DW Akademie in Jordan

Jordan has a young population, with approximately two thirds under the age of 30, and given the high unemployment rate and few opportunities for political participation, young people's prospects are limited. Social media are their primary information source and offer them room for dialogue. 

However, social media also present risks, with disinformation and hate speech widely spread. State surveillance and censorship limit free expression, and women who aim to play a greater role in society are targets of gender-specific threats. Youth, refugees and ethnic minorities are also quickly marginalized in the digital discourse, and radical groups use social networks to be heard and attract new members. As a result, youth are poorly equipped to counter the darker side of digitalization. 

Our activities

In Jordan, DW Akademie supports educational organizations in strengthening young people’s resilience to disinformation, and in empowering them to engage in constructive dialogue and participatory politics.

Download our latest evaluation report here.

DW Akademie advises the Jordan Media Insitute (JMI) as it establishes a national Media and Literacy (MIL) center. MIL experts will also be trained so that they can then train others to promote MIL and get teachers ready to introduce MIL into the classroom. Anchoring MIL in Jordanian society also involves further developing the StartMIL symposium in terms of economic viability. To date, the conference is held annually near the city of Irbid but DW Akademie is also supporting the project sponsor Family and Childhood Protection Society (FCPS) in expanding the conference regionally and developing financing concepts. Like the JMI, the FCPS has etablished a team of MIL experts.

Funding: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Program Director: Heike Thee

Locations: Amman, Irbid/northern Jordan

Local partners: Jordan Media Institue (JMI),Family and Childhood Protection Society

Focus: Social participation, Media and Information Literacy, qualification