Coalition Building and Leadership Development

After ten years of building Ibdaa's work locally, the directors began turning their attention to building jointly with other areas of Palestine and the Arab world. Through networks and coalitions on refugees, children's rights, and international solidarity, Ibdaa hopes to be part of changing the world for future generations.

At the same time, Ibdaa is continuing to develop new leadership within the organization. Since it's founding, all of Ibdaa's programs have used leadership development models that transferred skills from one group of youth to another rather than relying on adults. But now these youth leaders are taking on even more responsibility. In 2006, two young people were elected to Ibdaa's board and have brought fresh ideas and energy to the center.  

Children's Rights

Ibdaa is a member of the steering committee for a network in the Arab world on children's rights that uses theater and music to spread awareness among children and adults. The children produce songs and skits about their rights and perform for local audiences. Ibdaa is also part of the Palestinian Network for Children's Rights, a group of NGOs that were brought together by Defense for Children International- Palestine Section. The Network is working to end corporal punishment in Palestine and to advocate locally and internationally on behalf of Palestinian children, especially those in Israeli prisons.

US-Palestinian Youth Solidarity Network (YSN)

The US-Palestine Youth Solidarity Network (YSN) brings together Palestinian youth with youth from oppressed communities in the U.S. The Network's purpose is to enable the youth to tell their own stories and to share ways to work for freedom and justice. The YSN works with youth organizations in both countries to build media arts capacity and advance youth leadership and solidarity in our shared struggles for racial, economic, and gender justice.

Let's Connect

Ibdaa has been at the forefront of training staff at other local community centers in the West Bank. Together with the Popular Arts Center in Ramallah and with funding from Catholic Relief Services, Ibdaa selected ten promising centers for a three-year project in which Ibdaa provided training for their staff and volunteers and jointly developed new, innovative programs for the children and youth in each community. Though the project has officially concluded, Ibdaa continues to stay involved with these centers, inviting their youth to summer camp activities at Ibdaa and helping their administration and staff navigate the challenges of running grassroots organizations and working with children and youth.

Other examples of Ibdaa's programs connecting centers include the Sports Under Siege summer camp brings boys and girls from different refugee camps in the southern West Bank together for a week of team-building activities and sports training and a loose network of centers from villages, cities, and refugee camps in the Bethlehem district that aims to lessen the gap between the children by organizing joint visits to cultural and historical sites, share expertise through trainings with the children on topics like children's rights.

Youth Lead Change

Ibdaa and Catholic Relief Services are running a leadership development for youth in Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, Beit Ula in Hebron and Dheisheh. The project aims to activate the youth sector in each area and engage them in community work by equipping them with communication, media, and leadership skills. After trainings, the youth then discuss all of the obstacles in their lives. Each group of youth selects a pressing issue affecting youth in their area and then develops and implements their own plans to address these issues and to deliver their message to a broad audience through the media. Ibdaa staff provides training and guidance for the youth groups but are careful to ensure that the youth themselves are leading the change.