We organized the voting day for the Giving For Change Program, which is funded by the Dutch Ministry, on Friday the 8th of October via Zoom.
During its first phase of implementation, 33 young men and women received basic training around the following:
- Identifying the local needs and priorities of the community
- formulating ideas for community initiatives
- Delving into research methods, in particularly around topics the youth have decided to work on.
- Creating the initiative's plan and setting its budget
- Discussing the concept of community philanthropy, and how it is rooted in our culture (Al Ouneh).
- Presenting various models of community cooperation and collaboration.
- In-person meetings with activists and community leaders.
- Pitching
After the above-mentioned phase, a voluntary voting committee was formed, and consisted of community actors, with experience in working with youth. The committee took into account Dalia's four main pillars of holistic community development: social, cultural, environmental, and the local economy.
The Voting Committee:
- Suha Nazzal, Communtiy Initatives Officer at Bisan.
- Samer Shtayeh from Rawa Fund.
- Mohammad Shafi'i, ED of Cirque Palestine in Nablus
- Osama Khalilyeh, Business Administration at the Bethlehem University.
The following initiatives presented their pitch via Zoom:
- "Abna' Al-Balad" initiative: located in the village of Al-Zababda in the Jenin governorate. The initiative aims to encourage volunteer work in the village young people to carry out various voluntary campaigns to support the local communtiy.
- "Juthoor Shams" from the Tulkarm Governorate, aims for the return of the Palestinian youth to the land, by doing so they reduce the unemployment in a positive, effective manner, through a national and economic lens based on partnership and cooperation by cultivating the framing land, and distributing the produce.
- Science Integration Community: The initiative aims to integrate education with social, cultural, artistic, and recreational activities. This initiative comes as a result of the need for interactive education that takes into account the special needs and difficulties of individuals in learning, and the need for technological learning methods and models and non-traditional tools to communicate science and knowledge.
- The Architecural Cooperative: The first of its kind, it is made up of architects that aim to support the local community. The cooperative aims to protect the architectural sphere in Palestine, and preserve historical buildings that are under threat of collapse, due to the wrong conservation methods used locally. They also want to create public gardens, as the cities lack public spaces.
- Farmers of Kufr Ni'meh: A group of Palestinian youth, from the village of Kufr N'imeh, who decided, as a result of the difficult economic situation, to return to investing in our rich local agricultural resources. The group aimed to provide a basic income for members, who provide clean produce while reducing the cost to the consumer without dealing with an intermediary. They also aim to strengthen the steadfastness on the land as it is the main reason of the struggle with the Israeli occupier. The farm provides a space for young people to work while moving away from the capitalist and bureaucratic systems.
- Ard Al Ya's: A group of young people from the village of Safa, working in agroecology, operating within a cooperative and participatory framework, which is based on the indigenous principle of aid known as Al Ouneh. The group targets a piece of land threatened with confiscation by the Israeli occupation in Area C, and is called: Al-Khirbeh. This area is considered a breathing space for the people of the village due to its beauty, fertility of its soil, and open space. Therefore, the group is working on planning a plot of land of 4.5 acres, in order to create a model of ecological agriculture in it, in addition to building an educational, and recreational space in which they are able to receive the villagers, and volunteers from abroad to work the land and sleep. in it, and all the requirements of work on the ground.
- SOS Youth Village Council: seeks to minimize unemployment among SOS youth graduates, and include them in the community.
- Tashkeel: An initiative that supports children psychologically and intellectually and to enhance their abilities through various arts, especially visual. The initiative operates in the city of Hebron, and seeks to develop interactive games for children that help address emerging children’s problems, and integrates them into society and creates awareness for them of the importance of learning and education, especially where a culture of ignorance, school neglect, child labor prevails, in addition to the consequences of the occupation.
- Rummaneh Library: This initiative aims to develop a community library for children, which attempts to address the problem of the lack of safe spaces for children in the Wadi Al-Samen area - Hebron, which is riddled with place social problems, and the library will carry out various artistic and cultural activities.
- Baladi-The Voluntary Group: The group aims to create cultural spaces based on the support and participation of the local community, through establishing a library in the village of Beit Jala, they are collecting cultural books and various novels for all ages and for all groups. The library will host meetings and educational events to discuss specific books, and contributes to creating a safe space for young people to freely express and share their opinions.
- No Limits to Creativity: this initiative from the village of Jammaeen looks at art as a moral and mental necessity, by supporting talents and small projects to develop through specialized workshops in the field of art painting and conducting workshops and summer camps.
- Cycling Palestine: a group of Palestinian youth practicing cycling. This initiative encourages young people to practice this fun sport. The initiative aims to take trips to various regions of Palestine, aiming to meet and get acquainted with new areas.
As for the results of the voting, the initiatives that got the highest points had a clear goal and implementation plan, and were provided a grant of 3000 euros for each initiative. These are Juthoor Shams Cooperative - Tulkarm, Ard Al Ya's Cooperative - Safa, Kufr Ni'ma Youth Cooperative, Society Science STEAM, Tashkeel initiative, Rummanah Library initiative, SOS Children's Village Youth Council.
Other grants will be distributed to the remaining initiatives according to the budget submitted by it, and these initiatives are: Creativity Without Borders initiative - Jamma'in village, Abna Al Balad initiative - Zababdeh village, and the volunteer group initiative .
It is worth noting that all grants-receiving support will contribute resources amounting to 25% of the grant 's value.
We are extremely happy for those initiatives, and we wish them continued success.
It is important to mention that Dalia, in cooperation with several partners, will support the other initiatives that didn't receive grants this time through community mobilization.