The CIVITAS Institute for Civil Society Studies implements a regional program, the first of its kind in the Arab world, called “Civitas Academy”; Recent years have witnessed an awakening and a qualitative transformation in the Arab arena, where the collapse of the prevailing dictatorial regimes - which were seen as impermeable and impenetrable regimes - had the most prominent role in opening the way towards rebuilding Arab societies politically and democratically and working to achieve the supremacy of social justice and the spread Freedoms and respect for human rights. The idea of establishing a “School of Leadership and Democracy under the name of Civitas Academy / Citizenship Academy” came to those in charge of it and who took the initiative to think about this idea during October 2010, that is, in the period before the first spark of the Arab Spring revolutions, during the joint work to train young leaderships through joint study trips. And by analyzing the reality of the social youth movement movements in the Arab region and their limitations at that time to produce a fruitful and constructive movement that would knock the wall of the reservoir and pose a real threat to the existing dictatorial regimes on the one hand, in addition to sensing the real danger to the future of the coming social change inevitably and what the social and political situation is. And the future economic of the region in the absence of a feeling of the existence of young democratic elites or even adults, which would lead change and bring it to safety by raising the level of thinking to keep pace with the challenges of that stage and transcend the wounds and challenges to embody the reality of coexistence and construction through real practice, reflecting the culture of dialogue, democracy and faith Plurality. What was feared has occurred, and the existence of such institutions and social structures has become to contribute to mitigating the bitter and deteriorating reality. It is absolutely necessary. Rather, the vacuum that exists in Arab societies, mainly due to the absence of such a vision, is what exacerbates the current situation in light of the existence of a culture of partisan, factional and ethnic intolerance, the desire for revenge, the exclusivity of power, and the failure to accept the results of democracy as one of the accepted mechanisms of peaceful change. As soon as the dictatorial regimes fell; It is often believed that an ideal society will emerge, but the fall of these regimes is only the starting point in the process of democratization and the accompanying political, economic and social problems. The new regimes may become nothing but an extension of the previous repressive regimes, and they may even be more brutal and tyrannical. Also, new regimes that claim to get rid of outdated regimes may seek to impose a model that mimics previous models of dictatorial regimes, but in a different form or in the form of alternative practices in form, but similar in content and content. Therefore, it was necessary to alleviate the severity of that situation and contribute to opening horizons for a solution in the short and long term as well, by taking constructive and preventive measures to prevent the emergence of a new system of repression generated by the chaos that follows the phase of the eradication of the dictatorial regime. Hence, the idea of the "Civitas Academy", which seeks to consolidate democracy by contributing to building a leadership generation of promising young people prepared in advance to keep pace with the democratic transition, becomes capable of building constitutional and legal foundations within the standards of effective democratic behavior throughout the Mediterranean. The general objective of the Academy: The intention of the existence of this academy is to help the “young generation” that seeks to get rid of oppression and dictatorship by forming a base of young leaders, training and qualifying them to be effective, constructive and able to represent themselves and their society locally and internationally. This is through workshops and training courses, and cultural exchange through mutual learning and exchange of experiences, which focus on developing lobbying and advocacy skills, communication skills, organization and leadership, volunteer work and participation in the decision-making process, and conflict resolution skills and transforming them into innovative development opportunities. The idea of forming the academy revolves around activating and authorizing young leaders to take their role in planning, organizing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating all policies and real needs of Arab youth and thus work to build their capabilities to participate in the establishment of a democratic system that respects human freedoms and procedures aimed at developing society, in a manner that guarantees the rights of Youth and meeting their future needs without wasting their rights to national wealth and the nation’s capabilities, in what is known as emancipation development. The Academy also seeks to enable Arab youth to play an active and proactive role in managing an in-depth dialogue with their European youth counterparts in order to form common agendas and interests with the aim of forming a pressure public opinion among European youth movements that would lead to change in the policies of their European governments towards the region on the basis of respecting human rights principles. , International charters and treaties, and the presumed good-neighborliness principles declared by the European Union in what is known as the "good-neighborly policy."
Target group: In the first year of its establishment, the program targets directly 20 participants / civil society organizations, who wish to sharpen their capabilities for effective participation in society from young people between 22-35 years old from Palestine, Egypt and Libya, and later the program will target many From other countries on the two shores of the Mediterranean, the participants will be selected as follows: • 10 participants from Egypt, 5 from Cairo in addition to 5 others from civil organizations from other regions of Egypt. • 2 participants from Libya. • 3 participants from the West Bank and Jerusalem, Palestine. • 5 participants from the Gaza Strip, Palestine, representing community diversity (refugees, indigenous citizens, villagers, political and factional diversity, etc.). Provided that the selection criteria include gender diversity, the sectoral background in which he works or studies, such as youth, culture, education, health, politics and democracy, human rights, environment and natural disasters DRR, gender, etc. In order for her to subsequently work on participating in decision-making and conflict resolution skills. Preparations for the project: A form to join the program will be filled out by the participants, and accordingly a dedicated committee will select the participants based on several specific criteria consistent with the stated goals of the program. Preparation and reservation for the trainings in Cairo: Civitas, together with its Egyptian partner “Maat”, will coordinate with the authorities, book hotels and halls, and book tickets for the trainees participating in the project for a period of 14 training days in Cairo during the month of May 2013 for the first phase of the study trip, and reservations for the phase The second study trip for another 12 training days in Cairo, from 19-30 November 2013. The first phase of the study trip: Participants will receive 14 training days in Cairo. Training will be based primarily on the best curricula, theories and best training practices, on several topics, the most important of which are: • Planning for democracy. • Mechanisms of change and democratization of the effects of the political challenge. Methods of protest and nonviolent struggle. Methods of political, economic and social non-cooperation. Foundations of nonviolent interventions. • Mobilization, advocacy and networking. • Shifts in political strategies. The participants will exchange ideas and information on the aforementioned topics after dividing them into groups, and the programmers, including specialists and experts, will follow up the participants after the training through the available modern means of communication such as e-mail and Skype in order to overcome obstacles or respond to the questions that the participants encounter when they research and apply the contents of the training. Practice the skills and knowledge acquired after the trainees return to their home countries:: After the participants return home; They will implement policy training curricula for a period of five months; It documents, reviews and analyzes government policies in the areas mentioned above. Participants will use methods of advocacy and advocacy and concrete procedures to ensure the project's wider spread and impact through a variety of methods, including conducting radio episodes on local or Internet radio on project progress steps and success stories in addition to publishing project outcomes on private website pages. Partner institutions and target organizations. The targeted institutions will also have a role in advocacy campaigns to address and monitor concerns and problems in their countries by using social media sites, publications, articles and publications, and disseminating information in the local community to mobilize audiences and initiate dialogue sessions with beneficiaries and stakeholders. The second phase of the training trip: Ideas and experiences will be exchanged with the trainees by presenting and discussing the reports or missions that were assigned to them in the first phase of the study trip to Egypt. Recommendations and methods for solving problems that the participating youth encountered during preparing their reports or research will be presented and proposals to solve these will be presented. Problems, in addition to visiting some partner institutions to view their methodology and strategies related to the objectives of the program. Certificates will be delivered upon the end of the second phase of the training trip. The Center for Civil Society Studies in Brief: The Center for Civil Society Studies was established in December 2001 as a non-partisan, non-profit Palestinian institution. It works in the field of community development, development and strengthening of civil society bases such as civil organizations and local initiatives arising from the needs of the Palestinian society. As a result of the political changes that occurred in the Palestinian society, represented by the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority and the first building block on the road to liberation and complete independence, it was necessary to work and contribute to building a state of institutions on the basis of the rule of law, freedom, equality, and social justice. Therefore, the Center seeks, through its vision and methodology of strengthening the status and role of civil society, and sponsoring and developing local initiatives for the various sectors of Palestinian society, to contribute to building the state of institutions along with all the efforts made by the active and living forces of society. The center works to achieve its goals by spreading culture and civic awareness to build the conscious and educated Palestinian citizen, regardless of political, intellectual or ethnic affiliation, and it also seeks to create an atmosphere appropriate for the construction process that our Palestinian people are going through in a way that serves its goals. The Center also attaches utmost importance to local initiatives because of their influential and effective role in working to meet the needs of different groups and work to achieve prosperity and stability in the Palestinian society. The center operates through three main units: democracy and governance, civil society, and studies and research. The Center implements many programs such as: democratic and electoral education, electoral monitoring, civic work, leadership development, institutional building, mobilization and influence, and scientific research and surveys. The objectives of the center: o Deepening democratic practices and behaviors in society by educating and educating citizens in the civil field. o Contributing to the development of young community leaders working to exercise their positive role in the construction and development processes. o Building the capacities of grassroots organizations and civil initiatives, organizing them, and strengthening the relationship between them and the various sectors of Palestinian society. o Contribute to creating a positive environment that would strengthen the relationship between the various Palestinian forces in pursuit of consensus. o Promote the values of integrity and transparency in the Palestinian society in pursuit of good governance.
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