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The Partnership with Youth (PwY) Program will expand educational and leadership opportunities for youth age 14-29 throughout the West Bank by creating sustainable hubs for youth innovation and learning.The five-year, USAID-funded Partnerships with Youth program builds on and expands USAID-supported Youth Development Resource Centers (YDRCs) to create opportunities with and for youth - for active youth learning and innovation in the West Bank. The program will improve the organizational environment of three existing YDRCs, establish eight new YDRCs, and build a network of youth centers in rural areas. IREX and USAID will also build supportive partnerships so that youth have better access to educational and leadership opportunities that respond to their aspirations. Through the improved YDRC structure, IREX, USAID and their partners will introduce a Palestinian Positive Youth Development and Service Learning Approach that will lead to developing and implementing a national youth engagement and participation strategy.
Read the project factsheet [7]
• Expand educational and leadership opportunities for youth age 14-29 throughout the West Bank by creating sustainable hubs for youth innovation and learning.
• Strengthen institutional capacity of Palestinian youth-serving organizations.
• Strengthen youth leadership and development through improved youth programming.
• Increase and expand technical and employability skills of male and female youth.
• Develop and strengthen partnerships at the national and local levels to support youth development programming.
Comprising nearly 30 percent of the population with 25 percent enrollment in higher education, and demonstrating phenomenal passion for their communities, youth aged 14-29 in the West Bank are poised to make meaningful contributions to their communities. However, their vast potential is limited: by societal norms that push young people to the margins and by the long-waited peaceful solution to the prolonged Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the consequent limited exposure of young people to opportunities to constructively participate. An antiquated higher education system does not equip university students with skills needed to participate in the local economy and the economy cannot absorb the volume of youth entering the labor force.
•Capacity-building for youth-serving organizations. YDRCs will serve as sustainable hubs for youth learning and innovation and as centers for youth to serve their communities. IREX and USAID - in consultation with stakeholders - will develop selection criteria for new YDRCs. IREX will provide comprehensive capacity-building and organizational development support for YDRCs over the life of the project, and will build a network of Palestinian NGOs that will in their turn establish long term partnerships with the YDRCs to support to youth development and engagement programming.
•Professional development for stakeholders. IREX and partner Emergence International, Inc. will provide intensive professional development for youth development stakeholders at the national, municipal, and local levels, developing their knowledge and skills in applying a holistic positive youth development approach to youth policy and programming.
•Partnership development. IREX will work across sectors to create effective and supportive partnerships at the national level, and will build capacity of YDRCs and support them in creating supportive partnerships in their districts and with national and international institutions. IREX will collaborate with the Higher Council of Youth and Sport in implementation and provide capacity-building in key areas.
•Internship programs. Internship programs provide unique opportunities for recent graduates to develop employability skills. IREX and partners will provide internship opportunities to youth across key sectors that focus on building technical and employability skills
•Innovative media, ICT, and thematic programs. Youth in the West Bank will develop pre-employment and marketable employability skills through active engagement in media activities, information communications technology (ICT) programs, and other areas such as English language, sports, drama, and environment.
•Leadership training for youth. IREX and Emergence International, Inc. will work with local youth to design and offer basic and advanced leadership and community engagement training that will build youth skills, promote community engagement, and afford networking opportunities.
•Youth leader exchanges. Cadres of youth leaders will be competitively selected for regional and cross-regional exchange opportunities, opening doors to new ideas and innovations in youth development
pwy@irex.org [8]