NDI involved youth in the design, management and evaluation of programs. The program officer also explored the experiences of youth in the programs, including their motivations for joining, whether and how it has affected their ability to meaningfully participate in political processes, and perceptions of the value of NDI’s work and how it has influenced practices of youth political participation in Jordan. In discussions with university representatives, the program officer gathered their perspectives on how the program has impacted students. The program officer also observed activities at four universities.

Young Jordanian men and women, who make up more than 70 percent of the country’s population, have had few opportunities to engage in politics and public decision making. This stems, in part, from sociocultural norms and perceptions that identify youth as irresponsible and lacking the life experience required to participate in serious deliberations. This is reflected in the formal education system, which has not traditionally informed young people about political processes or encouraged their active participation. Likewise, educational practices focus on rote memorization and repetition and the system often discourages individual analysis, which can undermine youth confidence in sharing their own ideas and opinions. Moreover, there have been no mechanisms for young people to learn how public decisions are made, what their rights are as citizens, and where and how they can access political processes. Young women face additional barriers to political participation due to sociocultural norms that have discouraged women from being assertive and playing leadership roles.

To help better position young people as active citizens and to open Jordan’s political processes to their participation, NDI has partnered with 28 Jordanian universities and the Ministry of Education to implement a two-phased program with university students across the country. Since 2010, more than 20,000 young women and men have completed the first phase of the program, called “Ana Usharek” (“I participate”), which is a semester-long, extracurricular series of educational discussions on democracy, human rights and citizenship. More than 2,000 youth have completed the second phase, Usharek+, through which NDI has worked more intensively with a select group of Ana Usharek graduates over an academic year to organize issue-based campaigns, participate in a national debate competition and hold policy dialogues with political leaders. Although this review contains some analysis and lessons from Ana Usharek, it focuses mainly on Usharek+ due to its support for organized political activism, which has contributed to both youth agency and the supportive environment for their participation. Participant evaluation surveys show that Ana Usharek has had a positive effect on individual knowledge, skills and attitudes, but its confinement to classroom learning limited its contributions to creating a more supportive environment for youth political participation outside of the university campus.  

NDI tailored the program to meet youth where they are, by elevating youth voice in program design, planning and management. The program has been led by young Jordanians, including staff who have worked in the Amman office, local coordinators stationed at universities, and regional coordinators who have been responsible for overseeing program implementation in four regions where the program has operated. Many team members have been graduates from the program themselves at the universities where they have been stationed. Local coordinators at each university have been responsible for recruiting and managing relationships with participants, including participant recruitment and facilitation of discussion and training sessions. These coordinators are given substantial freedom in tailoring training content and methodologies to their own strengths and the needs and interests of youth at their assigned universities. Regional coordinators have attended Ana Usharek sessions to provide mentorship and support for local coordinators, and have coordinated with NDI staff in Amman to guide program planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Amman-based staff, as well as local and regional coordinators, have been given regular opportunities to reflect and provide feedback on the program design and delivery, including regular team meetings and annual reflection and planning sessions. Having young people leading the program has not only helped tailor the program to the interests of youth, but also encouraged youth engagement in the program. In interviews with NDI during this study, participants expressed being inspired by the confidence and leadership capability of youth on the program team, which encouraged them to join and fully engage in the program.

Learning-by-doing has been the methodological approach for Usharek+, through which NDI has assisted youth in leading collective action through issue-based campaigns at the local and national levels. With guidance from NDI, youth have joined forces based on shared interest in an issue, and collaboratively planned and implemented campaigns. In interviews with NDI, participants described being motivated to engage politically by the opportunity to take action to directly address an issue they view as important. In several cases, this motivation led youth to continue working on their campaigns beyond the end of the program.

To a lesser extent than youth agency, the Jordan program has contributed to developing an enabling environment for youth political participation. Through the various program activities, youth have engaged power holders and built relationships that have allowed them to influence some local-level decisions. In cases where youth have worked on campaigns to address national level issues, they have had some success in gaining supporters within parliament who have made efforts to advance issues highlighted by youth. Through their campaigns, as well as policy dialogues and debate competitions, young people have made an impression on power holders as competent activists and leaders who can understand complex policy issues and propose solutions. These efforts have led to some new opportunities for youth to participate in policy deliberations and voice their opinions to power holders.

In designing and implementing the Jordan program, NDI has recognized and made efforts to mitigate structural inequities that present a deeper set of challenges to the political participation of young women, who are further underrepresented in political leadership and public life than young men. The Ana Usharek curriculum includes discussions about the importance of gender equality in democratic societies. The program has had a positive influence in this regard on participants, as post-program participant surveys show that program graduates have more positive views regarding gender equality, and that women who complete the program have demonstrated improved confidence and desire to engage in public life. Further, program staff and participants reported to NDI that, through Usharek+, the heightened visibility of young women in televised debate competitions has provided an example to demonstrate to the public and power holders that young women are equally competent and able to play valuable roles in politics. Although structural gender inequities remain outside of NDI’s program and university campuses, the heightened public visibility of young women through Usharek+ may have contributed more discussions about the role of women in politics and public life.

Leveraging relationships youth have built with power holders, NDI has assisted participants in strengthening intergenerational collaboration. Through their campaigns, youth have worked with university administrators and local level political leaders to achieve positive, concrete outcomes, such as refining university curricula, improving local transportation services for university students, and addressing local infrastructure and traffic safety issues. Youth who have led campaigns on national level issues, such as combating gender based violence and child labor, or lowering the minimum legal age to run for public office, have also managed to gain support from members of parliament and other decision makers who have influence over the issue at hand. For example, some members of parliament have initiated discussions in plenary sessions and committee meetings to address issues elevated by youth-led campaigns. Although the solutions to these issues are complex, youth have reported to NDI having a sense of empowerment that they were able to gain some level of response from high-level political leaders and initiate a step forward to addressing an issue they care about.

Changes in the enabling environment are more limited. Youth have managed to work effectively with power holders to achieve public policy changes and facilitate high level policy discussions, even in the national parliament. However, these relationships with individual power holders have not yet translated to “writ large” changes in institutional practices of political participation. Outside of NDI’s program, youth largely remain marginalized from political decision making, and no new, formalized avenues for youth participation have been created. It is important to note that discussions with Usharek+ staff have revealed that the setting of the program at universities poses advantages and disadvantages to the wider impact of the program. The advantage is that universities are well-respected institutions within Jordanian society, which has helped provide access to high level public officials during the program for the purpose of advancing youth-led campaigns and involving power holders in policy dialogues and debates. A disadvantage is that communities and public leaders may have seen youth efforts through the program as simply part of their university studies, which staff believe may have limited the translation of these efforts to more systematic changes regarding youth participation.