The Social Development Centre (Nama) has concluded a series of workshops it launched to train trainers on the National Guide for Youth Peer Education.

The first group started training in December 2019 and the second group on February 9 to February 12, 2020.

A total of more than 20 young people aged 18 to 30 years participated in the training that aims at qualifying trainers capable of training for the National Guide, which was prepared by Nama in co-operation with the UNFPA.

Commenting on the programme, Director of Community Services at Nama, Maryam bint Abdullatif al-Mannai, said: "Today, we celebrate another milestone for the National Guide for Youth Peer Education.

We have concluded a series of workshops that trained trainers to work proficiently on the Guide in order to achieve its goals."

She noted that after the conclusion of the training workshops, a National Team of Peer Educators was formed.

The Youth Education Guide is the first of its kind in Qatar, and the second in the region after Oman, since the establishment of the Peer Education Programme in 2001.

The programme is assessed and developed in different regions of the world.

Assessments have shown that the programme has succeeded in "improving the levels of knowledge". Thus, the initiative has expanded and developed its training tools and local and regional networks, as well as its online presence.

While there are other programmes in the field of behaviour change, the "peer education" programme is distinguished by providing planning, management, and continuity in the initiatives, and meeting the different needs of target groups through behaviour-based approaches, as well as providing peer educators with information on how to approach their peers or organise their work, monitor them, report and improve the programme.

It is the result of concerted efforts and partnership with the United Nations Population Fund and the Social Development Centre — Nama, and was based on the results of field work that were rendered into a report on the situation of young people in Qatar and the challenges they face.

Al-Mannai said that the guide targets trainers of trainers in the field of youth empowerment and is diversified and tackles different social, economic and health conditions and factors.

She further noted that peer educators themselves receive a large amount of material

during the training that would help develop their knowledge and skills, but the scope of its use extends to include those who work with youth, be it individual, institutions, youth policy programme developers, schools, youth centres, voluntary youth programmes, teachers and other educators, and health, social and psychological mentors in formal and informal educational programmes, and those working with parents and the environment surrounding the youth.



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