International Youth Day 2026: Different Contexts, Common Aspirations

Celebrating International Youth Day 2026 

Ask a group of adolescents what they hope for their future, and their answers are often remarkably similar. They want to continue their education. They want supportive families and trusted friendships. They want the confidence to make decisions about their lives. Above all, they want the opportunity to pursue their dreams. 

In Jordan, these aspirations are shared by adolescents from many different backgrounds. Jordanian youth, refugee youth, and adolescents with disabilities may experience different realities, but they often share the same hopes for what comes next. 

For this year’s International Youth Day theme, Different Contexts, Common Aspirations, Pathfinder’s Act With Her model is particularly relevant. Act With Her partners with adolescents, families, mentors, and communities in Jordan from a diversity of backgrounds to help girls build the health, education, economic, and social foundations they need to thrive during the transition to adulthood. Rather than waiting until challenges such as school dropout or early marriage occur, the program reaches girls early, equipping them with knowledge, confidence, and supportive relationships that help them navigate the years ahead. 

The program has been thoughtfully adapted to Jordan’s context, including aligning sessions with the school calendar so adolescents can complete the curriculum during school breaks. Reflecting Jordan’s role as host to one of the world’s largest refugee populations, more than half of participants in the most recent cohort were refugee adolescents and their families, most of them from Syria. Together, these adaptations demonstrate how locally responsive programming can help more adolescents build the knowledge, confidence, and supportive relationships they need to navigate adolescence and shape their futures. 

From 2021 to 2026, the Act With Her project has:  

• Reached 5,532 very young adolescents (ages 10–14) and 2,399 older adolescents (ages 15–19) with life skills development, sexual and reproductive health education, mentorship, and community engagement 

• Reached 2,975 parents of very young adolescents and 1,157 parents of older adolescents with resources and education on supporting their children with open, communicative parenting  

• Referred more than 1,546 project participants to health, psychosocial, and educational services  

Act With Her has shown us that when adolescents are given safe spaces to learn, grow, and lead, they discover not only their own potential, but also how much they have in common with one another. For adolescent girls especially, those opportunities can shape the course of their lives.

Why adolescence matters 

The years between ages 10 and 14 are more than just a bridge between childhood and adulthood. They are a period when young people begin forming their identities, building confidence, and imagining the futures they want for themselves. It is also a time when social expectations around gender, education, and relationships begin to influence the choices available to them. 

For many girls in Jordan, those years can bring additional challenges. Restrictive gender norms, limited opportunities for participation, concerns about early marriage, and unequal access to information can narrow the possibilities they see for their future. Refugee girls often face these same challenges alongside the realities of displacement and economic uncertainty. Yet these girls are not defined by vulnerability. They are resilient young people with aspirations, talents, and enormous potential. 

Investing in adolescents before these challenges become barriers can make all the difference. 

Creating spaces where every voice matters 

At the heart of Act With Her are empowerment clubs—safe, supportive spaces where adolescent girls and boys come together with trained near-peer mentors to discuss communication, confidence, health, gender equality, and future aspirations. These sessions are designed to be interactive, encouraging young people to ask questions, share experiences, and learn from one another rather than simply receive information. 

For many participants, the experience goes beyond learning new skills. 

Girls who once hesitated to speak begin expressing their opinions with confidence. They become more comfortable asking questions, supporting one another, and imagining futures they may not have considered before. As confidence grows, so does their belief that their voices matter. 

“One of the most meaningful aspects of Act With Her is the way the program brings adolescents together regardless of their nationality, background, or ability. Within the empowerment clubs, refugees and Jordanian adolescents—including adolescents with disabilities—sit side by side in the same learning spaces, sharing experiences, supporting one another, and building genuine friendships based on mutual respect, inclusion, and trust.” 
—Dr. Wejdan, Program Director, Pathfinder International Jordan

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Different backgrounds, shared dreams 

Within the empowerment clubs, labels begin to fade. Adolescents discover that they face many of the same questions, hopes, and uncertainties, regardless of background. Together, they build friendships, collaborate on community initiatives, and learn that diversity strengthens their ideas rather than divides them. 

Huda Hajjaj, the program’s Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Officer, has witnessed these connections firsthand. 

“In many discussions, girls from different backgrounds quickly realize they have a lot in common,” she explains. “They face the same challenges, ask the same questions, and often share similar hopes for the future.”
—Huda Hajjaj, MEL Senior Officer, Act With Her

That realization helps foster empathy, mutual respect, and a stronger sense of belonging—qualities that extend beyond the classroom and into families and communities.

When possibilities begin to change 

Sometimes, the most meaningful changes begin with a simple shift in perspective. Huda recalls one girl who believed her future had already been decided. She expected that she would marry young, stay home, and raise children because she believed those were the only options available to her. 

After participating in the program, something changed. 

She began focusing more on school, improving her academic performance, and imagining herself at university studying a subject she genuinely enjoyed. She still hopes to have a family one day, but now sees that as one choice among many, rather than the only future available to her. 

“The moment when a girl shifts from ‘this is my only path’ to ‘I have options’ is something I see as really powerful,” Huda says. 

Supporting girls means supporting communities 

Empowering girls cannot happen in isolation. Act With Her works with boys, parents, caregivers, mentors, and communities to help create environments where adolescents are respected, supported, and encouraged to pursue their aspirations. Parents strengthen communication with their children. Boys gain a better understanding of gender equality and respectful relationships. Communities become more supportive of girls’ education and participation. 

These relationships matter because lasting change depends on more than individual confidence. It requires families, schools, and communities that believe in young people’s potential and create opportunities for them to succeed. 

Investing in the future 

International Youth Day is an opportunity to recognize not only the challenges young people face, but also the possibilities they represent. Across Jordan, adolescents from different backgrounds continue to demonstrate resilience, creativity, and leadership when given the opportunity to do so. Their stories remind us that investing in adolescents goes beyond helping them overcome obstacles. It is about creating the conditions for them to shape their own futures—and, in doing so, strengthening the future of their communities and their country. 

Different contexts may shape young people’s experiences, but their aspirations remain remarkably similar. When we invest in those aspirations early, we invest in a more inclusive, equitable, and hopeful future for everyone.