Abdalla Naser Ali Alsadi
PROF. Ayman Yousef
NGOs AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN PALESTINE
20/5/2018
The Role of NGO’S in supporting Youth Sector
Sharek Youth Forum as case study
What is NGO'S ??
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or international level. Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information. Some are organized around specific issues, such as human rights, environment or health. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms and help monitor and implement international agreements. Their relationship with offices and agencies of the United Nations system differs depending on their goals, their venue and the mandate of a particular institution.
Why I select Youth sector ?
I select youth sector because these reasons
1. The youth is the sector whom build the state
2. Most of NGO leaders are youth and they have success stories
If we invest on youth , men and women , Educated and uneducated , rich and poor ; they lead to create conscious generation that carries the qualities of a good citizen and goes quickly in the process of nationalization and reform .
youth movements , trade unions , Popular organizations are complementary NGO at civil society
Youth statistics
Demographic and Social Characteristics of the Survey Sample
Of those surveyed, 74% live in the West Bank, 20% in the Gaza Strip and 6% in East Jerusalem.
As for gender, males constituted 45% of those surveyed and females made up 55%.
Within the three geographical areas, 50% of the surveyed youth live in cities, 34% in villages and 16% in refugee camps. In addition, 44% of the respondents are refugees and 56% of them are non-refugees.
. The results also show that 11% of the respondents are unemployed and 30% of them work part time,
while 34% work full-time. Twenty percent study full-time and 6% are dedicated to housekeeping,
these being females in almost all cases.
As for those employed, the results show that 31% of respondents work in the private sector and the same percentage are employed in governmental, civil, international or academic agencies,
7% are traders or have their own businesses, and 31% are employed in vocational professions.
3 out of 10 in the Palestinian society are young people
The percentage of youth (15-29) years in Palestine is 30% of the total population, distributed by 36% in the age group (15-19) years and 64% in the age group (20-29) years, and the proportion of sex among young people 104 males per 100 females, noting that the population estimates in Palestine in mid-2017 indicate that the total population reached about 4.95 million.
7 out of 10 families in Palestine have at least one young man Data from the Palestinian Youth Survey 2015 indicate that the percentage of households headed by youth (15-29) years is 14%, 13% in the West Bank and 17% in the Gaza Strip. The data also indicated that 72% of households have at least one youth, 71% in the West Bank and 74% in the Gaza Strip.
High unemployment among young people
The unemployment rate among young people (15-29) was 40% among youth in the labor force. The highest rate of unemployment among individuals in the age group (20-24) was 44% compared with 36% among individuals (25-29) Year
Unemployment of young graduates exceeded 50%
The unemployment rate among young graduates was 53% during the first quarter of 2017 (36% for males and 69% for females). The graduates of the natural sciences group scored the highest unemployment rate at 70% (48% for males and 78% for females). Unemployment rate reached 32% (19% for males and 49% for females)
Sharek Youth Forum
Sharek Youth Forum is an independent, non-partisan Palestinian initiative tackling development issues from a unique perspective. Sharek works to develop and empower youth as active participants in civil society and encourages youth to participate in Palestinian political, economic, and social affairs. As a nationally and internationally recognized platform, Sharek provides space for Palestinian youth to come together, develop their ideas, and implement projects aimed at community development and policy change. We envision a generation of youth, empowered with the skills and experience to become not only the foundation, but the leaders of Palestine’s future democratic society.
The primary philosophy centers on the principle of involving youth as active participants within civil society.
.The name, Sharek, the Arabic word for ‘participation’, reflects this fundamental approach to the organization's work.
The main aim is to provide a space for Palestinian youth to meet, develop ideas, think creatively, implement community development projects, and become better organized in order to meet the needs of the community and to experience participatory group processes within civil society.
Sharek’s key areas of intervention are the civic, economic, social, and cultural sectors of Palestinian society.
Focus on empowering young people economically, giving them the vocational and soft skills they will need to both access and succeed in the labor market. Our interventions also encourage effective citizenship, giving young people both the tools they need to demand greater representation and provision of services from decision-makers, and enabling them to take on leadership roles themselves, within their communities.
Finally, strategically cross-cut advocacy into all of our programs, lobbying for the change or dismantling of the structural barriers that adversely affect young people in Palestine
SHAREK HISTORY
Sharek Youth Forum was originally launched as an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) in 1996. The success of the initiative led to its institution in 2004 as a private, non-partisan, non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO).
Since its initiation Sharek has always performed ground work in the West Bank and Gaza and managed to build a broad network with youth from all over the Palestinian territories, as well as different local, national and international stakeholders from the public and private sector. Various programs were conducted in partnerships with ministries such as the Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, in order to connect youth’s interests with governmental institutions and achieve change on a structural level
What Skarek do ?
At this stage we review the most important projects that sharek doing
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP
PALESTINE TA3MAL
THE YOUTH VILLAGE
WORKING TOWARD CHANGE
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
STRATEGIC VISION
Through our economic empowerment programmes, we:
Develop the capacity of Palestinian youth, providing them with technical and life skills
Help them to access gainful employment
Create new start-ups and enterprises
Expose them to new ideas and opportunities through guest lectures, field trips, and experiential learning
We do this through a mixture of employability and entrepreneurship trainings, experiential learning, and career guidance.
PROGRAMME STATISTICS
13 years
Over 100,000 youth
Over 50 projects
43% men
57% women
Over 10,000 internships
220 start-ups supported
Over 12 partnerships with universities and colleges
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP
Through our active citizenship programmes, we:
Develop educational programmes for young people to raise their awareness of democratic processes, human rights, and participation
Build the capacity of young people to become leaders and frontrunners of Palestinian development
Encourage and support youth-led community-based activities that benefit both youth
and the wider community
PROGRAMME STATISTICS
13 years
Over 200,000 youth
40+ projects
45% men
55% women
THE YOUTH VILLAGE
Youth Village Objectives:
Provide environmental and cultural education for youth and children.
Protect land from the dangers of expropriation, settlement, or wrongful exploitation.
Provide an enjoyable natural environment for youth groups, to provide different community, educational, recreational, and physical activities.
Promote environmental/green investment (green building, alternative energy resources, pollution reduction, recycling, and optimum use of natural resources).
Provide young people withoutdoors experiences
The Youth Village consists of:
An ideal environment and an environmental education center
” A community center for capacity building
” A large space for outdoor exercise
” A camping area with residential facilities
” Arenas for adventures and challenges
5,600 young people visited the Youth Village in 2017
3,200 young people slept overnight
4,400 trees were planted by the youth
55 educational hiking trips were conducted
Enhancing Citizenship and Belonging:
The Youth Center encourages charity, volunteerism, and community work
Participants learn about the history and civilization of Palestine, as well as its rich cultural diversity ,through exposure to the experiences of others.
Explore the Palestinian Countryside:
Learn a variety of life skills and ways to live in different conditions by using the available resources.
Explore Palestine and its rural areas; enjoy its beauty; learn about its traditions, and exchange knowledge and experiences.
Camping, Marching, and other Outdoor Experiences
Target skills include teamwork, communication, leadership, responsibility, and time management.
The students will learn how to prepare meals and start fire places , as well as improve their navigational and map reading skills.
PALESTINE TA3MAL
Background: Youth unemployment remains high across the Middle East and particularly so in Palestine. ‘Palestine Ta3mal’ employability platform was launched in 2012 by Silatech and Microsoft Citizenship to support workplace development across the Middle East and North Africa region. To date, the network has benefited close to 500,000 youth. Our local partners arejobs.ps and the Ministry of Labor whom we’re collaboratively working with. Recently we’ve signed Memorandum of Understandings with most Palestinian universities across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Project Summary: Sharek Youth Forum has recently took over ‘Palestine Ta3mal’ project and we’re working hand in hand with youth from universities and educational centers across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Ta3mal is a regional employability portal that connects young people, youth and job-seekers to future career paths, online learning and job opportunities and links potential entrepreneurs to mentors, partners and funding prospects.
WORKING TOWARD CHANGE
Through our working towards change programmes, we:
Advocate on topical youth issues to government institutions in partnership with other civil society organizations and international stakeholders
Conduct local, national, and international campaigns advocating for the rights of young people to relevant stakeholders with the power to make change and raising youth awareness of important issues
Conduct electronic polls and surveys to understand youth views towards important issues and to help lessen the paucity of verified data on youth in Palestine
Publish an annual Status of Youth Report,
detailing our latest electronic polls and surveys demonstrating youth beliefs, views, and progress (or lack thereof)
Programme Statistics:
300,000 youth
50 Partner organizations
20 youth-led campaigns
4 Ministries
10 Municipalities
20 Village Councils
Our advocacy work is a core pillar of everything we do, taking a rights-based approach that seeks to redress the rights violations against young people who are unjustly impacted. We ensure a particular emphasis on young women who are doubly oppressed, as Palestinians under the Israeli occupation, and as women in a patriarchal Palestinian society. We believe this approach is vital to see long-lasting and sustainable change in Palestine.