Funded by: United States Embassy (Amman), Public Affairs Office.
Term: October 2021 – June 2023.
Objective:
The Team is a multi-episode TV series, which Search has produced in 20 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Search-Jordan leveraged the famous TV series to produce a web series called Hara United, which follows a fictional soccer team of diverse members who represent a microcosm of Jordanian society. Characters are challenged to overcome their differences—be they cultural, ethnic, religious, tribal, racial, or socioeconomic—and work together to win the game. By showcasing dialogue and tolerance, this project reinforces non-sectarianism, tolerance, and respect for Jordan’s multicultural society. This project sought to 1) increase collaborative reflection among youth on building locally relevant messages that foster tolerance and mutual understanding and 2) promote a shift in perceptions of youth and their communities with regard to their role as active citizens in enhancing grassroots social cohesion, tolerance, and multiculturalism in Jordan.
The web series, broadcasted on YouTube, consists of 10 webisodes and has cultivated more than 54,000 views. After launching, Search organized a public screening event and focus group discussions, to measure the project’s overall impact and receptiveness across the target audience. Correspondingly, 91% of youth participants and community members reported that targeted messages promote multiculturalism and social cohesion. In addition, 75% of viewers and target community stakeholders started to positively perceive people belonging to different sectarian, ethnic, religious, and social groups after watching ‘Hara United’.
Approach:
Applying Common Ground Approach: Enable stakeholders to find critical linkages and connections across dividing lines. By engaging youth and adults across divides in Jordan, they will contribute to new social norms of civic engagement, inclusion, and social cohesion.
Applying Media for Social Change: Equip youth and community members with critical thinking and dialogue skills that form the basis of civic engagement. Throughout the show, the Team cast will portray a strong will to engage across divides and find common solutions to overcome their differences. During the pre-production phase, the participants can build their leadership skills and test their newly acquired capacities.
Applying Youth Participatory Approaches: Through various activities such as youth-led dialogue sessions and script development summits, Search will ensure a collaborative reflection among youth, to develop relevant messages that foster tolerance and mutual understanding. Additionally, perceptions and tensions discussed among different community stakeholders, especially youth, will inform the webisodes’ content and scripts. This way, Search ensures the show is relevant to the audience’s experiences.
