Exchanging knowledge between Africa and the Middle East

Late May MS ActionAid Denmark sent 4 people from partner organizations in the Middle East to the governance-training course arranged by MS Training Centre for Development Cooperation in Arusha (Tanzania).

Thomas Fjendbo and Laura Toft Nielsen

15. July 2010

 

There were two parallel courses in Arusha at the same time. While Eman Abedrabbo from ActionAid Australia (Palestine) and Cindy Mizher from Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth (Lebanon) attended a course in Empowerment, Samaa Zistaiti from Medical Relief (Palestine) and Amer Tubeishat connected with Al-Thoria Center (Jordan) attended the course on governance accountability.

The course was appreciated by the participants even though the meeting with the African culture at some point was a challenge. “There is a big difference in all respects between the Middle East and Africa, but I believe that the exchange of cultures expands the scope of thinking and creativity,” says Sama. She thinks that even though the reality and the conditions in Africa is very different from Palestine, where she comes from, the trends and requirements found from the African background material can still be useful in a Middle Eastern context.

In the course on civic empowerment, Eman found the part about women empowerment especially interesting. “We saw a movie about women in Rwanda and it really made an impression. I am convinced that I can pass on my new knowledge on for example the forum theatre” Eman says. Forum theatre was developed in Latin-America in the 1960’s as a special kind of performance, where the distinction between reality and theatre is lifted by inviting the audience with their ideas on stage. The aim of Forum Theatre is to change the spectator from a passive to an active participant and to encourage people to get active and engage in dialogue about issues of concern within a given society.

For Sama the way of analysing problems, causes and potential solutions was a great new achievement during the course of accountability. “I believe it is easier for me now to identify strength and weaknesses in the local community where I work. I can apply my experiences in my work with improving the rights of disabled groups and strengthen their presence.”  

The course served its purpose as the content fits well into the interconnected multilevel approach of MS ActionAid Denmark for the region. The competencies earned by the participating individual will be used in capacity building of the partner NGOs. In this way the course improves the capacity of NGO´s in the region that is working for empowerment of youth and capacity building of youth organizations as well as NGO´s that is working towards improved responsiveness and accountability of local government in regard to youth issues.