Amman, 6 October - The "We Innovate Together" Youth Social Innovation Challenge, implemented by Expertise France with the support of IBTECAR Consulting, and which is part of the EU funded "Support to Social Protection in Jordan" Programme, held an awards ceremony on Thursday. 

The Social Innovation Challenge brought together young people between the ages of 18 and 25 from Amman, Karak, and Jerash for a journey that lasted over 10 months. Out of the 500 applicants, 110 were chosen to form teams in the local stage of the Challenge and to submit ideas for innovations that would benefit social protection and social cohesion in their communities. The 27 teams received advice, training and guidance on developing and implementing workable, sustainable innovations.

Fifteen teams, comprising 50 innovators, were selected to compete in the national stage to develop prototypes with the support of coaches and mentors, ready to make their pitch to the jury. 

The jury, whose difficult task was to decide which among the many innovations should receive awards for their merit and potential, commended all participants for their commitment and enthusiasm. 

More than 250 people attended the closing and awards ceremony, most notably the Minister of Social Development, H.E Ayman AlMufleh, and the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Jordan, Mr Patrick Lambrechts. There were representatives of local and international civil society organisations, incubators, investors and financiers, in addition to experts in social innovation.

The ceremony included awards for 5 winning teams. The Turkuaz team ranked first in Amman, whose project focuses on persons with physical disabilities and on youth, by training them in digital and micro-skills and opening employment opportunities. The Mantojna team ranked first in Jerash, whose project aims at promoting eco-tourism in Jerash and creating a market for the local community women. The Aphanius team ranked first in Karak, whose project targets the youth of the southern Jordan Valley by providing part-time job opportunities and supporting small business owners in selling their products and employing them in project activities to achieve a social and sustainable impact in the region.

The winning teams of the second and third places of the National Challenge were also awarded: Clips team from Amman, an e-business incubator concerned with the economic empowerment of individuals, and the Hemmah team from Karak which aims to empower women with hearing disabilities economically and socially through an e-platform. 

H.E Minister of Social Development, Ayman Al Mufleh, expressed his happiness and pride in the youth’s social projects and stressed the need to support them and provide them with financial support.

For his part, the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Jordan, Mr Patrick Lambrechts said "The objective of today’s event is to reward and give recognition to new solutions to local social issues, and invest in budding talents along with the Ministry of Social Development. Rest assured that the EU will remain committed to advancing social protection in Jordan over the next five years. And we very much look forward to seeing the solutions and ideas presented today sustainably transform Jordan for many years to come.”

Ms Marie Keirle, project leader at Expertise France, was very pleased with the response to the Challenge. She said "At the start, we were not quite sure how well the idea of a social innovation challenge would work, given all the other activity around innovation for growth. We were delighted to find that the initiative struck a chord and Jordan clearly has many talented young people who are strongly motivated to make a positive difference in their communities and wider society, and who have great ideas for how to do that. The interest shown by Ministries, starting with MoSD, as well as by CSOs, and the existence of excellent organisations like IBTECAR give us confidence that the momentum sparked by this Challenge will continue and build as an important aspect of social protection.”

Mr. Jamil Al-Khatib, indicated that the project is based on developing youth capacities and enhancing their abilities to contribute positively in developing solutions to challenges in their local communities. Throughout the program, the participating teams developed prototypes of their ideas and engaged with various community groups in Jordan. This experience leads them on the first step of social responsible innovations and creating a sustainable impact in the future.

One of the coaches of the Challenge, Ms. Sawsan Zayed, said that the Social Innovation Challenge was a unique opportunity for young people to experience the innovation journey that enables them to transform their ideas into projects with a sustainable community impact. The ideas in the challenge are creative, passionate, and aim to create a positive impact in society.

One of the participants in the challenge, Ghaith Al-Shamayleh, described his experience and emphasised how he learned to identify and solve challenges and transform innovative ideas into practical and viable projects. "The project helped me meet peers with the same interests, and coaches who helped me develop my idea," he added.

The event also saw the participation of Wahj Al Shams Team for Theatre and Folk Arts, who performed a play on the role of youth in social protection, entitled "Windows”. Wahj Al Shams Team for Theatre and Folk Arts is a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to change the behaviour of individuals through performing arts. It has so far presented 255 theatre performances inside and outside Amman and trained 696 vulnerable youth and networked them with directors, artists and with academic institutions to receive scholarships. 

Note:

The Social Innovation Challenge activities seek to give young innovators the opportunity to further develop their ideas by linking them with incubators and providing services that help them transform their social projects from prototypes to real, sustainable projects on the ground, in addition to introducing them to interested funders and investors. The emphasis on innovation for social benefit rather than just for growth is intended to help young people to appreciate the importance of social impact as well as the potential of social entrepreneurship. The Challenge aims to help establish a sustainable ‘ecosystem’ of knowledge, understanding and support for social innovation alongside the Kingdom’s existing ecosystem for innovation for growth.

About the Programme

The CSO Component of the EU Support to Social Protection in Jordan Programme is implemented by Expertise France in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD). It aims to promote partnerships between CSOs and the MoSD, as well as other public authorities, to improve social protection policies and social service delivery. The Programme was launched in April 2019 and will continue till 2023.