Ahmad Alhendawi of Jordan is the first ever United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth. He assumed office in February 2013.
He previously worked as a Team Leader for the World Bank funded programme to the League of Arab States on Institutional Development to Strengthen Arab Policy and Participation. Prior to this, he served as the Youth Policy Advisor in the League of Arab States in Cairo and as an officer in the Technical Secretariat of the Arab Youth and Sports Ministers Council. Past experience also includes serving as a Team Leader for the National Youth Policy Project in Iraq, a Youth Programme Associate at the Iraq office of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and as an Emergency Programme Officer at the non-governmental organization Save the Children. As a regional consultant, he has also supported the Danish Youth Council's projects in the Middle East and North Africa.
Born in 1984, Mr. Alhendawi holds a Master’s degree in Advanced European and International relations, a diploma as “Policy Officer in European and International Organizations” from the Institut Européen in Nice, and a Bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from the Al-Balqa Applied University in Jordan.
Mr. Alhendawi is a strong youth advocate at the national, regional and international levels. He was among the cofounders of All Jordan Youth Commission and the Youth for Democracy Network at the Jordanian Commission for Democratic Culture which he headed. Internationally, he is a cofounder of the International Youth Council, based in New York.
Mr. Alhendawi has written extensively on youth and civil society, including: “Working with Youth in the MENA Region, an Introductory Guide to NGO programming in Support of the Inclusion of Youth”, published by the Danish Youth Council and on the role of civil society in the Arab spring: A comparison between the role of social movements and NGOs in the Egyptian uprising. In addition, he is a recipient of the Youth Action Net Fellowship as a Young Social Entrepreneur by the International Youth Foundation in Washington DC.
