NAJAH is a USAID-funded program aimed at increasing employability among Jordanian youth aged 18 - 24. As part of the program, NAJAH:

• Builds youth employability and entrepreneurship skills with a focus on soft skills that help youth ‘to be’, ‘to do’, ‘to know’ and ‘to relate’.
• Fosters positive attitudes towards work, available job opportunities among youth and their parents.
• Supports youth to put learned skills and positive attitudes into practice.
• Builds youth knowledge of and connection to their community and available job opportunities within it.

Participants are aged between 18 and 24 years, unemployed and not engaged in education. Although they have access to limited skill sets, they have a strong sense of commitment, interest in building their own capacities and becoming active members of their society.

Results to date include:

• More than 300 youth have participated in the six month NAJAH interactive training program in the north, center and south of Jordan.
• More than 70% of NAJAH youth have entered the labor market, continuing to increase their skills and experience base.
• Nearly 20% of NAJAH youth have returned to education or specialized training schemes with a clearer vision of their career paths and interests.
• More than 5,000 parents and family members have supported NAJAH youth during the training and, afterwards, in seeking, securing and remaining in work.
• More than 60 employers have directly supported NAJAH by participating in the training, sponsoring NAJAH components, recruiting NAJAH youth into their businesses and ensuring that the NAJAH curriculum meets the needs of a rapidly expanding economy.

Saba Al Mobaslat
Smobaslat@Savechildren.org.jo

October 2005 to September 2008