MEPI in the Palestinian Territories

The following lists ongoing and completed programs in the Palestinian Territories, as well as providing a link to Regional Programs, where an organization is working in two or more countries simultaneously. Wherever possible, we have provided a link to the organization’s home page. 

Ongoing Programs:

The following programs are specific to the Palestinian territories (unless otherwise identified).  [MEPI reform pillars are listed brackets].

Community Action Center (CAC)

Students Volunteers' Bureau [Education] – This project targets Palestinian youth in the Old City of East Jerusalem in an effort to increase their public participation and civic activism.  CAC plans to meet its objectives through the creation of an effective mechanism for training student volunteers and placing them in appropriate civil society organizations according to their skills and interests.  The project also aims to create a Volunteer Placement Service, while promoting volunteerism and opportunities for youth.

Ekhbaryat Network for Information and Publishing

Journalism Graduates Tackle Sensitive Social Issues [Education] – This project is helping develop the skills of newly graduated journalism students in Jenin, Nablus, and the northern West Bank.  Participants are coached by experienced journalists to write investigative reports on local social issues, to be published on several news websites, such as Ekhbaryat.net.  Other young journalists in the program are learning how to produce TV debates and reports dealing with major social issues, which will be broadcast on local TV stations, such as Nablus TV.

Ibdaa Cultural Center

Youth-Led Social Change Project [Education] – Working in the Dheisheh refugee camp, Ibdaa selects young people and works with them to define their roles and responsibilities as agents of social change. Through awareness-raising campaigns and community development activities, this project empowers these young participants by providing them with the necessary communication and critical thinking skills to develop and articulate their opinions as they seek out ways to improve their communities.

Association of Women’s Committees for Social Work (AWCSW)

Young Women‘s Leadership Program [Women] - This project organizes training sessions, outreach activities, and public forums to empower young Palestinian women activists in several marginalized communities to better utilize their leadership skills and capacities in public service, community development, and in the local decision-making process.  The project enables young women to become more active in public life by sharing their needs, concerns, and demands with local government officials, while developing and implementing action plans.

Pal Vision (Ruya)

Youth Achievement [Democracy, education] – Working with young Palestinians between the ages of 13-17, Pal Vision aims to empower these youth to take leading roles and responsibilities as citizens and agents for peace, justice, and social change in the Nablus area.  Carefully selected youth mentors and participants are trained to use innovative, non-violent, community-based methods to increase democratic participation in the development of their local communities.

International Palestinian Youth League (IPYL)

Empowerment of Youth through Civic Engagement [Education] – This project aims to revive the civic pride of young men and women in Hebron by playing a role as leaders and agents for progressive change in their communities and by using the media as the tool for this change. The participants receive intensive training in civic engagement, researching social issues, and developing technical skills in different media instruments to produce TV and radio programs to be broadcasted on local stations.

Cultural Center of Narsan (NRSAN)

Building Youth Capacity in Democracy & Citizenship [Democracy] – NRSAN is promoting democratic practices and women’s political participation by empowering civil society activists to run workshops, training sessions, advocacy efforts, and public awareness campaigns within the Yatta area and 30 surrounding villages in Hebron.  Through this project, local leaders are being taught how to promote their own reform efforts.  The trainees and NRSAN then implement activities, including educational campaigns and radio and TV programs, designed to have a positive impact on their communities.

International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC)

Raising Jerusalemite Awareness on Urban Rights [Economic] – IPCC is promoting public awareness within Palestinian communities on issues related to housing rights in an effort to overcome administrative obstacles and more effectively deal with urban planning challenges.  By holding public meetings and publishing manuals that address proper and legal paths toward securing civil liberties, IPCC hopes to help solve collective problems facing many people in East Jerusalem.  In particular, this project focuses on areas near the Old City, where house demolitions have increased during the last few years. 

Juhoud for Community and Rural Development

Promoting National Volunteer Coordination [Education, Women] – This project aims at establishing an effective nationwide coordination unit to stimulate interest in and increase accessibility to volunteerism.  Once formed, the “volunteer coordination unit” will lead a recruiting campaign, advertise volunteer positions for organizations, and provide literature and other resources as a means for women and youth to become more involved in reform activities at the local level.  With this grant, Juhoud is also organizing a national conference on volunteer work in the West Bank.

Near East Foundation (NEF)

Women + Jobs + Banks = Better Economy [Women] – In an effort to increase cash flow to local economies by generating self-sustaining jobs, this project is creating a network of mobile bankers and training them to better understand issues of credit, loans, and other banking procedures.  The participants, who are primarily women, will promote bank loans to clients in rural areas and facilitate the loan application process between clients and banks.  NEF also is developing and providing participants with a guidebook on applying for loans, while financially supporting them as they begin their work as mobile bankers.

Society Voice Foundation (SVF)

Enhance Women’s Leadership and Civic Democratic Participation: Campaigning to Stop Honor Killings [women] – This project plans to empower 150 young Palestinians – primarily women with media, public relations, and journalism backgrounds – to lobby for legislation criminalizing “honor killings” and all forms of violence against women.  After conducting an analysis of current legislation on honor killing crimes, in which women and young girls are sacrificed by their family members, SVF will lead workshops and training sessions to develop advocacy skills among project participants.  A steering committee will then be formed to recommend amendments to existing legislation or advocate for a new draft law.