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Investing in Youth, Investing in the Future: Beita Youth Development Resource Center is inaugurated by UPP Co-Chairs and Under Secretary Glassman
With shouts of delight, young people in Beita village raced in last night to explore their newly renovated youth club. From top to bottom, the Beita Youth Development Resource Center (YDRC) in the northern West Bank village had been expanded, renovated, and refurbished, thanks to funds provided through the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership (UPP), with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and in partnership with the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS). |
Girl scouts welcome the delegation with song |
Jean Case and Minister Abu Daqqa unveil the official plaque. |
Earlier that evening, the Beita YDRC was officially opened by the UPP Co-Chairs Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation, and Ziad Asali, the President of the American Task Force on Palestine . Case and Asali had come to Beita village to see - firsthand - the impact that the YDRC will have on the youth of Beita and surrounding villages.
They were accompanied by Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James K. Glassman, the Minister for Youth and Sports Tahani Abu Daqqa, and the Governor of Nablus Dr. Jamal Muhaisen. |
For Under Secretary Glassman, the newly renovated building was a wise investment in the future of Palestinian youth. “Through its economic and social programs, the Partnership is laying the foundation for a sustainable and independent Palestinian state,” said Glassman. “Young people are the future. I hope that the Beita Youth Development Resource Center will contribute to your leadership in years to come.”
The Beita YDRC is the first of four youth development and resource centers across the West Bank that UPP is working to expand. Through its USAID-funded Ruwwad project, the Educational Development Center (EDC) ( www.edc.org ) is working closely with USAID and other partners to actively support the MOYS's efforts to establish and build the capacity of the four YDRCs—twin YDRCs in Nablus, one in Hebron, and one in Ramallah. The centers will be housed in existing local youth clubs. |
The newly refurbished Beita YDRC |
Once refurbished and redesigned, each center will offer new facilities, programs and services that help youth improve academically and enhance their “life skills,” with the overall goal of increasing employability and social engagement. The four primary centers, together with a network of more than 80 affiliated youth centers, also will benefit from revised standards, network-wide professional development, and internet connectivity. Thousands of Palestinian youth will benefit from the youth development resource centers.
The UPP is mobilizing private sector creativity and funding to impact the lives of young Palestinians. Through contributions of UPP partner Cisco, the four youth development resource centers will join the Mediterranean Youth Technology Club (MYTecC), a two-year, after-school program that aims to bridge the digital divide and promote information access among youth by providing youth in the Mediterranean region and Arab world with IT and English language proficiency curricula. |
A MyTecC instructor explains the Cisco-supported program. |
As the Co-Chairs watched, young members of the Beita YDRC used the Internet to virtually cross political borders by chatting live with youth in East Jerusalem . Through the Partnership, Cisco also plans to develop a new IT training certification program to support the Palestinian Authority's new Palestinian Education Initiative and create an interactive virtual on-line tour of the Al-Quds University Science and Math Museums that will be available at all YDRCs and affiliated youth organizations.
Cisco also plans to develop a new IT training certification program to support the Palestinian Authority's new Palestinian Education Initiative and create an interactive virtual on-line tour of the Al-Quds University Science and Math Museums that will be available at all YDRCs and affiliated youth organizations.
The UPP (www.uspalestinianpartnership.org)was created in December 2007 by President George W. Bush, Secretary Condoleezza Rice, and USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore. This public-private initiative helps create economic and educational opportunities to make a difference in the daily lives of the Palestinian people.
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