SDF implements a capacity-building training program

18 members of the Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) members in Palestine participated in a unique training to build the capacities of the Panel members to contribute to fulfilling its goals and improving the economic, social, and public life of the Palestinian youth. This training is part of the “Youth Leads” project implemented in partnership with the UNFPA and funded by the EU.

The intensive training program encompassed 5 face-to-face meetings and two virtual meetings with 42 training hours implemented between December 2022 and January 2023. The training hours intensely focused on enhancing the capacities of the YAP on a group of topics, including effective communication, dialogue conduction, diplomacy, negotiation, advocacy, public speaking, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic thinking and planning skills.

Trainees were introduced to the basics of effective communication and dialogue management as well as the forms and ways of negotiation. They have also dug deep into the concept of leadership, strategic planning, and thinking, how to design and lead advocacy campaigns and raising awareness activities, and increasing their knowledge in monitoring and evaluation skills relevant to public policies.

Abdelraheem Hamad, SDF’s Program Manager, said, “The quality of training lies in its methodology, implemented based on interactive learning, participation and sharing of knowledge and experiences, through working in groups, constructive dialogue, brainstorming techniques, simulations and open debates, and a range of activities and exercises that have brought vitality to training topics.”

The training was an opportunity to build the YAP members’ capacities, knowledge, and practical skills in the training topics directly connected to their leadership role as representatives of the Palestinian youth as well as to the panel’s goals.

Tamara Al-Tibi, YAP member

Tamara AlTibi, a participant in the training, said, “The YAP capacity building training was a spotlight to highlight the uninvested skills and knowledge of the trainees. The training was a chance to identify and improve these skills, such as negotiation skills, public speaking, communication, advocacy, and diplomacy.”

Jomana Abu Nahla, reflected on her own experience and referred to the capacity building programs of the SDF as the main resource to a range of tools needed for better planning of the issues worked through the YAP.”

“During the training, we have acquired many important techniques and foundations that enable us to effectively raise youth issues and problems, as well as some strategies through which we can find solutions to these problems”

Jomana Abu Nahla

The Youth Advisory Panel is the first of its kind in Palestine and was founded at the initiative of United Nations agencies working in the youth sector in Palestine, the European Union, and the Government of Denmark. It includes 18 young people from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, and commenced its work in October 2021.

The YAP’s main objective is to represent and empower Palestinian youth with their voice for decision-makers locally and internationally, and to involve them in all issues affecting them, under the slogan “Youth for All and All for Youth“. The YAP also helps to improve the relevance of youth-related programs and interventions in Palestine, thereby improving their response to their needs.