Engaging, empowering and equipping diverse and marginalised youth and amplifying their voices for peace
Sumud advocacy by Palestinian youth
Coordinated by the Arab Educational Institute, Palestinian schools and youth/women clubs in the occupied West Bank have been involved in an advocacy project for Palestinian youth in the West Bank (2018-2020). The project promoted civil society engagement in non-violent action for a just peace.
In the project 600 young participants from the Bethlehem and Hebron areas, including from marginalized communities, worked on community topics chosen by the youth themselves and organized nonviolent community advocacy actions informed by respect for human values, civil rights, and international law. In communicating their sumud [steadfastness], participants learned skills to represent local communities and become ambassadors of Palestinian youth towards decision-makers and the world.
The project had the following outcomes:
- Improved knowledge and skills of Palestinian youth related to leadership and just peace advocacy.
- Palestinian youth able to identify, and link with key stakeholders and grassroots activists.
- Palestinian decision/policy makers effectively engaging with youth advocacy agendas on a just peace and taking the needs of marginalised communities into consideration.
- Palestinian youth having documented and shared sumud narratives with Palestinian stakeholders; comparing them with international narratives of nonviolent peace-building, and understanding the intrinsic connections between sumud and values of peace.
- Local level civil society engagement maintaining or strengthening prospects for a just peace.
- Decision/policy makers persuaded to take effective action based on the needs of Palestinian youth.
Equipping youth with tools and strategies to amplify their narratives through media and social media enabled them to influence decisions and policies of leaders leading to greater local support for non-violent actions for peace.
This project is funded by the European Union and CAFOD. The project supports the European Union’s ambition to promote a negotiated settlement of the conflict and seeks to equip young people to be changemakers through non-violent action for peace.