Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Chairman of the Board of Trustees for King Abdullah II Fund for Development Senator Imad N. Fakhoury said, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Charles, at a one-day event "Learning from Experience", that "Jordan continues to demonstrate, as we have always done, its resilience, and in the words of His Majesty King Abdullah II, our unique ability to unify the ranks and the true character of the Jordanian people when we face hardships and plights".

Fakhoury added that "there comes no better time than this to scale up the design and implementation of youth empowerment tools for a better future, as a way to respond to terrorism, barbaric radicals and extremism and to protect our youth from nihilist ideologies".

Also, Fakhoury stressed that "today, Jordan has a group of youth and partners, who together will work on delivering a brighter future and ensuring that our youth receive the best opportunities and skills to battle the challenges that face them. Together, they will build a stronger, more capable generation of citizens who are able to stand in the face of extremism and radicalism with their most lethal weapon ? their acquired knowledge and skills ? so they can build a stronger economy and be more active and engaged citizens".

Fakhoury mentioned that "as per the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II and through innovative and creative means, King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) has carried out several pioneering initiatives and programmes since its inception, catered towards providing Jordanians with the tools to develop a better Jordan".

Also, Fakhoury stressed that "two years ago, in 2013, in the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah II and His Royal Highness, King Abdullah II Fund for Development and the Prince’s charities signed a commitment to collaborate on different levels in bringing opportunities, which are more effective and invigorating for our Jordanian youth".

KAFD, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Charles, has signed three memorandums of understanding to implement different programmes in Jordan. The first agreement was signed with Injaz, Business Development Center and the Prince’s Trust International, in order to implement the "Get Into" pilot programme that aims at addressing the skills and experience gaps which prevent unemployed young people from accessing available job opportunities, specifically, community college students.

The second memorandum of understanding was signed with Lothan Youth Achievement Center (LOYAC) to implement the Darb programme, which is designed to provide Jordanian university students with internship opportunities during the summer term. It also offers its participants skill-development workshops, which will enable them to enter the labour market with better opportunities.

The third memorandum of understanding was signed between KAFD and Prince’s Trust International to implement the "Get Into" pilot programme for both university and community college students.

In addition, KAFD will organise, in collaboration with Mosaic, the International Leadership Program in May 2015, for the first time in Jordan, with more than 80 participants from different countries.

During ‘The Learning from Experience’ event, KAFD participated in moderating two sessions through the Jordan Gaming Lab and its Darb programme (in collaboration with LOYAC).

The Jordan Gaming Lab is a Royal initiative managed by KAFD. The lab aims to an enabling environment for Jordanian game developers. The session included students from The App Challenge, which is another KAFD initiative, entitled "Finding the Secret Formula to a Successful Mobile Game Launch". Participants were able to identify successful stories and compare them to locally developed games, while highlighting the fundamentals of developing a mobile game.

The second session, entitled "Communication Skills", addressed the needs of university students to improve their capabilities before entering the labour market in order to give better job opportunities.

In his final words, His Excellency Senator Fakhoury said that KAFD, in its outlook for the coming years, looks "to scale up the success stories that emerge from our joint collaboration".

*Petra