The youth population in Jordan suffers from a high unemployment rate that also creates social tension among the young people. In an attempt to bridge the gap between their education and the job offer, Un Ponte Per launched the 'Furas' (Opportunities) project at the end of 2022, thanks to the valuable support of Otto per Mille funds from the Waldensian Church. Targeting mainly vulnerable youth, and in particular refugee communities from Syria, Iraq and Palestine, the aim of the project was to facilitate access to the world of work for young people through vocational training, which was constantly accompanied by peace-building activities, dialogue, psycho-social support, with the dual objective of overcoming stereotypes and discrimination.

Aimed in particular at young people with disabilities and vulnerable people, aged between 15 and 30, we have tried through trainings and meetings to support them in developing technical and vocational skills.

Started in November 2022, 'Furas' has now reached its conclusion with excellent results, providing the necessary protection and development opportunities to over 1,230 young people, and over 1,000 relatives and family members.

In September 2023, we prepared and launched the vocational training courses, selecting 20 trainees between the ages of 18 and 30, prioritising the provision of opportunities to people with disabilities, who were over 50% of the total number of participants, Jordanians, Syrians, Iraqis and Palestinians, fostering an environment where diversity was celebrated and embraced. All of them successfully completed the course and were then included in practical training in different workplaces.

We then focused on enhancing the skills acquired: participants moved from classroom learning to real-world application by engaging in a month-long training programme, which led to guaranteed employment contracts in several local organisations.

Thanks to the cooperation with the local partner Athar for Youth Development Association, we were also able to start 'Conversation Clubs': safe spaces for young people aged between 15 and 18, where in addition to being trained on peacebuilding and overcoming stereotypes and discrimination, they were able to receive support and psycho-social assistance.

Through educational, recreational and training activities, the educators provided psycho-social support and a hotline service for women, girls, men and boys. In collective dialogue sessions, topics chosen by them were addressed, including conflict resolution, respect for human rights, and combating bullying and discrimination that many still face on a daily basis.

The main objective was to provide participants with tools to resolve conflicts with their peers, to develop self-defence and positive reaction mechanisms, to use differences between them as a resource, to promote social cohesion between communities, to be aware of their own rights and the rights of people with disabilities without adopting discriminatory attitudes.
According to our partner, these activities were absolutely necessary in a context that lacks training on these topics and spaces where young people feel free to express themselves.

Finally, thanks to the collaboration with local mental health experts, it was also possible to provide individual and group counselling by accompanying survivors or those at risk of Gender Based Violence (GBV), women at risk of sexual and physical harassment and abuse or lack of resources; as well as children at risk and victims of child labour and exploitation due to family socio-economic conditions.

All young people who participated in our training courses then received a certificate and attended a final event.