Trust is built through understanding
Among participants, trust in the electoral process rose from 63% to 82%, and intention to vote from 41% to 74%.
Independent Election Commission · Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
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A tailored report from the Ana Usharek dashboard
The Sustainable Democratic Empowerment Programme for Youth
Scope of this report
Contents
This report is generated automatically from the figures and content published on the public dashboard at the time of preparation; the sources for each section are given in place.
Independent Election Commission · Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Ana Usharek
أنا أُشارك
The Sustainable Democratic Empowerment Programme for Youth
Young · Jordanian · Active
When young people learn how elections are run and try leadership with their own hands, they become partners in decision-making, not spectators.
482,720attendances and participants
48,304interactive sessions
12governorates
55higher-education institutions
Source: programme data up to September 2026.Last updated: 4 October 2026
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Key findings
482,720attendances and participants, up to Sept 2026
48,304interactive sessions
12governorates
≈300initiatives launched by participants
6,035young volunteers in the 2024 elections
43.7%of 2024 voters were aged 17–35
The programme strengthens cohesion
The value placed on dialogue and tolerance rose from 58% to 87%, and awareness of hate speech from 44% to 80%.
Young people already carry the vote
715,230 young people voted in 2024: 43.7% of all voters. Youth turnout rose from 30.1% in 2020 to 31.2%.
The gaps are urban and female
Youth turnout was 19.3% in the Amman districts and Zarqa, against 43.9% elsewhere. Female youth turnout was 6.3 points below male.
Females lead the programme’s reach
Females account for 61.8% of attendances and participants (298,267 of 482,720) and 74.6% of registrations for the renewed programme.
From attendance to proof
The five-station Isnad ladder replaces attendance certificates with credentials earned by proof. It starts at 15 universities in 2026/2027.
At a glance
A national programme, run by a constitutional body, that takes young people from awareness to leadership
Our mission
That every young woman and man has the knowledge, skills and confidence to take part in public life responsibly, and trusts the electoral process because they understand it and have lived it.
Our vision
A generation of Jordanians who see participation as a right they exercise and a responsibility they carry, and who turn their skills into impact in their communities and opportunity in their lives.
What makes Ana Usharek different?
Run directly by a constitutional body
The institution that runs elections explains to young people how they are run, impartially and credibly.
Year-round, not seasonal
Not tied to an election calendar; it runs every semester and through the summer.
A five-station ladder
From the first session to the national leadership track, ATHAR.
Learning by doing
Realistic election simulations, moot courts, competitions, a hackathon and Sawtak Mu'athir.
In all 12 governorates
Universities, colleges, schools and youth centres, in cities and outlying areas.
Measured, independently checked impact
Pre/post measurement and an independent study with Penn State University.
Our strategy: engage, lead, develop
EngageStations 1–2Ana Usharek · Usharek+
LeadStations 3–4Fellowship · Zimam
DevelopStation 5ATHAR: national leadership
Implemented by the IEC with universities and colleges, and the Ministries of Higher Education, Education and Youth. Each station ends with a credential that states what the young person can do, not only that they attended.
What the programme has achieved
Numbers that tell a story of national reach
In four years Ana Usharek has reached most of Jordan's higher-education institutions and extended to schools, youth centres, and law and media faculties.
482,720session attendances and participantsUp to Sept 2026
48,304sessions deliveredLatest data, 2026
298,267female attendances and participants (61.8%)Up to Sept 2026
184,453male attendances and participants (38.2%)Up to Sept 2026
15 + 15 + 80delivery sites: universities + youth centres + schoolsDuring 2026
45facilitatorsUp to Sept 2026
≈300initiatives launched by participantsProgramme data, Sept 2026
55 + 88HEIs + summer sitesImpact report 2022–2025
482,720
- Female298,26761.8%
- Male184,45338.2%
Source: policy brief, March 2022 – December 2024.
Milestones
- 2022
Delivery begins in March at 11 universities, 28 by year end; the first Ana Usharek National Forum: 8,054 students in 311 sessions.
- 2023
Basma launches with the Ministry of Education at 88 summer sites.
- 2024
The partnership reaches 55 higher-education institutions, with over 313,000 university and college attendances since 2022.
- 2025
Transformative impact evaluation of the programme, 2022–2025.
- 2026
Basma in 89 schools, Sawtak in 15 youth centres, the Tech-Voices hackathon, the Iqna'ni (Convince Me) contest and the Sawtak Mu'athir competition.
- 2026/2027
The new five-station ladder: stations 1–3 at 15 universities, 2,844 applications by 4 October 2026.
Impact on participation and trust
When young people understand the electoral process, they trust it and take part
Pre/post measurement of participants is clear: knowledge, trust and intention to vote rise, and disinterest falls. Trust is not asked of young people here; it is built through understanding and experience.
Source: impact evaluation 2022–2025 (IEC pre/post assessment tools).
Source: ATHAR presentation.
2,973
responses from 45 universities and colleges in the evaluation study with Penn State University (2024–25). Belief in one's ability to influence rose from 38.5% to 53.7%.
Updated curriculum · the Isnad track
Five stations, one ladder: what young people learn at each station, and why
The Ana Usharek curriculum has been rebuilt as a ladder of five stations, each with its own sessions, its reason for being, and what it adds for the student and for the programme. The first three stations run this semester in their updated form; stations four and five are the upgraded programme, not yet implemented.
Why we updated the programme
The 2022–2025 impact evaluation documented clear gains in participants’ knowledge and attitudes. But three concurrent reviews — the impact evaluation, the Isnad Track paper (August 2026) and an audit of the training materials of the three stages (September 2026) — showed that growth in numbers had stopped adding value, and that the next stage had to go deeper: turning what young people know into what they do.
What the reviews found
- Knowledge changes, behaviour lags: only about 14% of graduates actually engaged in public life after graduating.
- The certificate rewarded attendance, not ability, with no way to identify or recommend the strongest participants.
- Materials were mostly lecture: 85–90% explanation across 34 audited modules, and seven Usharek+ modules without a single exercise.
- Some legal references were repealed, and public money and budgets, water and climate, disability and access, artificial intelligence and labour rights were missing.
- An ambition gap: 38.9% of young men and 25.3% of young women seriously consider standing for office.
Global references, designed for young Jordanians
The design started from evidence, not taste: the impact evaluation, the Sawtak field log, the Isnad Track paper and the national “Jeel Bahith” study. All stations apply research on active learning, including the 2014 PNAS meta-analysis of 225 studies, which found that active learning raises results and cuts failure compared with lecturing. The Zimam station was designed to the level of the world’s reference leadership programmes — Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Oxford Saïd, INSEAD, Stanford and the Center for Creative Leadership — taking from each a published framework that can be applied in fifty minutes, without claiming any partnership. All of it is built on Jordan’s laws in force and on this generation’s issues: the municipality, the budget, water and climate, and the labour market.
What changed
Structure
One ladder of five stations instead of three adjacent stages; each session lasts 50 minutes in five fixed moves (spark, core, lab, mirror, link), with a minute-by-minute trainer guide.
Credential
90% attendance is only an eligibility condition; the credential is earned by proof against a published standard and carries its assessor’s name (the isnad); from station 2 onwards the assessor is not the group’s facilitator.
Legal content
The laws in force, cited by article: Local Administration 16/2026, Elections 4/2022, Political Parties 7/2022, Cybercrime 17/2023 and the right of access to information.
New areas
Public money, water and climate, a verification and AI lab, the municipal budget, the right to information, disability and access, money and work, data for public affairs, migration and cohesion.
What leaves the room
A real act at every station, not simulation alone: an open session in the community, an information request followed up, sessions passed on to others, and an act that reaches an institution and gets a recorded reply.
Career thread
A career thread at every station from day one; “From initiative to employment” is compulsory; a portfolio of acts and figures.
Equity
Strong roles rotated between young women and men, speaking time measured and published, accessible rooms and materials, and a protection route for those who speak publicly.
Station 1 · Informed citizen · Knows
Ana Usharek
Format: 17 sessions × 50 min in six parts (tracks of 11 / 14 / 17) · Credential: Participant credential, on four pieces of evidence, signed by the facilitator and the site coordinator by name
Session topics
Part 1: I am a citizen
- Launch: from right to action
- My voice in 60 seconds
- Dialogue across difference
- My time and my team
Part 2: My voice, my ballot
- Your voice in the ballot box
- My municipality: the Local Administration Law 2026
- Where does the money come from?
- Electoral justice: from principle to complaint
Part 3: The system from inside
- Parties: from the idea to the membership card
- The three branches of power in 50 minutes
- Win–win: negotiation basics
Part 4: A clear head in a noisy age
- Protecting dialogue: hate speech
- Verification, critical thinking and AI lab
Part 5: My neighbourhood, my world
- What does our neighbourhood need?
- Youth, peace and security: Resolution 2250
- Jordan, water and climate: who decides?
Part 6: Closing
- The open session: we teach it
Why this station
- Knowledge changes but behaviour lags (impact report 2022–2025)A small act after every session, and an open group session that leaves the room and is recorded
- The certificate rewarded attendance, not abilityFour pieces of evidence gathered during the semester: recall, “teach it to others”, two small acts and the open session
- Mostly lecture: presentations of 20 to 33 slidesThe 50-minute rhythm: no more than ten minutes of presentation, a 23-minute lab, and a 30-minute version of every session
- Legal references no longer correct (the repealed Decentralisation Law and 2021 law)Fact cards citing the articles of Local Administration Law 16/2026, the 2022 Elections and Political Parties laws, and the 2023 Cybercrime Law
- Attendance drops as sessions pile up (Sawtak field log, summer 2026: from 55% to about a third)Movement every 15 minutes, a league between the group’s councils, a game in every session and a public closing
What the student gains
- Explains rights and duties, local administration under the 2026 law, the three branches of power, and the budget on one page
- Speaks clearly for 60 seconds, manages time and goals, and works in a team with a charter
- Votes in a two-ballot simulation, knows the parties and the seat within reach, and Resolution 2250
- Checks a news item in four steps, tells an argument from a fallacy, and uses AI with disclosure
- Runs an open session with the group for family and neighbours, and teaches a topic to a real audience
What it adds to the programme
- A new indicator for the station: how many open sessions left the room and how many questions reached an institution, not only how many were trained
- Consistent delivery at every site: a minute-by-minute trainer guide and a 30-minute version of every session
- A national record (the Ledger) that brings together what happens at every site
Station 2 · Active citizen · Can
Usharek+
Format: 18 sessions × 50 min in six parts (tracks of 12 / 15 / 18) · Credential: Advanced credential, on five pieces of evidence, two marked anonymously, signed by an assessor who is not the group’s facilitator
Session topics
Part 1: From knowing to doing
- Launch+: my portfolio and the three outputs
- Confidence and influence: my first leadership
- Managing disagreement: five styles
- Facilitating group discussion
Part 2: The municipality and the right to know
- The municipality from the inside: a council session and a service request
- My right to information
- My municipality’s budget on one page
Part 3: Elections and parties from inside
- From vote to seat: the Election Law 2022
- The party from the inside: structure, institutionalisation and roles
- Campaign basics and stakeholder map
- Negotiating in complex situations
Part 4: Rights and safety
- Human rights: from the constitution to the neighbourhood
- Disability and access
- Safe participation: electoral violence and the digital space
Part 5: Research and work
- Research (1): from question to data
- The one-pager and critical thinking
- Money and work
Part 6: Closing
- Presenting impact: my request, my paper and our project
Why this station
- Eleven presentations with no timing and no facilitator notes, about 85–90% lecture, seven of them without a single exerciseThe 50-minute rhythm, a lab in every session, the 30-minute version and a sourced fact card
- The parliament and local administration module rested on the 2021 council structure repealed by the 2026 lawSessions on the municipality, its budget and the right to information, citing the articles of Law 16/2026 and Law 47/2007 as amended by Law 3/2024
- Texts copied from another context, and the Commission absent from five modulesThe Independent Election Commission present by name and role in every electoral session, and a Jordanian stakeholder map
- Practice mostly simulated, with nothing leaving the roomA real information request, a real service request, and a team project presented to a guest from an institution
- A certificate for attendanceFive pieces of evidence, two of them marked anonymously, and an assessor who is not the facilitator
What the student gains
- Attends a municipal council session and files a service request, files an information request and follows it up, and reads a municipal budget
- Calculates seats from votes, understands a party from the inside, and designs a small campaign for an issue
- Facilitates a discussion that involves everyone, manages disagreement with a named style, and negotiates in a complex situation
- Collects and analyses simple data, and writes a one-page paper for the reader
- An analytical paper in the portfolio, a work contract read and understood, and a personal budget
What it adds to the programme
- The indicator is not only how many were trained: how many requests reached an institution, how many replies came, and how fast
- The best activities of the 2025 guide come back: the seat calculator, the law cards and the council-session simulation
- A national record of information and service requests, council projects and guests’ commitments
Station 3 · Facilitator & initiator · Does
Fellowship
Format: 17 sessions × 50 min in five parts + field work (tracks of 12 / 15 / 17) · Credential: Facilitator credential — licence to teach stations 1 and 2 — on six pieces of evidence and two independent assessors, one from outside the site
Session topics
Part 1: The craft — facilitation
- The fellowship contract: from “can” to “does”
- Designing the 50-minute session
- Facilitation (1): questions, silence and time
- Facilitation (2): the hard room and mediation
- Observation and feedback
Part 2: The craft — the initiative
- From need to initiative: participatory assessment
- Mini policy analysis
- Media and funding for the initiative
- Public speaking and persuasion: five minutes that move
Part 3: The craft — self and society
- Emotional intelligence and facilitator stress
- Data for public affairs
- Migration, social cohesion and global citizenship
Part 4: The field — fellows’ circles
- Fellows’ circle (1): the first session I passed on
- Fellows’ circle (2): the initiative halfway
- Fellows’ circle (3): what I learned while teaching
Part 5: Opportunity and licence
- From initiative to employment (compulsory)
- The licence: the assessed session and the initiative presentation
Field work (alongside the sessions)
Six sessions passed on at three steps — observe, co-facilitate, lead — one of them assessed before two independent assessors, and a ten-week initiative with a named counterpart, a baseline and an endline
Why this station
- Twelve presentations of general skills, most with no exercise, no timing and no facilitator guideMeasured practice: a short skills block that serves facilitation and the initiative, then field work where fellows are assessed while doing it
- Leadership and negotiation content repeated what Zimam now covers in more depthLeadership frameworks are left to Zimam; only the skills a facilitator and initiator need are taken here
- “From initiative to employment”, the programme’s only career module, was optionalCompulsory in every track, with a portfolio, a CV built on actions and a mock interview
- Graduates’ initiatives (more than 250) had no common record of resultsEvery initiative has a named counterpart, a baseline and an endline, and an anonymously marked report that enters the national record
- Few certified facilitators for 138 sites in 12 governoratesEvery fellow passes on at least six sessions
What the student gains
- Facilitates a full session to a standard, manages a hard room, and mediates a disagreement
- Leads a participatory assessment and a real initiative with a documented result and a named counterpart
- Speaks for five minutes with a structure that moves an audience to act
- Facilitation as a measured profession, a portfolio and a job interview
- A licence to teach stations 1 and 2, and entry to Zimam
What it adds to the programme
- Every Fellowship cohort multiplies the programme’s facilitation capacity
- The station’s indicator: how many sessions were passed on, and how many initiatives a counterpart signed off as done
- A single national record of initiative results
Station 4 · Leader · Does → certifies
Zimam
Format: 23 sessions × 50 min in ten units and four strands + a public proof (for sites: 12, 23 or 23 + 4 clinics) · Credential: Zimam credential, on five proofs against a published standard, from an assessor who is not the trainer and whose name is on it
Session topics
Launch
- Launch: the track contract and journey map
Strand 1: Leading Self
- The balcony and the arena
- My capability map and leadership plan
- How does the mind jump to conclusions?
- Immunity to change and the pre-mortem
Strand 2: Leading Others
- The story of self
- The story of us and of now — first proof
- Psychological safety and team conditions
- Feedback and coaching-by-questions lab — second proof
- Power and stakeholder map
- “Neighbourhood park” simulation — a five-party negotiation
Strand 3: Leading Systems and Change
- The iceberg and causal loops
- Leverage points in my project
- Why does change fail?
- The first ninety days — a resistance simulation
- Four futures: youth and local government 2030
- Theory of change and my project’s indicators
Strand 4: Leading in Public Life
- The law map: four councils and one fund
- A municipal council in 50 minutes — participatory budgeting simulation
- Giving voice to values
- Surviving as a leader — a resilience plan
The proof
- Rehearsal and peer assessment
- The proof: public presentation and closing
Why this station
- Knowledge changes but behaviour lagsA compulsory real act that leaves the room and is recorded in the Ledger with the institution’s reply
- A certificate for attendance, not abilityFive proofs against a published standard, an independent assessor, and the assessor’s name on the credential
- “Ana Usharek-level” content for advanced graduatesTen units that start where the Fellowship ended, with frameworks not taught before
- The ambition gap among young women (38.9% of young men and 25.3% of young women seriously consider standing for office)Inviting people to lead by name, speaking time measured by sex, balanced strong roles, and cases led by young women
- Self-rating does not measure competence (Jeel Bahith study, 363 students: a correlation of 0.11)The credential is earned by proof before an independent assessor; self-assessment is a baseline only
What the student gains
- A three-layer public narrative that moves the room, and a personal leadership plan
- Precise feedback with the SBI model, and coaching by questions with GROW
- A stakeholder map and coalition plan, and a theory of change with defensible indicators
- A leadership project on a real challenge, with an act that reaches an institution and its reply recorded
- The world’s reference leadership frameworks applied to young Jordanians’ reality and the law in force
What it adds to the programme
- Zimam’s key indicator is not the number trained: it is how often institutions respond to their young people
- A transparent gateway between the Fellowship and ATHAR, against a published standard
- Leadership cadres with documented competence and their assessors’ names on their credentials
Station 5 · National leader · Certifies
ATHAR
Format: 12 months in five stages · Credential: ATHAR credential, awarded by a national committee
Session topics
- Deepening (15 sessions): emotional intelligence, leading under pressure, the leader’s mental health, extended public speaking
- The arts of rhetoric and persuasion
- Political analysis (18 sessions and 6 councils): historical narrative, the constitution and laws dissected, comparative systems
- Local administration: a municipal scorecard, oversight and accountability
- Women’s leadership unit (7 sessions)
- Digital lab and hackathon
- A national project fully implemented over three months with a mentor
Why this station
The top of the ladder, where a qualified leader becomes a national leader with a real project and a policy paper. Entry is by the Zimam credential and selection on two published keys: competence 60%, participation 40%.
What the student gains
- A national project under a mentor
- A published policy or solutions paper
- A standing role in the isnad chain: certifies those who follow
- Deeper leadership, rhetoric and political analysis
What it adds to the programme
- Qualified, documented cadres for the 2032 electoral cycle
- A chain of transmission that keeps the impact inside the programme
- Evidence of impact for partners and donors
Sources: the trainer guides of Ana Usharek, Usharek+, the Fellowship and Zimam (September 2026), the executive summary of the Ana Usharek programme update (September 2026), Zimam design document (September 2026), impact report 2022–2025.
Global and regional comparison
Where does the updated curriculum stand among youth programmes worldwide and in the region?
We compared the design of the updated curriculum with sixteen civic, electoral and leadership education programmes — eight worldwide and eight in the Arab region — on nine measures. Every dot in the table rests on what the programme itself publishes.
9 / 9measures met by the updated curriculum — the only one in this set
0 / 16programmes publish a credential awarded on assessed evidence of competence
3 / 16make real civic action a full component — none in the Arab region
5 / 16publish a measurement of their impact — none in the Arab region
100%
Documented design coverage index
Share of the nine measures each programme meets: “yes” counts one point, “partly” half a point.
Rank 1 of 9 in the Arab regionRank 1 of 17 overall
Ana Usharek — updated curriculum100%
Highest-scoring programme worldwide72%
Average of the worldwide programmes44%
Highest-scoring programme in the Arab region50%
Average of the Arab-region programmes32%
The index measures which design elements are documented, not the quality of delivery or the size of impact; “not published” counts as zero, and Ana Usharek is rated on its own design as published in the trainer guides. It is calculated from the table, so it changes with every review.
Here the indicator is calculated on your selection of programmes and measures.
This comparison is reviewed and updated every two weeks · last review: 4 October 2026
Every dot comes from the programme’s own website or other publicly available information about it; the main source for each programme is linked under “Sources and method” below the table.| Civic and electoral education | Personal and leadership skills | Real civic action beyond the room | Graduated levels | Credential by assessed evidence | Youth teach youth | Published impact measurement | Year-round | Competitions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ana Usharek — updated curriculumIndependent Election Commission · Jordan | |||||||||
| Worldwide | |||||||||
| Skolval — school electionsAgency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) · Sweden | |||||||||
| Student VoteCIVIX with Elections Canada · Canada | |||||||||
| National Electoral Education CentreAustralian Electoral Commission · Australia | |||||||||
| Generation CitizenNon-profit · United States | |||||||||
| Mikva ChallengeNon-profit · United States | |||||||||
| UK Youth ParliamentNational Youth Agency · United Kingdom | |||||||||
| Electoral Literacy ClubsElection Commission · India | |||||||||
| JuniorwahlKumulus e.V. · Germany | |||||||||
| Arab region | |||||||||
| Electoral education for pupilsISIE with the Ministry of Education · Tunisia | |||||||||
| Electoral awareness in universitiesCentral Elections Commission · Palestine | |||||||||
| Political Awareness Forum for university studentsMinistry of State for FNC Affairs · UAE | |||||||||
| Nasij community coexistence programmeKing Abdulaziz Center for Cultural Communication · Saudi Arabia | |||||||||
| QatarDebateQatar Foundation · Qatar | |||||||||
| Electoral awareness in schoolsNational Elections Authority · Egypt | |||||||||
| Arab Parliament for the ChildArab League and Sharjah | |||||||||
| Child ParliamentNational Observatory for Children’s Rights · Morocco | |||||||||
YesPartlyNoNot publishedThe bar under each measure: how many of the sixteen programmes meet it fully (dark) or partly (light).Ana Usharek’s competitions: Moot Court, Convince Me (Iqna’ni), the Tech-Voices hackathon, Sawtak Mu’athir and Raqeem | Al-Bayan.
Sources and method
How to read the table: ratings rest on what each programme publishes in its official sources or reputable press as of October 2026, and “not published” does not mean the feature is absent. Ana Usharek is rated on the updated curriculum as set out in the trainer guides; stations 4 and 5 are not yet implemented. The nine measures draw on the Council of Europe Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture, the proven practices in “Guardian of Democracy” and UNESCO’s learning domains for global citizenship education. In Saudi Arabia we found no published national youth programme on the electoral system, so the table shows the closest documented civic programme; in Tunisia, the cooperation between the electoral body and the Ministry of Education has no official title. No score is shown per programme: the aim is to compare designs, not to rank institutions.
Programme sources
- Skolval — school elections
- Student Vote
- National Electoral Education Centre
- Generation Citizen
- Mikva Challenge
- UK Youth Parliament
- Electoral Literacy Clubs
- Juniorwahl
- Electoral education for pupils
- Electoral awareness in universities
- Political Awareness Forum for university students
- Nasij community coexistence programme
- QatarDebate
- Electoral awareness in schools
- Arab Parliament for the Child
- Child Parliament
Good-practice references
- Council of Europe — Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (2016)
- CIRCLE and partners — Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools (2011)
- UNESCO — Global Citizenship Education: Topics and Learning Objectives (2015)
- IEA — International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2022)
- OECD — Youth at the Centre of Government Action: A Review of the Middle East and North Africa (2022)
- United Nations — Youth2030 Strategy (2018)
- Freeman et al. — Active learning increases student performance, PNAS 111(23), 2014
Measuring impact · pre and post evaluation
How much did students change between the start and the end of the semester?
The percentage change in each indicator between the pre and post evaluations, for the three programmes together: the accumulated change across all available semesters, for each academic year, and for each semester. Pick a period from the list. Calculated automatically and updated with the live numbers.
Accumulated change
One semester so far, on the same questions before and after the programme — Includes: First semester 2025/2026
Civic knowledge (self-rated)+63.5%
Political self-efficacy+11.6%
Skills (self-rated)+12.7%
Attitudes to equal opportunities+4.0%
Academic year 2025/2026
On the same questions before and after the programme — Includes: First semester
Civic knowledge (self-rated)+63.5%
Political self-efficacy+11.6%
Skills (self-rated)+12.7%
Attitudes to equal opportunities+4.0%
First semester 2025/2026
On the same questions before and after the programme
Civic knowledge (self-rated)+63.5%
Political self-efficacy+11.6%
Skills (self-rated)+12.7%
Attitudes to equal opportunities+4.0%
Pre/post measurement available
Academic year 2026/2027
- First semesterInformation will be updated soon.
- Second semesterInformation will be updated soon.
- Summer semesterInformation will be updated soon.
Academic year 2025/2026
- First semesterAvailable
- Second semesterInformation will be updated soon.
- Summer semesterInformation will be updated soon.
Academic year 2024/2025
- First semesterInformation will be updated soon.
- Second semesterInformation will be updated soon.
- Summer semesterInformation will be updated soon.
Source: pre and post evaluation forms of the Ana Usharek programmes (Ana Usharek, Usharek+ and the Fellowship), one response per student.
Peace and social cohesion
Extremism grows in a vacuum. The programme fills it
“Extremism revives when a young person feels they have no voice, no opportunity for change, and no safe space for dialogue.”
A voice
Facilitated dialogue, election simulations, and persuasion and oratory competitions where young people argue, listen and change their minds.
An opportunity
Credentials an employer can read, a portfolio of real civic acts, and about 300 youth-led initiatives in their communities.
A safe space
Year-round spaces on campuses and in youth centres to discuss identity, religion and politics without fear, and within the law.
Four ways the programme builds cohesion
Dialogue and tolerance
Facilitated spaces to discuss identity, religion and politics with respect.
Value placed on dialogue and tolerance
Countering hate speech and misinformation
Media literacy, a fact-checking lab and digital protection units.
Awareness of hate speech
Bridging “us versus them”
Mixed groups across governorates and backgrounds, females and males together, and inclusion initiatives such as disability rights.
A shared national identity
The Constitution, the rule of law and belonging to the state above sub-identities.
Understanding of citizenship
Promoting youth awareness is not an educational luxury. It is a national, security and societal necessity.
Source: impact evaluation 2022–2025 (IEC pre/post assessment tools); Ana Usharek policy brief, September 2026.
Reading the 2024 election data
Young people on polling day: who voted, when and where
An analysis of young voters (aged 17–35) in the 2024 parliamentary elections by hour, district and sex. Youth turnout is close to that of older voters; the real gaps are geographic and between females and males, and young people make up their minds in the evening.
715,230young voters (17–35), or 43.7% of all voters
31.2%youth turnout, against 33.1% for over-35s
28.2%female youth turnout, against 34.5% for males
40.9%of youth votes cast after 4 pm
Young voters in the 2020 and 2024 parliamentary elections
| Indicator | 2020 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young voters | 647,204 | 715,230 | +68,026 |
| Youth share of all voters | 46.6% | 43.7% | −2.9 points |
| Youth share of the voter register | 46.4% | 45.18% | −1.2 points |
| Youth turnout | 30.1% | 31.2% | +1.1 points |
| Over-35 turnout | 29.8% | 33.1% | +3.3 points |
| Overall turnout | 29.90% | 32.25% | +2.35 points |
Political modernisation: what changed for young people
- 2022
Constitutional amendments: the minimum age to stand for parliament falls to 25.
- 2022
Election Law 4/2022: 41 of 138 seats (30%) for party lists in the 20th House, rising to 50% in the 21st and 65% in the 22nd.
- 2024
First parliamentary elections under the new law: overall turnout 32.25%, and 589,820 first-time eligible voters.
- 2026
Local Administration Law 16/2026: three seats for under-35s on every governorate council.
In 17 of 18 districts youth turnout was below that of older voters; Ma'an is the exception. Youth turnout tracks the overall level of each district, so the widest gap is between the big cities and the periphery, not between generations.
Youth voting peaks between 5 and 7 pm (29.4% of their votes). Males dominate the first hour (65% of young voters); the female share peaks at 5 pm (52.6%).
What this means for Ana Usharek
Big cities first
The three Amman districts and Zarqa hold 51.8% of registered young voters but cast only 32.1% of youth votes: 19.3% turnout against 43.9% elsewhere. Zarqa is the second-largest pool of young voters (336,409), yet sent only 323 of the programme's 2,844 applications this semester.
Timing is part of the message
About 41% of youth votes came after 4 pm. Polling-day messages and volunteers should concentrate on the afternoon and evening, while encouraging young people to vote early and avoid the last-hour rush.
The female gap
Female youth turnout is 6.3 points below male youth turnout, widening to 13–21 points in the Badia districts. This is where the female leadership track and Sawtak in youth centres come in.
Youth participation in the 2024 parliamentary elections by district
| District | Youth (17–35) | Over-35 turnout | Youth share of voters | Female turnout | Male turnout | After 4 pm | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered youth | Young voters | Youth turnout | ||||||
| Ma'an | 25,955 | 15,766 | 60.7% | 59.8% | 45.6% | 56.3% | 65.6% | 25.3% |
| Badia South | 42,902 | 25,939 | 60.5% | 62.6% | 49.0% | 51.6% | 72.1% | 30.1% |
| Karak | 85,386 | 50,947 | 59.7% | 63.4% | 43.6% | 57.7% | 62.1% | 40.8% |
| Jerash | 60,120 | 31,297 | 52.1% | 58.0% | 43.8% | 48.9% | 56.2% | 44.9% |
| Tafilah | 28,810 | 14,900 | 51.7% | 57.4% | 43.9% | 47.3% | 57.7% | 41.6% |
| Ajloun | 52,451 | 26,519 | 50.6% | 57.3% | 42.8% | 47.6% | 54.6% | 41.4% |
| Mafraq | 51,794 | 26,157 | 50.5% | 53.5% | 45.2% | 46.6% | 55.4% | 36.4% |
| Badia North | 58,680 | 28,484 | 48.5% | 52.6% | 47.2% | 43.1% | 56.3% | 41.6% |
| Badia Centre | 34,937 | 16,817 | 48.1% | 53.1% | 43.3% | 41.1% | 58.7% | 41.1% |
| Madaba | 56,660 | 25,201 | 44.5% | 49.9% | 42.0% | 40.3% | 49.3% | 42.5% |
| Irbid 2 | 149,827 | 59,595 | 39.8% | 45.5% | 42.9% | 35.7% | 44.9% | 47.6% |
| Balqa | 161,838 | 62,599 | 38.7% | 42.5% | 43.5% | 35.9% | 41.8% | 43.1% |
| Aqaba | 38,691 | 14,246 | 36.8% | 39.2% | 46.3% | 33.9% | 39.8% | 47.7% |
| Irbid 1 | 258,237 | 87,247 | 33.8% | 35.2% | 44.3% | 30.4% | 37.6% | 42.7% |
| Amman 3 | 193,611 | 41,123 | 21.2% | 22.1% | 39.0% | 18.0% | 24.8% | 41.8% |
| Zarqa | 336,409 | 68,764 | 20.4% | 22.7% | 43.7% | 16.7% | 24.3% | 39.8% |
| Amman 1 | 290,029 | 54,455 | 18.8% | 20.2% | 45.2% | 15.1% | 22.6% | 41.8% |
| Amman 2 | 369,369 | 65,174 | 17.6% | 18.8% | 41.8% | 14.9% | 20.4% | 35.2% |
| Jordan | 2,295,706 | 715,230 | 31.2% | 33.1% | 43.7% | 28.2% | 34.5% | 40.9% |
Source: IEC data on young voters (17–35) by hour, district and sex, 2024 parliamentary elections; IEC Detailed Report 2024 (pp. 89, 101). Turnout rates and vote shares are calculated from these data.
Programmes delivered
Four programmes that reach every group
For school students · with the Ministry of Education
Basma
An interactive two-day programme (five hours a day) on national identity, dialogue, rule of law and awareness of political life, ending in an election simulation and a personal pledge. It is facilitated by Fellowship and Usharek+ graduates: the ladder at work, where those who learned now teach.
89schools
43education directorates
668sessions
39,270students
30,795female attendances
29,736male attendances
2 × 5two days, five hours a day
87.6%facilitator satisfaction
National Youth Leadership Development Programme · with the Ministry of Youth
Sawtak
A leadership journey for 18–35-year-olds in 15 youth centres: 65 sessions across five stations (belonging, active citizenship, political participation, leadership and impact). It is built on experiential learning: realistic simulation, dialogue, Jordanian case studies and community initiatives led by participants. It began on 29 June 2026.
15youth centres
5leadership stations
53%of participants female
409sessions in the daily log
1BelongingRooting national identity
2Active citizenshipResponsible participation
3Political participationUnderstanding the political system
4LeadershipBuilding skills and teams
5ImpactMaking a difference
Build · Participate · Influence
For elected student council leaders
Student union capacity building
Trains student union members to represent their peers effectively, run fair and violence-free student elections, work within the regulation on student party activity, and plan and advocate. A student union is a young person's first real experience of governing and representing.
355union members
20sessions
12universities
For institutional partners in universities and colleges
Deanship of Student Affairs staff
Equips deanship staff to support civic activity, oversee student elections and accompany student initiatives, so the impact stays inside the institution after the sessions end. This is the programme's guarantee of institutional sustainability.
293deanship staff
15sessions
87%institutional satisfaction
Realistic election simulation
The practical election exercise
The practical exercise builds students’ electoral knowledge through a full simulation of every stage of the electoral process: from registration and candidacy, through campaigning and campaign management, to polling, counting and the announcement of results. Through this hands-on experience, students learn the procedures of the electoral process and the roles of the different parties involved, building electoral awareness grounded in knowledge and practice.
Learn it… live it… and take part with awareness.
| Activity | Sessions | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practical election exercise | 50 | 1,428 | 1,728 | 3,156 |
| Jordanian Parliament simulation model (German Jordanian University) | 16 | 106 | 71 | 177 |
Female1,728
Male1,428
Source: programme data, cumulative to September 2026.
Competitions and their role
Why we hold competitions
For us a competition is a learning tool, not an end in itself. Knowledge becomes performance in front of an audience, and young people learn to compete fairly and respect the result, just as in an election.
Moot Court
Electoral justice through young eyes
4editions58training sessions1,898students
Advocacy · legal analysis
Convince Me (Iqna'ni)
The art of persuasion and influential speech
20teams in the 2026 rounds3regions52judges
Persuasion · respect for others
Tech-Voices hackathon
Youth · Technology · Participation
11universities (June 2026)
Innovation · entrepreneurship
Sawtak Mu'athir
Your Voice Matters: honing talent, making impact
5themes5entry formats21scoring criteria
Content creation · ethics
Raqeem | Al-Bayan
National youth oratory competition
Oratory · message design
Geographic reach and expansion
Present across the governorates, and expanding to reach every one
In the first semester of 2026/2027, the programme continues with its three stations at 15 universities in 8 governorates across all three regions. The next step is a university site in every governorate, then 60 sites by 2029.
Registration, first semester 2026/2027
Registration for Ana Usharek opened in higher-education institutions. By 4 October 2026:
2,844students from 15 universities
1,496Ana Usharek
876Usharek+
472Fellowship
74.6%female
Applications by governorate, first semester 2026/2027 (to 4 October 2026)
North 684
Irbid684
AjlounNo site this semester
JerashNo site this semester
MafraqNo site this semester
Centre 1,574
Amman941
Balqa310
Zarqa323
MadabaNo site this semester
South 586
Tafilah210
Karak227
Aqaba64
Ma'an85
Source: online registration, first semester 2026/2027, to 4 October 2026 (governorate = university location).
Source: online registration form, first semester 2026/2027, one application per national ID, to 4 October 2026
Current delivery sites
15universities
15youth centres
89schools in Basma
The five stations
The Isnad ladder: climb it station by station
Each station raises you one level, gives you a credential bearing your assessor's name, and leaves something outside the room. Whoever completes a station can teach the one below: that is what "isnad", a chain of transmission, means.
Ana Usharek
You know · 17 sessions
Learn the system as it stands today, say your first words in front of everyone, take your first small civic act, and teach one topic to your family and neighbours.
Participant credential
Informed citizen
Usharek+
You can · 18 sessions
File a real information request and follow it up, write a one-page paper, and run a team project presented to a guest from an institution.
Advanced credential
Active citizen
Fellowship
You do · 17 sessions + field
Teach others: facilitate at least six sessions for the stations below you, and lead a ten-week initiative with a named institutional counterpart.
Facilitator licence — to teach stations 1 and 2
Facilitator & initiator
Zimam
You lead and certify · 23 sessions
Lead change with leadership tools used worldwide, and carry out a real act that reaches an institution and gets a recorded response.
Certifier credential
Leader
ATHAR
You lead nationally · 12 months
A mentored national project, a published policy paper, and a standing seat among those who certify others.
ATHAR credential
National leader
Source: summer term 2025/2026 aggregate (1,403 sessions, 15 universities).
Performance indicators
What we measure, and where we stand
The programme runs a monitoring and evaluation framework with reach indicators, impact indicators and delivery-quality indicators, and clear targets for the next phase.
| Indicator | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | ||
| Session attendances and participants | 482,720 | Up to Sept 2026 |
| Sessions delivered | 48,304 | Latest data, 2026 |
| Partner higher-education institutions | 55 | Impact report 2022–2025 |
| Female / male attendances and participants | 298,267 / 184,453 | Up to Sept 2026 |
| Summer term 2025/2026 attendances | 14,274 at 15 universities | Aggregate data |
| Participants in the practical election exercise | 3,156 in 50 sessions | Programme data, to Sept 2026 |
| Applications, first semester 2026/2027 | 2,844 (to 4 Oct 2026) | Online registration, Oct 2026 |
| Impact | ||
| Trust in the electoral process and the IEC | 63% → 82% | Impact report 2022–2025 |
| Intention to vote | 41% → 74% | Impact report 2022–2025 |
| Knowledge of Constitution and electoral law | 46% → 81% | Impact report 2022–2025 |
| Not interested in public affairs | 61% → 34% | Impact report 2022–2025 |
| Self-confidence / critical thinking | +93% / +89% | ATHAR presentation |
| Participant initiatives | ≈300 | Programme data, Sept 2026 |
| Stood in student council and club elections | 187 | Impact report 2022–2025 |
| Volunteer regularly | 38% → 64% | Impact report 2022–2025 |
| Campaign and polling-day volunteers (2024 elections) | 6,035 | Programme data |
| National awareness campaigns | 11 | Programme data |
| Delivery quality | ||
| Basma facilitator satisfaction | 87.6% | Basma report 2026 |
| Basma: all themes completed | 92.1% | Basma report 2026 |
| Host-school cooperation (excellent/good) | 92.1% | Basma report 2026 |
| Institutional satisfaction (deanships) | 87% | Impact report 2022–2025 |
| Sawtak sessions starting on time | 90% | Sawtak log 2026 |
| Next-phase targets | ||
| Credentials earned by proof | 4 credentials + ATHAR | Isnad ladder |
| Acts that reach an institution and get a reply | New programme indicator | Zimam design |
| Delivery sites | 36 → 48 → 60 (2027–2029) | Plan 2027–2029 |
| ATHAR leaders | 75 (50% female) | ATHAR track |
Headline figures by source
| Indicator | Impact evaluation 2022–2025 | Up to end of Sept 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Attendances | 412,701 | 482,720 |
| Sessions | 38,875 | 48,304 |
| Sites | 55 + 88 | 15 + 15 + 80 |
| Governorates | 12 | 12 |
| Female share | 60.5% | 61.8% |
| Facilitators | 155 | 45 |
| Participant initiatives | 250 | ≈300 |
Figures differ between sources because each covers a different period. An "attendance" is one person at one session, so someone who attends ten sessions counts ten times.
Recommendations
Six recommendations for the next phase
These recommendations draw on the programme’s measured impact, the 2024 election data and the development plan for 2027–2029. Each comes with practical actions and an indicator that anyone can check.
Sustain the programme as a strategic investment
- What to do
- Keep the endorsement of university presidents and deans of student affairs, embed the programme in institutional plans, and secure a stable multi-year budget line.
- How we will know
- Delivery sites: 36 → 48 → 60 (2027–2029)
Go where youth turnout is lowest
- What to do
- Expand in the universities and youth centres of the Amman districts and Zarqa, and recruit facilitators from those districts.
- How we will know
- Youth turnout there (19.3% in 2024); applications from Zarqa (323 this semester)
Close the female participation gap
- What to do
- Use the female leadership track and Sawtak to reach young females, starting with the Badia districts. Rotate strong roles and measure speaking time.
- How we will know
- Female youth turnout (28.2% against 34.5% for males in 2024); ATHAR leaders 50% female
Time the polling-day message
- What to do
- Concentrate awareness messages and volunteers in the afternoon and evening, and encourage young people to vote early to avoid the last-hour rush.
- How we will know
- Share of youth votes cast after 4 pm (40.9% in 2024)
Reward proof, not attendance
- What to do
- Roll out the five-station Isnad ladder, blind marking against published rubrics, and a national credential registry.
- How we will know
- Credentials earned by proof; acts that reach an institution and get a recorded reply
Keep measuring, independently
- What to do
- Use pre/post tools in every station, keep independent research partners, and publish the results every year.
- How we will know
- Trust (63% → 82%) and intention to vote (41% → 74%) tracked every year
Safe dialogue spaces prevent frustration and marginalisation from building up, and make difference a strength rather than a threat.
Downloads
Reports and publications
The latest programme reports and publications as PDF, in Arabic, English and French.
Reports last updated: 4 October 2026, 22:07 (Amman time)