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Planting the Seeds of Leadership: Ruwwad Helps the Palestinian Ministry of Youth and Sport Launch New Resource Centers
Palestinian youth are eager to give back to their communities, but many have a tough time finding chances to build their skills and put them into action. As of early 2008, though, that situation is changing—thanks to a pioneering new partnership between US-funded projects like Ruwwad, the Palestinian Ministry of Youth and Sport, local Palestinian organizations, and the US private sector. At the start of the year, this consortium began working as part of a larger U.S.-Palestinian Partnership to set up four new Youth Development Resource Centers in the West Bank.
Offering job counseling, leadership training, computer facilities and recreation programs, the centers are poised to become hubs for regional youth leadership development. They’ll also serve as a much-needed outlet for fun and learning in areas with few after-school options. The initiative was launched officially with the signing of an agreement between USAID and the Palestinian Ministry of Youth and Sport. Ruwwad is excited to be one of several USAID partners invited to help launch the initiative.
Computer labs are one of many features planned for the Ministry of Youth and Sport’s new Resource Centers.
Local partnerships are the cornerstone of the Resource Center project: Although funding support is provided by the US, the Centers themselves will be overseen by the Ministry of Youth and Sport, and will take shape within four well-established youth clubs that are already leaders in the field of youth development: The Jabal al-Nar Club in Nablus, the Beita Club in the nearby town of Beita, the Al-Bireh Youth Organization in the Ramallah area, and the Palestinian Child Club in Hebron.
Local NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and youth forums will also
play a lead role in the Resource Center roll-out. Ruwwad is just one member of a very diverse team: The Ministry of Youth is working closely with grassroots organizations and youth clubs in each of the regions where the centers will be launched. These local partners will lead key parts of the programming at each Center. A planned youth counseling service, for example, would be delivered together with a local Palestinian youth counseling agency. Young ‘club members’ at each center would ideally be linked with area businesses and non-profit employers after getting leadership training on-site, for four- to six-month internships.
Overall, the Resource Centers will become focal points for local youth, giving them the tools they need to succeed in life, and planting the seeds of long-term leadership development. Ruwwad is proud to be a part of the team that’s turning this vision into a reality.
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