Enhancing Responsiveness of Duty Bearers towards the needs and priorities of children within the inclusive approach to gender and disability in Beit Ummar & Battir villages
Background:
The project "Enhancing Responsiveness of Duty Bearers towards the needs and priorities of children within the inclusive approach to gender and disability in Beit Ummar & Battir villages" is funded by the Swedish Organization for Individual Relief (SOIR-IM). The project started as a result of QADER’s experience in social accountability through its membership in the regional network; Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in the Arab World - ANSA.
The project introduces the concept of a youth accountability team which has been used and tested in several countries such as; the Dominican Republic, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and which has proven to be an effective and successful model. The project was designed on the basis of in-depth consultation with key stakeholders, including the village councils, local community organizations, and the youth themselves.
Target groups and areas:
Children and youth within the villages of Beit Ummar and Battir.
Project objectives:
- The general objective of this project is to contribute to increasing inclusion, participation and protection of children and youth.
- The specific objective of this project is to enhance the responsiveness of duty bearers towards the needs and priorities of children and youth in these areas within an inclusive approach to gender and disability, through a strategy based on empowering local community activists to be able to advocate for children and children with disabilities.
Main project components:
- Forming a youth accountability team in the targeted areas and training them on research, campaigning, social accountability and human rights, with consideration of gender and disability when forming the team.
- Conducting a comprehensive community assessment of children and youth.
- Support the team to plan and conduct campaigns targeting municipal councils, officials, community leaders and community organizations in order to hold them accountable for their obligations towards children and youth.
Project activities and outputs:
- Forming youth teams in both villages, Beit Ummar and Battir.
- Conducting an assessment of the teams' capabilities to determine training needs and capacity development requirements.
- Implementing a training program for the teams on research methods and tools, advocacy, human rights, social accountability, community mobilization, and debate
- Collecting information and data about the targeted villages in order to develop profiles about each community.