

Summary
The project You(th) will be Free aims to enhance the quality of youthwork in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries so it can become a tool for social rehabilitation for young former inmates or youth at high risk of criminality, offering them the opportunity to pursue a career as socio-educational animators and thus find dignified employment.
Youth Empowerment
ASSOCIAZIONE SOS EUROPA 🇮🇹 Italy
Via Pietro Romano 33 – Roma, Italy
www.soseuropa.it

INTERNATIONAL E-LEARNING INSTITUTE LTD 🇲🇹 Malta
40, VILLA FAIRHOLME SIR AUGUSTUS BARTOLO STREET
XBX1095 TA XBIEX

UL DIMO HADZI DIMOV 54B1000 Skopje
Website: https://www.pel.mk

K PALAMA 9 191 00 MEGARA

TALA CENTER TALA AL ALI 11180 Amman


OFFICE 1 BUILDING 2013 AL EYADA STREET EXTENSION ZAHRAA MADINAT NASR 11528 CAIRO
Website: http://myfmed.org

20 RUE SOMAA MOUROUJ 5 BEN AROUS 2074 MOUROUJ
Website: https://www.fhird.tn

The kick-off meeting of the project YOUTH WILL BE FREE, funded by the European Commission under the ERASMUS+ program, Capacity Building in the Youth sector, was held on October 6, 2024.
The project was written and coordinated by the Italian association SOS EUROPA, and the partnership is made up of PEL association from North Macedonia, the international e-Learning institute IELI from Malta, the Farhat Hached Institute for Research and Democracy (FHIRD) based in Tunis, the Arab International University (AIU) from Syria, the Support Youth Leaders (SYL) association from Jordan, and the nonprofit and nongovernmental organization Youth Horizons (YoHo) located in Megara, Greece.
The meeting was attended by 2 participants from each association, for a total of 14 participants, who, due to logistical problems, kicked off the project by meeting on the Zoom platform instead of in Cairo.
The meeting began with a brief presentation of the items that would be discussed, specifically:
- The presentation of the project and the activities, with associated timelines and deliverables, to be implemented for the purpose of project implementation;
- Visual Identity, the different dissemination channels, and the budgeting and reporting part;
- The presentation regarding activity T2.2 of good practice research regarding the identification of good practices of youth work as a tool for inclusion for people at other risk of social exclusion.
After a brief introduction in which each partner had the opportunity to introduce themselves, the goals of their association, and their area of operation, the general and specific objectives of the project, the target group to which they relate, and the project roadmap were addressed. The participants, in addition, analyzed the various activities proposed by the project and the results to be produced in order to collaborate for the implementation of the project.
After that, all participants agreed on a dissemination plan that includes, depending on the nature of the dissemination object, both online and offline channels such as social media platforms, newsletters, events, trainings, and the like. In addition, all partners discussed a commitment to share these activities by including the project and European Commission logos and an explicit reference to the Commission as a funding source in the spaces dedicated to dissemination.
At the end of the meeting, a short research corresponding to T2.2 (Collection of Good Practices) was presented, highlighting the definition of youth work and youth worker, the type of profession he or she practiced, the soft skills that contributed the most to the target group actually improving their living conditions and in what terms, and the good practices of youth work as a tool for inclusion for people at other risk of social exclusion (e.g., ex-prisoners, people subject to drug addiction, youth from critical family backgrounds, etc.).
This research will be the starting point for the next meeting in Amman, where the youth workers will undergo training, which will see them engaged in improving their educational approach to the target group and in drafting general guidelines in the socio-educational field (D2.1), which are essential for carrying out WP3 activities.