The objective of the website is to provide Arabic-speaking users with a wealth of youth-friendly, interactive and engaging content on socially relevant and rights-related issues within a global online community. It aims to provide the target group (young people and adolescents) with a safe and supportive resource for real time interaction, within which they can explore, discuss and partner on issues related to human rights, social realities and the Millennium Development Goals, among others.
With an increasing number of people accessing the cyberspace in the region, this new website is expected to fill a current gap by providing adolescents and young people with the opportunity to network with Arabic speakers across the globe; engage in peer-to-peer dialogue and exchange; learn from others about meaningful ways to take action and act as reference points for different themes concerning their respective age groups.
Similarly, Voices of Youth Arabic will help ensure adolescents' access to online discussions on child rights and allow them to organize action in innovative ways.
The Voices of Youth website seeks to motivate its Arabic audience and bring together participants from around the world to enrich current discussion of issues that concern their individual and collective lives as well as their future aspirations.
Ultimately, the website is expected to facilitate communication between young people and relevant decision makers in the region and expand opportunities for regular collaborators to mobilize youths at the local level.
Young people taking over the airwaves of Jordan Radio and Television Corporation today were more than happy to promote a website they could truly call their own. “I love the fact that the website is comprehensive and provides us with a lot of information, especially on events and activities. I also like the fact that I can actually discuss issues and problems with other young people,” said a 17-year-old who had had a chance to visit the website.
Voices of Youth Arabic is an addition to the already available versions of the UNICEF website in English, French and Spanish. Voices of Youth is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child which promotes and calls for young people’s right to participate in decision making processes, to express opinions freely, and to be equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about lasting change in their own lives and their communities.
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About UNICEF
For 60 years UNICEF has been the world’s leader for children, working on the ground in 156 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
For further information, please contact:
Golda El-Khoury, UNICEF MENA-RO Regional Advisor on Youth– Phone: +9626 5502412 – Mobile: + 96279 676 1112; E-mail: gelkhoury@unicef.org
Wolfgang Friedl, UNICEF MENA-RO Communication Officer – Phone: + 9626 5502422 – Mobile: + 96279 573 2745; E-mail: wfriedl@unicef.org
Hind Lara-Mango – Communication Officer, UNICEF Jordan – Phone + 9626 550 2430 – Mobile: + 96279 692 6180; E-mail: hmango@unicef.org
Helen Alayan, Consultant - helenalayan@gmail.com Tel: +962 6 5818184
