New York, NY — January 5th, 2026 — Global Nomads announced today the launch of a regional initiative that engages youth from across the Arab world in co-creating an Arabic-language digital learning experience aimed at countering polarization and strengthening unity among young people.

Through Global Nomads’ Content Creation Lab (CCL), a group of youth representing diverse identities, ages, and backgrounds will design an original educational course exploring inherited divisions and proposing inclusive, youth-centered narratives of cohesion. The CCL model is intentionally designed to foster collaboration, creative engagement, and trust-building across lines of difference. 

Polarization, the deepening of divisions between groups based on identity, beliefs, or lived experience, continues to shape social and civic life across the region. This project addresses those divisions directly by giving youth ownership over how identity is represented and transmitted. Participants will reflect critically on inherited narratives and construct alternative stories grounded in shared values such as dignity, respect, and solidarity, with a focus on lifting the perspectives of historically marginalized and underrepresented communities.

Through this youth-led, participatory process, participants will develop skills in storytelling, collaboration, and cross-group understanding. As part of the initiative, youth participants will:

• Examine inherited narratives: Research and share personal and community stories that illuminate how identities and divisions have been shaped over time.
• Build dialogue and empathy across differences: Engage in facilitated cross-regional exchanges that humanize “the other” and nurture shared identity.
• Co-create and disseminate youth-driven narratives: Collaboratively design a digital course exploring polarization and envisioning unity for young learners across the region.
• Globalize youth perspectives: Translate and adapt the course into English for implementation across Global Nomads’ global network, connecting Arab youth insights to international conversations on social cohesion.

This project is generously funded by the Ford Foundation, whose support enables youth across the region to lead and shape narratives that build belonging and strengthen community resilience.

About Global Nomads

Global Nomads has over 25 years of experience addressing cross-cultural conflict and polarization through virtual exchange and youth-centered program design, reaching young people in more than 60 countries each year. Since its first major initiative in the Arab world in 2003 – facilitating a live dialogue between U.S. youth and Iraqi refugees at the invitation of Prince Hassan bin Talal – the organization has continued to implement programs that amplify youth voices and bridge global divides.

About the Content Creation Lab

Global Nomads’ Content Creation Lab engages youth as interns with a stipend to co-create digital curricula on issues that matter to them, including bias in artificial intelligence, human rights, and mental health. A recent external evaluation found that 90% of participants reported increased empathy and cultural understanding, and 89% intended to apply their learning to contribute positively to their communities.