In Jenin: Witness Center and Local Communities Organization Hold a Youth Exchange Meeting and Hackathon to Design Community Initiatives

Witness Center, in partnership with Local Communities Organization, organized an interactive youth meeting in Jenin Governorate, bringing together youth groups from Jenin and Nablus, as part of the project

“Youth-Led Initiatives for Dialogue and Peacebuilding – From Echo to Influence,”

funded by the European Union.

The meeting provided a youth-led space for exchange and shared learning, enabling participants from Jenin and Nablus to share the experiences and knowledge they gained during the previous phase of the project, reflect on lessons learned, and discuss challenges and opportunities related to youth engagement in their local communities. The meeting also contributed to strengthening communication, trust, and cooperation between youth groups from both governorates.

The meeting included a creative youth hackathon for designing community initiatives, aiming to transform youth experiences and ideas into practical initiatives that can be further developed and implemented. The hackathon adopted participatory and interactive methods, including mixed-team work, brainstorming, community challenge analysis, idea development, initiative testing, and creative pitching before the participants.

This activity aims to strengthen the role of youth in community dialogue and peacebuilding, while supporting their active participation in designing initiatives led by local youth capacities. These initiatives contribute to promoting social cohesion and civic engagement within local communities, in line with the project’s objective of supporting youth to move from expressing challenges to influencing change and creating solutions.

During the meeting, participants from Jenin and Nablus identified key issues and challenges facing youth in their local communities and discussed ways to address them through practical and innovative initiatives. The youth teams also developed initial ideas for initiatives that respond to real community needs, with a focus on feasibility, expected impact, inclusion, and strengthening teamwork among youth from both governorates.

The meeting served as an important space for building trust and cooperation among the participating youth groups, exchanging experiences between youth from Jenin and Nablus, and enhancing their skills in creative thinking, leadership, decision-making, and teamwork. It also strengthened youth ownership of the initiatives they designed themselves, recognizing them as key actors in promoting dialogue and social cohesion.

This process will be further developed through an upcoming meeting in Nablus Governorate, where the outcomes of the Jenin meeting will be built upon. The youth groups will continue working on further developing their initiative ideas, formulating practical action plans, and preparing for their launch and implementation during the next phases of the project.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the youth teams presented their initial initiative ideas and agreed on the next steps needed to further develop them into more mature and feasible initiatives, reinforcing the role of youth in leading positive change within their local communities.