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Youth engagement

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

The Youth Local Councils (YLC) in Palestine became very active on social networks; all opened a Facebook page and a common page was created to exchange best practices. The bringing-together of the YLCs in networking meetings and training and promoting a mentoring system to support new participants and retain the experience and expertise of young participants reaching the age limit of 22 were mentioned by a number of beneficiaries.
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

Data collection and analysis would have been more useful to the project and to future planning, if it was disaggregated by sex. This allows gender to be appropriately programmed and for a more gender-sensitive understanding of the potential and risks in any activity. Although this project in Palestine did pay attention to gender in many ways, it was a pity that the pre- and post-tests did not and so did not allow to measure whether there was a difference between the understanding/learning of male and female participants (and thus to see where changes to training or activities might be made).
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine

The young people themselves had creative ideas about how to secure both funds and in-kind support for their activities; however repeatedly having to source such support can over time become a disincentive to participation. Despite the strong commitment to volunteerism created and promoted by the project, it would have been a good idea to increase the attention given to fundraising during the training provided to the elected Youth Local Council members and to bring in an experienced fundraiser to deliver such training so that the young participants would have access to the resources necessary to implement their many creative ideas.
Project Partner
Almawrid Teacher Development Centre
Project Description
The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.
Evaluation Date
December 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

Participants confirmed the usefulness of the training and in particular the access they were given to decision makers in Palestine. The students particularly enjoyed the small group discussions involved. Both facilitators and decision makers commented on the enthusiasm of the students and their willingness to participate.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

The grantee had set indicators for sustainability that related to individual follow-up, and these were largely met. There were many examples of participants following up the project with individual initiatives, and additionally the grantee continues to engage with the participants through a monthly discussion group, on-line forum and informal contacts in Palestine.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

Restrictions on movement in Palestine were taken into account in project implementation as far as possible, however they are a significant hurdle to full implementation and effectiveness as well as to impact.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

The impact of the project was significant at an individual level, with a number of participants putting their training into action within their communities in Palestine – through training, organization of meetings, campaigns and on-line exchange.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

The students emerged from the training eager to act. The major criticism of the project from participants was that they were not given enough concrete guidance on what form this action might take or how they should go about organizing. The training focused on improving understanding of theoretical concepts – tolerance, human rights, discrimination – and did not cover practical skills such as project design and management, fundraising and reporting, and evaluation and monitoring, which would have better equipped students to put their newly established knowledge into practice in their communities in Palestine.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

It was clear that the political situation in the Palestinian Territories and in particular the imposition of movement restrictions, the impasse in peace negotiations and the continued frustration of the Palestinians, limited the impact of the projects at a wider societal level. This limitation was of course beyond the control of the grantee.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

The students themselves are active as a Facebook group. This, however, is the only real link between the West Bank and Gaza participants, and the evaluators noted that maintaining links between the two areas of Palestine is a continuing challenge.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country