From gaming labs to career guidance: KAFD programmes work to broaden youth horizons

AMMAN — A diverse bundle of programmes focused on empowering young Jordanians and equipping them to assume influential roles in society held the spotlight at an event on Sunday put on by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) at the All Jordan Youth Commission (AJYC) office in Amman. 

Amjad Alloush, programmes and initiatives manager at KAFD, said during the event that the fund helps high school, university, college and vocational training students plan for their futures and prepares them for the job market through its five programmes: Employability development, entrepreneurship, communication and community awareness, capacity building and the AJYC. 

He encouraged the audience to participate in various events and programmes to broaden their horizons and gain more opportunities.

The fund’s employability development programme, according to its director, Laith Otoum, helps students build various skills by providing them with practical training.

He also highlighted the Career Guidance and Alumni offices, established in 2003, which provide career counselling services to university students to help them understand their majors and set them on the right career paths.

Director of the communication and community awareness programme Ashraf Khawaldeh noted that the programme aims to teach individuals to deal with extremist ideologies in various fields through developing participants’ conversational and communicational skills, establishing teams that fight radical ideas and training youth to start social initiatives that combat radicalism in their local communities.

“The main reason for radicalism is ignorance,” he stressed.

The fund’s entrepreneurship programme provides financial and logistic support for scientific research, innovation and entrepreneurship projects, Director Tareq Kharabsheh said at the event.

He also highlighted the capacity building programme’s seven gaming labs that seek to develop participants’ skills in the video game industry, enabling them to develop their own gaming applications and acquire revenue.

During the event, AJYC Director Abdulraheem Zawahreh presented the commission’s 2020 plan, which includes volunteering, building youth’s capacities in different sectors, establishing debates, spreading legal awareness, providing an open space for conversation and conducting additional training and educational courses. 

Sunday’s event was the first of four to be held in the Kingdom’s central region, with upcoming ones scheduled for Madaba, Zarqa and Balqa, he noted.