The royal-appointed committee concluded drafting laws intended to reinvigorate political life and to bring youth, who make up the majority of the population, into the political process and activism in Jordan. Therefore, a joint project between Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Wishbox Media aimed at delivering the voice and perspective of youth themselves on three thematic areas in relation to the royal committee recommendations to modernize the political systems: 1) Political Participation, 2) Economic Development and 3) Freedom of Speech and Expression.

 

1) Political Participation

This project "Youth Perspective on Royal Committee Recommendations" entails making three videos that revolve around youth and their opinions then disseminate them across social media platforms. The first video deals with political participation, political activism and political parties, based on the new proposed reforms. We here speak with 3 youths, both male and female, from Amman, Zarqa and Irbid to gauge their views on these new proposed changes, encourage them to participate in politics or not, and what holds them back and how they see the future of politics in Jordan. After the views are collected,  you can see the political analyst and researcher Hassan Abu Hanieh presents his views and reflections

 

2) Economic Development

The second video addresses economic development and reform among youth. Nearly 50% of youth in Jordan are unemployed, and nearly half say they want to emigrate. We look at the most important topic to both youth and the public in general. We  speak to 3 youths from Amman, Zarqa and Irbid on their current economic status, how they see their future and how and if the proposed amendments give them hope for a more prosperous economic future for Jordan, crackdown on corruption and equality in jobs.  We then present their views to economic expert and former deputy prime minister, Dr. Jawad Anani, to give his perspective and analysis on their views.

 

3) Freedom of Speech and Expression

The third video addresses justice and freedom of expression. As the biggest cohort of social media users, with the introduction of media literacy in the Jordanian school curriculums, along with high levels of self-censorship and crackdown on expression in Jordan, we gauge the views of 3 youths on this topic from Amman, Zarqa and Irbid. What topics, taboos hold them back from speaking out and how they see the proposed amendments impacting, if at all, in terms of justice, favoritism and freedom of expression. We then present the views of the youth to Bayan al Tell, the brain behind the media literacy program in Jordan and a former staff member at Jordan Media Institute to comment and bring in her expertise on the matter.