Examining Palestinian Youth Organizations' Views in West Bank on Empowerment National Strategic Plans (2017-2020, 2021-2023 رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

The Palestinian Youth Supreme Council and several West Bank youth institutions have created two comprehensive national strategic plans to empower young people from 2017 to 2020 and from 2021 to 2023. However, we lack a clear understanding of how Palestinian youth organizations perceive and evaluate these plans. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining the opinions of these organizations regarding the effectiveness and impact of the empowerment initiatives outlined in the National Strategic Plans. The study will also assess the alignment between the stated empowerment objectives in the National Strategic Plans and the proposed initiatives and programs to determine the level of involvement and engagement of Palestinian youth organizations in the implementation and execution of empowerment initiatives. To achieve this, the study has used a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative and qualitative data from 164 youth institutions in the West Bank. According to Palestinian youth institutions, the strategic plan initiatives have had a noticeable impact. Still, it is not enough to make the impact of these initiatives on the sense of empowerment and active participation among young people strong. The level of impact is high but uncomfortable, indicating that more efforts are needed to enhance this impact and strengthen the sense of empowerment and active participation among Palestinian youth. The study recommends that the Youth Supreme Council should maintain open communication channels between themselves and Palestinian youth institutions and should actively listen to the views, suggestions, complaints, and needs of young people, respond to them, and take them into account. Additionally, the Council should seek to leverage the experiences and VI capabilities of young people in developing strategic national plans for empowerment. Moreover, the Youth Supreme Council must allocate funds to develop Palestinian youth and implement youth empowerment programs. Future research may explore the perspectives of various stakeholders, such as government officials, community leaders, and funders, on the empowerment of national strategic plans and their impact on Palestinian youth organizations and assess the long-term impact of the empowerment national strategic plans on Palestinian youth organizations in the West Bank