The Crown Prince Foundation (CPF) on Monday said that it had received a total of 4,805 applications from university students wishing to join its flagship training programme "Ana Usharek” (I Participate).

The programme is designed to help university students learn about the core principles of democracy, citizenship, human rights and civic responsibility, according to the CPF website.

In a statement, the CPF indicated that the number of students who applied to enrol in the "Ana Usharek” programme in the first semester of the 2020/2021 academic year reached 3,850, while 1,225 students signed up to join the "Ana Usharek+”.

The CPF is implementing the programme in cooperation with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) under funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The official implementation of the programme started in March.

The foundation noted that the students are affiliated from the following universities: Jadara University, the Jordan University of Science and Technology, the German Jordanian University, Al Balqa Applied University and its Karak branch, the Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Al Hussein Bin Talal University, the University of Jordan, the Hashemite University, the Zarqa University, Mu’tah University and Yarmouk University.

The CPF added that interaction with students is already under way, noting that a number of courses were being held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The programme consists of two phases: The first is "Ana Usharek”, an extracurricular training programme that falls under the leadership theme in the CPF’s strategy.

This phase of the programme targets university students and provides training on democratic practices, in addition to discussing current affairs. The students will also engage in training sessions on basic principles of democracy, human rights, political parties, elections and the role of the media.

The second phase of the programme "Ana Usharek+” includes year-long intensive and comprehensive workshops in which students learn how to identify and address the most important issues of concern to society.

It also offers training on how to mobilise opinion and garner community support, build an effective presence around causes via the Internet and social media, identify decision-makers and influencers and communicate with them.