Project
Citizens: empowering local communities, improving local governance
- Youth engagement
- Interaction with government
- Palestine
- March 2023
Zimam’s Leadership Incubator wants to inspire young leaders and give them the confidence and training to inspire their communities. The program offers policy and problem-solving workshops, engagement and meetings with business, political, and social leaders, and opportunities for youth to implement their own initiatives aimed at social transformation. In doing so, we can empower young people to realize their potential as confident and capable change-makers who can lead their communities. Project activities also incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis as it impacts youth.
- Youth engagement
- Interaction with government
- Palestine
- March 2023
Given the numerous challenges of the Palestinian context, it is increasingly relevant to engage Palestinian youth in order to increase their individual resilience and help them cope with the stress they face. Youth in Gaza face double exclusion compared to their peers in the West Bank as a result of settlements and internal conflict, which makes engaging them more difficult and therefore requires additional funding, effort, and monitoring to achieve meaningful change and results.
- Youth engagement
- Interaction with government
- Palestine
- March 2023
This project has demonstrated that even in the complex and difficult context of Palestine, setting realistic objectives in terms of the number of beneficiaries and communities of intervention, and adopting a pragmatic approach that includes relevant and useful activities such as training and community services, can engage different target groups, regardless of their political affiliations and sensitivities, and generate impact at both the individual and community levels.
- Youth engagement
- Interaction with government
- Palestine
- March 2023
The case of the grantee Zimam demonstrated that even though the organisation did not have a significant track record, the quality of the project proposal submitted by the grantee’s finance team could demonstrate their capability to manage funds. Indeed, UNDEF showed audacity and open-mindedness in agreeing to fund this young organisation.
The following were the factors for a well-designed and effectively implemented youth engagement project:
- The project design with a theory of change that was shared and assimilated by the implementation team and the implementing partners.
- The strategy used to enter new communities, which was pragmatic, culturally sensitive, and politically neutral.
- The choice of implementing partners (they were from within the communities, credible, and well-known at the local level).
- The partnership strategy, which was based on empowering implementing partners and building their capacity.
- The adequate approach for positive youth engagement (recognition, accountability, and exploring their potential).
- The quality of the training programme and the diversity of learning formats.
- Well thought-out communication.
