This is an interactive youth program that aims to give young people in Jordanian universities the skills and knowledge to play an active role in political life and decision-making in Jordan. It was launched in late 2011 by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and to ensure the sustainability of the program, in March 2020 an agreement to implement the program was signed by the Crown Prince Foundation and the NDI.

The program is implemented in partnership with 25 universities and under the direct supervision of the Deanship of Student Affairs.

• Participating students in the program go through two stages:

The first stage (I Participate):

 “I Participate” students acquire skills to conduct meaningful debates that help them become active citizens involved in the political process.

During the program, groups of 15 to 20 students engage in interactive discussion sessions held once every two weeks and for one semester to motivate young people to play an active and conscious role in the political and decision-making process in Jordan. This provides an opportunity for the students to meet with members of parliament, decision-makers, and local activists.

Objectives of the “I Participate” Program:

This program enriches the student’s intellectual knowledge, increases his/her abilities and competencies in dialogue and discussion, and helps them to develop respect for the opinions of others. The program addresses many topics such as:

The democratic process

Human rights

The electoral process

Integrity and citizenship

Local government

Social gender

Tolerance

The role of political parties in the democratic process

The role of the free media in the democratic process

- The advanced stage (I Participate +): This is an advanced stage that the student joins after passing the first stage (I Participate). In this stage, students are helped to engage in community work by providing them with specialized training in several areas, including:

• Advocacy and campaign management help students launch multi-disciplinary national and community campaigns in which they apply many of the practical skills they gain from training.
• Debating skills that enable them to learn new skills to participate in the national debate competition.

They will also have the opportunity to meet with many decision-makers in Jordan and visit some institutions, as well as talk about their campaigns through various media outlets.

The duration of the program is six months.

Advocacy and lobbying campaigns:

Advocacy campaigns are a major part of the "I Participate +" program, through which students acquire practical skills in the fields of advocacy, campaigning, and participation in the political process.

Students gain knowledge about tools and strategies for effective communication skills and social activism. At the end of the exercises, students are divided into several groups in order to launch their own advocacy campaigns, where they focus on several issues, which usually include reducing university campus violence, advocating for the rights of students with special needs, and women’s participation in elections.

During the campaigns, students communicate with decision-makers, including representatives and media, and organize activities to raise awareness on various topics. These campaigns often receive extensive media coverage and support from prominent officials and civil society leaders.

Among the most prominent campaigns carried out by PSUT students are:

 Marry her in her shroud campaign, 2017:

A campaign against the marriage of minors, the aim of which is:

The introduction of an article in Jordanian law prohibits the marriage of minors.

Raising societal awareness of the dangers of underage marriage.

• “Don't Involve Me” Campaign 2018:

To reduce run-over accidents caused by pedestrian errors, through:

Introducing an article in the Jordanian Traffic Law to look into errors made by pedestrians in the event that the road accident was caused by their errors.

"I’m not a source of fun” campaign, to stop cyberbullying, 2022:

Alumni Club

In order to preserve the gains achieved by the “I Participate” and “I Participate+” students, the Institute established the “I Participate+” Alumni Club, through which alumni can stay in touch with each other and communicate with civil society organizations and decision-makers and complete their own advocacy campaigns.

Quotes

• Razan Tofaha - Local Government Session: "I learned new information that I was formerly ignorant of about municipalities, decentralization, and provincial councils."
• Sarah Al-Zoubi - Debating Training: "As a student in the I Participate program and a trainee in debate training, I learned a lot about this wonderful art, especially the practical aspect of training, and evaluating our performance was amazing and useful."
• Batoul Jarada – “It was a useful and beautiful experience being with the students of the I Participate + program in the same debate, where I learned better ways of finding what I want to say. Working within the team was great in order to win the regional debate.”

Miscellaneous photos:

Graduation of the "I Participate" students, 2019.

Recruiting students to join the program at the beginning of each year.