Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights was nominated recently for the EuroMed Youth Awards 2013, awarded by the Euromed Youth Programme IV funded by the European Union, against the backdrop of obtaining permission from the EuroMed Youth Unit in the Ministry of Youth and Sports to implement an innovative project entitled; "Enhancing Capacity Development for Youth Participation in Local Governance"

Maat is expected to be awarded as one of the prominent project implementers during a celebration in the Dead Sea – Jordan within the framework of the EU-funded Euromed Youth and Youth in Action Programs, for the second edition of the event “Euromed Youth Awards”, with the aim of celebrating the significant achievements of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in the field of youth between June 10th -14th, 2013.

Only four projects from Europe and four from the Euromed neighbor countries will be awarded out of 41 competing projects. The awarding process will be worked out based on the: level of

matching with regional and national priorities; quality of the partnership; general sustainability of the project; strategic potential of the project for the development of both Programs; added value of the project; local impact of the project; involvement of participants; involvement of partners; educational dimension of the project (competencies, learning outcomes); innovation and changes proposed by the project.

"Enhancing Capacity Development for Youth Participation in Local Governance" program is expected to be launched during the next few weeks; it works on providing a Training of Trainers for young activists in several Arab and European states, to develop their capacity and refine their skills relative to effective participation in local governance and to support good local governance.

The program aims to provide sustainable mechanisms to build the capacity of young people willing to engage in the work of local political governance; prepare young leaders and NGOs actors in the field of community work; and advance the Arab youth participation in local governance. It's worth mentioning that the program is a completion of the foundation's work on supporting decentralization and good local governance, it takes the foundation's concerns in this issue to regional horizons through providing frameworks for the exchange of expertise between youth from different states with various experiences in local administration system and the nature of youth participation in local governance institutions.