It’s been another exciting quarter at the AMEL Institute, where young leaders across Africa and the Middle East are boosting their knowledge, skills and networks!

The AMEL Institute brings together young civil society activists, changemakers, and human rights defenders from all over the Middle East and Africa to engage in a unique online training program. The Institute is designed to further build the skills and deepen the knowledge of young activists (18-35 years old) so that they can apply their activism in more efficient ways, respecting human rights for all and protecting their own safety and well-being. The Institute runs for 8 weeks, combining video lectures, live sessions, discussions, and quizzes on topics including building nonviolent movements, conflict transformation and genocide prevention, among others. The video lectures and live sessions feature renowned international scholars from Harvard and Stanford universities, as well as highly experienced activists from Africa and the Middle East.

Our Spring 2024 cohort kicked off in April with one of our most diverse cohorts to date. More than 280 young civic activists from 40 different countries in Africa and the Middle East enrolled in our interactive online training program. This cohort is composed of youth changemakers from various backgrounds, approximately evenly split between genders and regions (about half from the Middle East and about half from Africa). Averaging about 27 years of age, about half of the cohort is human rights activists, about one third are peace activists and the remainder are activists for democracy/good governance or another activism cause.

While more than 300 were originally accepted into the program, conflicts and other challenges have prevented some from being able to participate. The AMEL team, including numerous volunteer Alumni Mentors, have been working to mitigate these challenges by offering customized support, ongoing mentoring and some offline options. Additionally, we offer all course content in English, Arabic and French for increased accessibility. The trainees have already been sharing positive feedback regarding their experience, welcoming this unique opportunity to learn, share and discuss in a safe inclusive space.

While that cohort will wrap up by the end of June, a new cohort will be launching in July.  The Summer 2024 program will take place from early July to early September and applications are being accepted until June 30th. During 8 interactive weeks of training, selected changemakers will learn about a range of topics, including:

• Activism self-care and safety, including digital security

• Human rights and gender equity

• Genocide prevention, including Holocaust and Yazidi case studies, and building allyship

• Conflict transformation and non-violent movement building

• Democratic development

• Communicating about your activism causes, including using new media tools

The AMEL Institute is geared towards young changemakers who are working to address issues such as inequalities, injustices, conflicts, repression and governance challenges. The Institute is a place for young leaders who recognize that every single human being on earth is equal in rights and dignity and that there is a critical need for new and creative approaches to ensuring rights and equality for all. By participating in the AMEL Institute, young civic activists not only build their knowledge and networks, but also gain practical skills for stepping up their change-making locally and nationally, while creating momentum for human rights, pluralism and democracy regionally and globally.

Interested? Learn more, spread the word and apply here.