From 2013 to 2018, the USAID-funded Partnerships with Youth (PWY) Program expanded educational and leadership opportunities for over 24,500 youth throughout the West Bank by creating sustainable hubs for innovation and learning, called Youth Development Resource Centers.

The program supported ten youth centers in each of the 11 governorates in the West Bank to offer otherwise unavailable services for young people ages 14–29.

Activities prepared youth for a successful transition to adulthood and catalyzed economic and civic participation in their communities.

• The program, its partners, and youth centers reached more than 24,500 youth in all districts of the West Bank through internships, community service projects, and over 1,400 trainings.
• 48% of the 500 youth who participated in program internships and fellowship programs gained employment as a result.
• 1,415 youth learned the necessary information and technology skills to be more competitive in the job market.
• 3,768 youth participated in more than 100 youth-led community initiatives, implementing projects to improve or solve problems in their communities.
• Program staff assisted youth centers in developing a network of 146 local, regional, and international partners, including large organizations like the National Beverage Company (Coca-Cola) and the Bank of Palestine, and local companies like Trust Insurance (Qalqilya).
• Microsoft provided over $400,000 in support for five of the centers, in addition to digital literacy trainings.

• Build strong and resilient Palestinian youth centers throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem that offer safe spaces for youth to grow and develop into successful and well-rounded adults.
• Provide youth access to building blocks—skills, knowledge, and practical experience—that will allow them to find and maintain employment, engage in their communities, and recognize their value and ability to contribute.
• Create partnerships between youth centers and public- and private-sector entities to expand and sustain innovative programming for youth.

• Performance improvement for youth-serving organizations: The program provided comprehensive organizational development training, technical assistance, and other support for the youth centers to build their capacity to offer youth development and engagement programming.
• Innovative employability, media, and technology programming: With support from the program, youth centers offered a variety of training courses and other activities in key topics: employability, media skills, information and communications technology, and other thematic areas such as languages, sports, and arts and culture.
• Leadership training for youth: Staff offered a five-day Leadership in Action training course customized for the Palestinian context that trained youth to become active leaders and change agents in their own communities.
• Youth-led initiatives: Youth received funds to design and implement community initiatives. The opportunity provided them with practical ways to apply their leadership, planning, and program management skills.
• Internship programs: Recent graduates gained practical work experience and increased their communication and leadership skills by participating in program-supported internships.
• Partnership development: Staff worked across sectors to create strategic partnerships at the international, national, and local levels to expand the reach and impact of USAID's investment in youth development in the West Bank and contribute to the sustainability of the youth development resource centers.

Partnerships with Youth has more than 70 partners from across the West Bank. Its network of partners includes:

Hannah Spiers, hspiers@irex.org