On September 15th, 2022, Voluntas and the Arab Master’s program in Democracy and Human Rights, “Global Campus – Arab World” signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), laying the foundation for a new era of cross-sector collaboration in the MENA region.
The Arab Master’s program in Democracy and Human Rights (ArMA) – hosted and coordinated by Saint Joseph University of Beirut – is one of seven regional programs of the Global Campus of Human Rights (GCHR). It offers a unique cross-regional and interdisciplinary program, combining research-oriented courses with insights from practitioners from across the MENA region. The ArMA program is implemented by the Institute of Political Science at Saint Joseph University of Beirut, in cooperation with Birzeit University in Palestine, the International University of Rabat in Morocco, the University of Carthage in Tunisia, the University of Southern Denmark and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
Saint Joseph University is a private Lebanese university established in 1875. The Global Campus of Human Rights brings together around a hundred universities around the world, seeking to advance human rights and democracy through regional and global cooperation for education and research on these themes. Aligned with this, Voluntas’ Center for Applied Meaningfulness rests on the belief that meaningfulness is a better way of measuring societal well-being or human progress than existing indexes such as GDP or happiness. Whilst Voluntās has already measured and explored the impact of meaningfulness across organizations, the Center for Applied Meaningfulness investigates meaningfulness across all aspects of life – including within education. The MoU between Voluntas and the ArMA is therefore closely aligned with the overall purpose of Voluntas and the Center for Applied Meaningfulness.
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Based on the MoU, Voluntas and Saint Joseph University will collaborate to uncover the anatomy of meaningfulness amongst students of the ArMA. This will be done through the implementation of meaningfulness surveys throughout the program where the core drivers of meaning will be measured. Furthermore, Voluntas will be actively participating in the elaboration and preparation of lectures related to democratization, applied research in human rights, and transition processes in the MENA. The partnership will also offer ArMA students the opportunity of completing internships at Voluntas, as well as see the implementation of events on applied meaningfulness in Beirut.
As an initial phase, the Voluntas-ArMA MoU will be active until 2025. As such, Voluntas and ArMA pledge to create more avenues for meaningful academic cooperation, while emphasizing the importance of fact-based research in the areas of democratization and human rights.
This project is another testament to the opportunities created through the bridging of academia and the private sector. In late august 2022, Voluntas was also part of the announcement of the world’s most meaningful university in Esbjerg having participated in the design of the concept and curriculum. As such, at Voluntas we humbly approach education as not only a universal human right but also as a pathway to realize human potential, across all disciplines and pathways of life.
More and more students suffer from loneliness, stress and unhappiness. All learning starts with self-understanding and insight into who you are and want to become, as well as what you can and cannot do. We therefore need to educate people for life skills through a culture that stimulates self-insight and self-respect and thus the foundation for a healthy and meaningful life.
Morten Albæk
Founder and CEO of Voluntas
On September 15th, 2022, Voluntas and the Arab Master’s program in Democracy and Human Rights, “Global Campus – Arab World” signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), laying the foundation for a new era of cross-sector collaboration in the MENA region.
With Sudan still ranking as the 138th state out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, millions of women face economic and political exclusion. These challenges are especially exacerbated amongst refugee women. As such, changing perceptions and attitudes, and ensuring vulnerable women and girls have access to opportunities is a long-term effort, which can only be achieved by involving local stakeholders and civil society organizations currently playing an active role in the development of their communities and their country.
Understanding the challenges in enabling effective and impactful implementation of youth focused programs in Libya – Highlighting “Skills for Tomorrow”: Equipping the youth to be future leaders of Libya.
Libya faces numerous barriers to sustainable livelihoods, exacerbated by the political unrest the country has been facing since 2011. Among these barriers is high unemployment, particularly among youth. Within this context, Amideast launched the “Skills for Tomorrow” (SFT) program aimed at increasing employability skills and equipping Libyan youth with the skills they need for success while encouraging them to be leaders in their communities. The program is designed to provide training for 105 Libyan students in disadvantaged neighborhoods in seven locations across the country.
With Sudan still ranking as the 138th state out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, millions of women face economic and political exclusion. These challenges are especially exacerbated amongst refugee women. As such, changing perceptions and attitudes, and ensuring vulnerable women and girls have access to opportunities is a long-term effort, which can only be achieved by involving local stakeholders and civil society organizations currently playing an active role in the development of their communities and their country.
Since 2018, Search for Common Ground (Search) in Sudan has implemented the three-year Maa Baaad Namo/We Grow Together project in collaboration with five local partner organizations. The project focused on increasing the capacity, networks, and opportunities of Sudanese civil society organizations to improve vulnerable women and girls’ access to multi-sectoral development. Project activities took place in five states in Sudan: West Kordofan, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, Gedaref, and Kassala.
Voluntas carried out the final evaluation of the project through an in-depth review of programmatic documentation, a listenership survey in selected target locations, by interviewing partner and local civil society organizations, staff, government, and media representatives, involved in the project as well as discussing with local communities.
Based on the findings of the final evaluation, Voluntas advised Search on lessons learned and fact-based recommendations to further enhance programming activities focused on supporting women and girls’ access to multi-sectoral development opportunities in the country.
On September 15th, 2022, Voluntas and the Arab Master’s program in Democracy and Human Rights, “Global Campus – Arab World” signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), laying the foundation for a new era of cross-sector collaboration in the MENA region.
With Sudan still ranking as the 138th state out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, millions of women face economic and political exclusion. These challenges are especially exacerbated amongst refugee women. As such, changing perceptions and attitudes, and ensuring vulnerable women and girls have access to opportunities is a long-term effort, which can only be achieved by involving local stakeholders and civil society organizations currently playing an active role in the development of their communities and their country.
Understanding the challenges in enabling effective and impactful implementation of youth focused programs in Libya – Highlighting “Skills for Tomorrow”: Equipping the youth to be future leaders of Libya.
Libya faces numerous barriers to sustainable livelihoods, exacerbated by the political unrest the country has been facing since 2011. Among these barriers is high unemployment, particularly among youth. Within this context, Amideast launched the “Skills for Tomorrow” (SFT) program aimed at increasing employability skills and equipping Libyan youth with the skills they need for success while encouraging them to be leaders in their communities. The program is designed to provide training for 105 Libyan students in disadvantaged neighborhoods in seven locations across the country.
Libya faces numerous barriers to sustainable livelihoods, exacerbated by the political unrest the country has been facing since 2011. Among these barriers is high unemployment, particularly among youth. Within this context, Amideast launched the “Skills for Tomorrow” (SFT) program aimed at increasing employability skills and equipping Libyan youth with the skills they need for success while encouraging them to be leaders in their communities. The program is designed to provide training for 105 Libyan students in disadvantaged neighborhoods in seven locations across the country.
The support includes conducting baseline, mid-term and end-line assessments to develop actionable recommendations for program implementation and evaluate the program’s impact. The baseline study was conducted in August 2020, providing insights on how participating Libyan youth view leadership and their educational and career aspirations. In January 2022, Voluntas conducted the midterm study providing additional insights to the baseline and a deeper understanding of the perceptions and challenges of participating Libyan youth.
Amideast and Voluntas share a common purpose: to provide Libyan youth with opportunities to realize their human potential and become the future leaders of their country.
Voluntas supported Amideast by conducting a baseline and midterm study of the “Skills for Tomorrow” program, enabling a better understanding of the challenges and lessons learned voiced by the students. The reports also allowed unlocking a deeper knowledge of the program’s participants perceptions of leadership, and their aspirations for the future.
Amideast is a leading American nonprofit organization engaged in international education, training, and development activities in the MENA region.
On September 15th, 2022, Voluntas and the Arab Master’s program in Democracy and Human Rights, “Global Campus – Arab World” signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), laying the foundation for a new era of cross-sector collaboration in the MENA region.
With Sudan still ranking as the 138th state out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, millions of women face economic and political exclusion. These challenges are especially exacerbated amongst refugee women. As such, changing perceptions and attitudes, and ensuring vulnerable women and girls have access to opportunities is a long-term effort, which can only be achieved by involving local stakeholders and civil society organizations currently playing an active role in the development of their communities and their country.
Understanding the challenges in enabling effective and impactful implementation of youth focused programs in Libya – Highlighting “Skills for Tomorrow”: Equipping the youth to be future leaders of Libya.
Libya faces numerous barriers to sustainable livelihoods, exacerbated by the political unrest the country has been facing since 2011. Among these barriers is high unemployment, particularly among youth. Within this context, Amideast launched the “Skills for Tomorrow” (SFT) program aimed at increasing employability skills and equipping Libyan youth with the skills they need for success while encouraging them to be leaders in their communities. The program is designed to provide training for 105 Libyan students in disadvantaged neighborhoods in seven locations across the country.
Voluntas is expanding geographically. Earlier this year, we established a partnership with Sudan Polling and Statistics Center (SPSC), an organization which has been a leader in meeting the demand for better statistical data to serve public and private decision-making in Sudan since 2009. SPSC’s depth of experience implementing social sciences research will be crucial to supporting Voluntas’s growing portfolio of projects in the country. In partnering with local institutions, we aim to not only harness contextual knowledge, but also work with our partners to strengthen local capacities.
Dana Fuentes, a senior associate with Voluntas who until recently was based in Tunis, relocated to Sudan last month to support our expanding presence in the country. Dana will be supported by Nada Elamin. We will be opening an office in Khartoum in the coming months.
Manahil is a team supervisor at SPSC, overseeing large-scale data collection in the field. Manahil is Voluntas’s point-of-contact at SPSC and we therefore work closely with her to ensure the timely delivery of high-quality data. We spoke with her about her experience working on data collection in Sudan and the daily work in the field. Manahil joined SPSC as a researcher while studying at Al Jazira University, thanks to a partnership that SPSC had developed with the university. Given the importance of data collection to research studies and evaluations, Manahil spoke about the importance of planning, especially when working in conflict zones, as well as issues related to collecting and uploading data from the field:
“challenges differ according to the project, but we try our best to manage the different situations and find solutions accordingly”. Manahil aims for her work to have a positive impact on her community and country. Her dream project is one that helps people: “we want to make a positive impact on people’s lives. It is a responsibility talking to different people from different backgrounds on various topics; from economy to political and social affairs, the ultimate message is to be able to help people around us, shed light on the different issues that they face, and give them a chance to voice out their concerns and ideas for solutions”.
In addition to its role and capacities in data collection in Sudan, SPSC also provides employment opportunities, especially for youth and women.
In January, Voluntas started its first project in Sudan, working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to conduct a basic needs and vulnerability assessment of migrants, refugees, and host communities (BaNVA). The BaNVA is the most comprehensive assessment of its kind in Sudan, seeking to understand the individual, household, communal, and institutional needs and vulnerabilities of target groups across the whole of Sudan. The assessment has consisted of face-to-face interviews with more than 5,000 refugees and 1,400 Sudanese citizens across 13 states, and 20 key informant interviews. The BaNVA has captured wellbeing indicators across several key thematic areas including food security, WASH, protection, and education, and has been designed to explore the feasibility and suitability of multipurpose cash modalities to address unmet needs of the target population.
Overall, this assessment is innovative in a few different ways: it spans a multi-sector framework of needs and vulnerabilities; it has been developed in close collaboration with other key actors to maximize its impact and usability across organizations; and it targets previously understudied groups even within the refugee framework, including out-of-camp and urban refugees, and host communities.
In addition to assessing humanitarian needs, Voluntas has been conducting studies related to Sudan’s political and economic transition. Alongside the World Bank, we recently completed a study on Sudan’s economic reforms, which aimed to understand the perceptions of Sudan’s economic performance and how the reform agenda may best be communicated. Data collection included a 1000 face-to-face computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) survey, 45 KIIs, and five FGDs. This project was recently finalized with a presentation for the Government of Sudan.
For the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), we have been conducting a study on the public perceptions of Sudan’s political transition. This has involved a nationwide survey of 1800 individuals, 10 KIIs, and 6 FGDs.
Building on the experience of our third-party monitoring projects in Libya, Voluntas is now working with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Sudan to monitor its activities across the country. This will include 450 site visits at WFP’s 5,000 operational sites across the country.
Finally, Voluntas is currently working on a political economy analysis of the local governance sector in Darfur for VNG International, the International Cooperation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), which involves 24 KIIs across West and South Darfur. The study is focusing on local governance structures in Darfur in relation to reconciliations, grassroots peace processes, and recovery and development.
On September 15th, 2022, Voluntas and the Arab Master’s program in Democracy and Human Rights, “Global Campus – Arab World” signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), laying the foundation for a new era of cross-sector collaboration in the MENA region.
With Sudan still ranking as the 138th state out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, millions of women face economic and political exclusion. These challenges are especially exacerbated amongst refugee women. As such, changing perceptions and attitudes, and ensuring vulnerable women and girls have access to opportunities is a long-term effort, which can only be achieved by involving local stakeholders and civil society organizations currently playing an active role in the development of their communities and their country.
Understanding the challenges in enabling effective and impactful implementation of youth focused programs in Libya – Highlighting “Skills for Tomorrow”: Equipping the youth to be future leaders of Libya.
Libya faces numerous barriers to sustainable livelihoods, exacerbated by the political unrest the country has been facing since 2011. Among these barriers is high unemployment, particularly among youth. Within this context, Amideast launched the “Skills for Tomorrow” (SFT) program aimed at increasing employability skills and equipping Libyan youth with the skills they need for success while encouraging them to be leaders in their communities. The program is designed to provide training for 105 Libyan students in disadvantaged neighborhoods in seven locations across the country.
October 30, 2020
The Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme (NPA) forms a cooperation between nine partner countries including Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, UK, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway. The NPA is a part of the European Territorial Cooperation Objective, also known as Interreg and is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Despite geographical differences, the regional partners share common features such as low population density, low accessibility, low economic diversity, abundant natural resources, and high impact of climate change. This unique combination of features yields joint challenges and opportunities that can best be overcome and realized through transnational cooperation.[1]
As COVID-19 spread throughout Europe in spring 2020, the NPA monitoring committee agreed to support seven projects dedicated to what has become known as the “NPA COVID-19 Response Call”. Each of these projects address one of five themes aimed at understanding the impact of COVID-19 across the NPA region: (A) Clinical aspects, (B) Health and wellbeing, (C) Technology solution, (D) Citizen engagement/community response and (E) Economic impact and (F) Emerging themes.[2]
In collaboration with Baltic Sea Cluster Development Centre, Voluntās Policy Advisory (Voluntās) is currently involved in the “COVID19-Communities Response and Resilience” project targeting themes “Citizen engagement/community response” as well as “The Economic of Health Service Delivery”.
For the Communities Response and Resilience project, Voluntās are working closely with partners from the Regional Council of Kainuu, Finland; University of Oulu, Finland; Rural Area Partnership, Northern Ireland; NHS Western Isles, Scotland; Leitrim County Council, Ireland and British Red Cross, Shetland to examine the impact, resilience, and responses to COVID-19 on a community level in the NPA area.[3] Collaborating with the Faroese Agricultural Agency has been focused on distributing three different questionnaires across the Faroe Islands. Having now completed the data collection phase, Voluntās will compile a regional report which will ultimately feed into the transnational report comparing findings across six regions.
The “COVID & Economics” project examines economic impacts and responses to COVID-19. It captures innovations and transformations that have taken place as a result of the pandemic, and sets out to create a roadmap for recommendations that will allow for more sustainable and resilient regional/local communities and economies across the NPA. In this project, Voluntās is working with partners from Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands and northern Norway in order to gain insight into the effects on COVID-19 on these economies.
[1] http://www.interreg-npa.eu/about/programme-in-brief/
[2] http://www.interreg-npa.eu/for-applicants/covid-19-call/
[3] http://www.interreg-npa.eu/covid-19/npa-response-group-and-projects
On September 15th, 2022, Voluntas and the Arab Master’s program in Democracy and Human Rights, “Global Campus – Arab World” signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), laying the foundation for a new era of cross-sector collaboration in the MENA region.
With Sudan still ranking as the 138th state out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, millions of women face economic and political exclusion. These challenges are especially exacerbated amongst refugee women. As such, changing perceptions and attitudes, and ensuring vulnerable women and girls have access to opportunities is a long-term effort, which can only be achieved by involving local stakeholders and civil society organizations currently playing an active role in the development of their communities and their country.
Understanding the challenges in enabling effective and impactful implementation of youth focused programs in Libya – Highlighting “Skills for Tomorrow”: Equipping the youth to be future leaders of Libya.
Libya faces numerous barriers to sustainable livelihoods, exacerbated by the political unrest the country has been facing since 2011. Among these barriers is high unemployment, particularly among youth. Within this context, Amideast launched the “Skills for Tomorrow” (SFT) program aimed at increasing employability skills and equipping Libyan youth with the skills they need for success while encouraging them to be leaders in their communities. The program is designed to provide training for 105 Libyan students in disadvantaged neighborhoods in seven locations across the country.
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