Youth for better communities programme 2022

In June we went to Duhok, in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq. This project was a collaboration with the Young Democrats and NGO Pait. It consisted of a 5 days in-person training that focused on empowering local youth by providing them with the skills to face the challenges and demands in their local communities.

The results of the project have surpassed our expectations. After the trainers broke the ice on the first training day the rest of the week the classroom turned into a true safe space where problems, ideas and solutions were shared intensively. The participants reflected very positively on the week. The true results showed at the end of the week when we asked the participants to create their own project proposal. They caught up very quickly to the previously taught strategies on project management and presented their impressive project initiatives that focused on protecting the environment, creating sub-communities , and tackling the stigmatization of mental disorders in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

Currently, the Young Democrats are supervising the ‘’Volunteering for a better community’’ project. That focuses on volunteering and to create a safe environment for youth with mental disorders. Wonderful to see that lessons learned are immediately translated into real action.